Mermaids, Ancestors & Saints: The Dynamism of Myrlande Constant’s Haitian Vodou Ritual Flags
Lecture: Mermaids, Ancestors & Saints: The Dynamism of Myrlande Constant’s Haitian Vodou Ritual Flags
Haitian artist Myrlande Constant’s remarkable Vodou drapo (ritual flags) depict spirits socializing together as Milokan, when the totality of their powers are combined. In this lecture, we explore several pertinent themes of Constant’s drapo including mermaids and aquatic beings, ancestors and spirits of the dead, and Catholic saints reimagined as Haitian spirits. Special attention will be focused on the flags housed at the Tampa Museum of Art.
Sponsored by Muriel Brathwaite
Lectures are offered free with the cost of daily admission:
- Art+ Museum Members: Free
- Not-Yet-Members: $25
- College Students: Free
Dr. Kyrah Malika Daniels is Assistant Professor of African American Studies at Emory University. She completed her B.A. in Africana Studies at Stanford University and received her M.A. in Religion and her Ph.D. in African & African American Studies at Harvard University. Her research interests include Africana religions; sacred arts and material culture; and race, religion and visual culture. Her first book (Art of the Healing Gods, Duke University Press 2026) is a comparative religion project that examines religious artifacts used in Haitian and Congolese traditional healing ceremonies. In 2019, she was selected as a Getty/ACLS Postdoctoral Fellow in the History of Art.
Between 2009-2010, Daniels served as Junior Curator at the Smithsonian Institution’s National Museum of American History in Washington, D.C. Deeply invested in the digital humanities, she curates a student-led research platform called Africana Art Scholars and participates in initiatives like the UCLA Fowler Museum’s Vital Matters series. Her work has been published in the Journal of Africana Religions, the Journal of Haitian Studies, and the Journal for the American Academy of Religion. Daniels currently serves a Leadership Council Member for the African and Diasporic Religious Studies Association (ADRSA) and as Vice President for KOSANBA, a Scholarly Association for the Study of Haitian Vodou.
Image Caption: Myrlande Constant (Haitian, b. 1968), Ague Taroyo, 2007. Sequins and beads on cloth. 45 x 53 inches. Collection of Ed and Ann Gessen.