Transdisciplinary artist and storyteller Monique Verdin and filmmaker and Sundance alumna Mariah Hernandez-Fitch will visit LSU on Wednesday for an event hosted by LSU Creative Writing.
The free discussion and screening, open to the public, will start at 6:30 p.m. in French House's Room 135.
Both artists are from Louisiana and citizens of the Houma Nation. They each create works that engage with public policy, tribal sovereignty and contemporary Indigenous communities.
The evening will focus on Verdin’s unique work and Hernandez-Fitch’s short documentary, "Ekbeh," an official selection of the 2024 Sundance Film Festival.
“‘Ekbeh’ interweaves the steps in making gumbo with personal stories from the filmmaker's grandparents as a way to honor and preserve their Indigenous history, language, and life," a news release said.
Verdin is a transdisciplinary artist who documents the complex relationship between environment, culture and climate in southeast Louisiana. She is director of The Land Memory Bank & Seed Exchange and a Bvlbancha Liberation Radio collaborator. She also is supporting the Okla Hina Ikhish Holo (People of the Sacred Medicine Trail), a network of indigenous gardeners, as the Women’s Earth and Climate Action Network Gulf South food and medicine sovereignty program manager. Verdin coproduced the documentary "My Louisiana Love" and her work has been included in a variety of environmentally inspired projects, including the multiplatform performance "Cry You One" and the collaborative book "Return to Yakni Chitto: Houma Migrations."
Hernandez-Fitch is a director, writer, filmmaker and storyteller from Dulac. She creates films in conversation with public policy, tribal sovereignty and contemporary Indigenous communities. Upon graduating from Dartmouth College in 2023, she was awarded honors for "Ekbeh," her senior film project. Hernandez-Fitch is pursuing an advanced degree in American Indian studies at UCLA. Her work has been featured in Indian Country Today.
The event is being presented by LSU’s Department of English and the Creative Writing program, and is co-sponsored by the Roger Hadfield Ogden Honors College and the Screen Arts Program.