Diaspora Vibe Cultural Arts Incubator, Inc. (DVCAI) presents The Container Project at DVCAI at Barry University—a six-month curatorial initiative running from November 20, 2025, to April 17, 2026. Curated by DVCAI Founder Rosie Gordon-Wallace (Miami) and independent curator and creative wellness strategist Breeana Thorne (Los Angeles), this trans-coastal and Caribbean diasporic project asks: “What’s in Your Container?”
The shipping container—an object of movement, transportation, and memory—guides the exhibition’s exploration of personal and collective histories of containment. In Caribbean communities, containers and barrels symbolize migration, support, and the carrying of essentials, treasured objects, and cultural legacy. As both physical and metaphorical vessels, they hold memory, trauma, care, and joy, illuminating how we navigate histories shaped by colonialism, displacement, and global exchange.
The works on view serve as emotional and physical refuges. Artists turn inward, using their practices as containers for memory, grief, harmony, and regeneration. Visitors are invited to reflect on their own vessels of remembrance:
What’s in your container?
How do we hold our histories?
What sustains us?
How do we transform grief into preservation and renewed community?
“The Container Project challenges us to see both the fragility and resilience of memory, encouraging us to preserve past legacies while imagining new forms of collective care.” — Breeana Thorne
Exhibiting Artists
Rimaj Barrientos, Jevon Alexander Brown, Patricia Cooke, Michael Elliott, Natou Fall, Rosa Naday Garmendia, Miguel Keerveld, Shayla Marshall, Sydney Rose Maubert, Lance Minto-Strouse, Shawna Moulton, Kurt Nahar, Amarachi Odimba, Evelyn Politzer, L.A. Samuelson, Asser Saint-Val with Jessica Freites, Clara Toro, and Leandro Vazquez.
Exhibition Design: Danielle Coates | Visual Identity: Izia Lindsay | Photography: Roy A. Wallace
Scholarship by Alix Pierre, PhD (Spelman College) and Grace Aneiza Ali (Florida State University).
Schedule of Events
Exhibition Run
November 20, 2025 – April 17, 2026
Monsignor William Barry Library, Barry University
11300 NE 2nd Avenue, Miami, FL 33161
Library Hours
Mon–Thu: 7:30 am–10:00 pm
Fri: 7:30 am–10:00 pm
Sat: 9:00 am–8:00 pm
Sun: 10:00 am–10:00 pm
Closed Nov 26–28, 2025. More info: barry.edu/en/library/working-hours
Opening Week
Thursday, November 20, 2025
Opening Event | 6:00–9:00 pm | Performance at 7:00 pm
TUAPUTI, by Asser Saint-Val with Jessica Freites, explores metaphysical containment through diasporic spiritual traditions and intuitive movement.
Saturday, November 22, 2025
Performance & Artist Talk | 2:00–4:00 pm
Telegraph Valley, by L.A. Samuelson with Elle Hong and Adam Stone, builds temporary dwellings from frames and pathways, examining the body as a “house for the soul.”
Miami Art Week (Dec 1–7, 2025)
Open during regular Library hours. Performance Salons feature Telegraph Valley and interactive stations.
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Mon, Dec 1 — 5:30–7:00 pm | Performance at 6:00 pm
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Tue, Dec 2 — 5:30–7:00 pm | Performance at 6:00 pm
Exhibition Details
DVCAI’s contemporary arts programming at Barry University is presented in partnership with the Institute for Immigration Studies and the Monsignor William Barry Library. DVCAI acknowledges the support of Victor Romano, PhD; Giselle E. Rios, MM, DMA; Vivica Smith Pierre, MLIS, PhD; and Library staff.
Accommodation & Accessibility
For information or access requests:
Tanya Desdunes, DVCAI Executive Director
tanya@dvcaiteam.org | (786) 306-0191
Library Main Desk: (305) 899-3760
For accessible-format materials (requested at least five days in advance):
Rosie Gordon-Wallace, DVCAI President & Curator
(305) 542-4277