A Dual Exhibition in Brooklyn
The Museum of Contemporary African Diasporan Arts, known as MoCADA, has opened two new shows that weave together sport, diaspora and politics. One exhibition, titled Pitch Black: Haiti and Congo Revisited, revisits the 1974 FIFA World Cup qualifiers that saw Haiti and the nation then called Zaire earn spots in the tournament. The display juxtaposes archival material with contemporary reflections, inviting visitors to consider how football served as a stage for national assertion during a turbulent era.
Running through October 11, the show is complemented by Haitian artist Francks F. Deceus’s outdoor installation Carib‑Import #1, which will remain on view until April 25, 2027. Deceus’s work interrogates the emotional pull of migration, using vibrant motifs to map the distances between homeland and new beginnings.
Historical Context and Political Undercurrents
The 1974 qualifiers took place under starkly different regimes. Haiti was then governed by the regime of François "Papa Doc" Duvalier, while Zaire, under Mobutu Sese Seko, used nationalism and cultural symbolism to bolster state legitimacy. Both leaders leveraged the global spotlight of the World Cup to project an image of sovereignty and unity, even as internal dissent simmered.
Amy Andrieux, MoCADA’s executive director and chief curator, notes that the exhibitions are part of a broader effort to connect Black communities across continents. By foregrounding the intersections of sport, memory and liberation, the museum seeks to preserve collective histories that shape present realities.
The installations and archival pieces underscore how art can act as a repository for collective memory, examining forces that shape the present while inviting dialogue about shared futures.