Joyce Joumaa's 'Prologue' Links US Intervention in Lebanon and Haiti

Joyce Joumaa's exhibition 'Prologue' at Galerie de l'UQO, University of Quebec in Gatineau, curated by Heather Canlas-Rigg, uses archival materials and a 1979 ballad by Nagat El Saghira to critique US military intervention. The show features doormats with military terms like 'Internal Crisis' and 'Pacific Fleet', miniature soldier figurines on Bazooka bubble gum shelves, and a July 28, 1958 Life magazine issue headlined 'THE MARINES HAVE LANDED…'. A video work distorts found TV footage of US Marines with scrolling lyrics. The exhibition draws parallels between Lebanon and Haiti, referencing the US occupation of Haiti from 1915 to 1934 and ongoing American political meddling. Joumaa's video works 'Electoral Photogeny' (2018), 'Merging, Dissecting, Collecting' (2021), and 'To Remain in the No Longer' (2023) also address cyclical American colonialism.