Rooted in both ancestral memory and contemporary life, MIWA traces the threads that connect Haitian women across geography and time. Filmmaker Lunise Cerin gathers stories and visuals in Haiti and the U.S. and interweaves them into a five-part film collage, while singer/songwriter Talie Cerin mines personal and diasporic influences—Haitian folk, spirituals, and soul—for a  musical portrait of Haitian spirit.

The sisters’ creative dialogue will become an evocative live performance premiering in Philadelphia in November 2025. MIWA audiences will wander through an unfolding series of small, immersive worlds crafted by artist/maker Nia Benjamin to house and highlight Lunise’s film in five distinctive experiences, leading to a culminating performance of MIWA’s music featuring Talie on vocals and guitar, alongside a stellar ensemble.

TO BE HERE honors the layered identities of Philadelphians and reimagines what it means to belong. Rooted in communal storytelling, artists Lynda Grace Black and Magda Martinez invite lifelong residents to come together with newer arrivals. Through shared stories of resilience, loss, and transformation, participants explore the experience of being here now, in a city shaped by both historic legacy and present-day complexity.

Culminating in spring 2026, TO BE HERE will take shape as a multi-day exhibition and performance, offering visitors the chance to follow stories down several paths. At its heart, TO BE HERE reflects a broader, more inclusive vision of being Philadelphian: one that embraces contradiction, honors sacrifice, and makes space for everyone’s story.