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Neg Mawon
(Rodolphe Pierre Jr.)
Rodolphe Pierre Jr. is a cultural activist, master drummer, and researcher with over 30 years of fieldwork and performance experience in Haitian Vodou traditions. He has conducted extensive ethnographic research in Vodou Lakou communities across Haiti and codified sacred rhythmic
systems. He is currently pursuing an M.A. in Political Science at Long Island University, Brooklyn.
Encoded Memory: Vodou Drumming as Archive, Resistance, and Diasporic Transmission
This presentation examines Vodou drumming as a living archive of diasporic memory and spiritual
continuity. Drawing upon over thirty years of ethnographic fieldwork in Vodou Lakou communities
throughout Haiti, this research explores how sacred rhythms function as encoded systems of historical
transmission, cultural resistance, and identity formation. Vodou drums operate as repositories of
ancestral knowledge, corresponding to specific lwa and ceremonial contexts. The session includes live
demonstration excerpts.