HistoryMiami Museum unveils SANCTUARY: Our Sacred Place, an exhibition by Little Haiti photographer Woosler Delisfort. The showcase delves into the spiritual origins of Miami’s Indigenous, African, and Caribbean communities, capturing moments of divine connection in temples, churches, and mosques. With over 100 pieces, the exhibition highlights how these cultures harness sacred spaces in Miami as vital sources of both political and spiritual empowerment.
“I felt the way religion in the Black community is commonly portrayed is inaccurate. Sanctuary: Our Sacred Place is my way of broadening the perspective,” said Woosler Delisfort, the inaugural recipient of the HistoryMiami Museum photography fellowship for Black, Indigenous, People of Color (BIPOC), and Latinx artists. “This is an essay about my spiritual journey and the ways in which communities create and preserve spaces to offer self-affirmation, unity, and transcendence.”
Co-curated by Ireọlá Ọláifá and Marie Vickles, SANCTUARY promises to be a thought-provoking and visually stunning exploration of Miami’s spiritual heritage, elevated with musical selections and altars that bring the experience to life.
“It is an honor to support Woosler’s vision as curator of this exhibit,” said Marie Vickles in a press release. “Through his images, audiences will feel a personal connection intended to remind them of their own stories or introduce them to new ones. The experience of SANCTUARY eloquently shares the living and connected histories of Miami’s Indigenous, African, and Caribbean communities and hits home the importance of our local arts connection to South Florida’s past and present.”
The exhibition follows Woosler’s fellowship with HistoryMiami. Presented by the museum’s Center for Photography, the fellowship supports emerging documentary photographers who capture and amplify local stories, particularly those related to BIPOC and Latinx members of the community. Support from The Jorge M. Perez Family Foundation at The Miami Foundation has made it possible for HistoryMiami Museum to continue supporting local photographers in documenting and sharing community stories.
“Woosler captures the essence of Miami’s religious communities with clarity and
conviction. His introspective voyage through these sacred places shows us how
spirituality transcends boundaries and how Miami’s many spiritual communities claim and commune with their world. We are excited to share his work and to see the impact of his experience with the youth who worked alongside him,” shared Christopher Barfield, HistoryMiami Director of Exhibitions, in a press release.
As part of his fellowship, Delisfort mentored a talented group of Miami students in the Youth Photography Fellowship. This exhibition highlights projects from middle and high school students tasked with exploring their daily lives and communities while learning about photography. Their work is showcased on the museum’s online exhibition.
The HistoryMiami Museum’s Center for Photography is dedicated to collecting,
preserving, and sharing photographic images that narrate the stories of Miami’s diverse community. With a strong emphasis on documentary photography, the Center serves as a valuable resource for photographers, researchers, and the public. Through its extensive collection of historical images, dedicated photography galleries, and engaging programs, the Center aims to address representational gaps in past collaborations, the museum’s collection, and the stories featured in our exhibitions and programs.
SANCTUARY: Our Sacred Place is on display now until January 26, 2025. For more information, visit http://www.historymiami.org.
About HistoryMiami Museum
HistoryMiami Museum, a Smithsonian Affiliate located in downtown Miami, safeguards and shares Miami stories to foster learning, inspire a sense of place, and cultivate an engaged community. We accomplish this through education, collections, research, exhibitions, publications, and City Tours. Now celebrating its 84 th year, the museum is a 70,000-square-foot facility and home to more than two million historical images and 30,000 three-dimensional artifacts, including a 1920s trolley car, artifacts from Pan American World Airways, and rafts that brought refugees to Miami. For more information, call 305-375-1492 or visit historymiami.org.
About the Artist
Born and raised in Little Haiti, Woosler Delisfort is a self-taught documentary
photographer and filmmaker whose mission is to explore the core principles affecting the collective human spirit. His practice uses storytelling to weave together experiences and anecdotes to illuminate the realities of the world. Delisfort began his career documenting the emotions, humanity, and spirituality of the people of Little Haiti in the hopes of replacing the negative stereotypes of crime, drugs, and poverty often associated with his hometown with more positive and personal images of joy, life, and creative expression.
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