Behind the Plantain Curtain 

Radio Huracáan is grounded in the philosophical thinking of the Barbadian poet and writer Kamau Brathwaite. It is intended to understand how rhythms and times develop from Africa and the Caribbean, and how they construct a form of thought and struggle inherent to the spatiotemporal and geographical relationship within bodies.

This episode is created as part of STANDING IN THE CRACKS OF MULTIPLE HISTORIES, a project curated by SAVVY with funding from the Terra Foundation, that investigates the contours of the history of the United States and the hegemonic narratives that form and uphold it.

The following story takes place behind the plantain curtain, an ideological and cultural barrier that divides a group of “banana republics” from a “great” empire in the north. t is an extract of letters, found and translated by Radio Huracán, written between Yusnavy, a middle-aged, working class man who lives in a place that unites two seas, and who, in his youth, witnessed the invasion of his country at the hands of the empire; and Miledys, a young aristocratic woman from the banana republic with the largest chocolate reserves in the world, who recently returned home after completing her studies in the north. 

Yusnavy and Miledys meet randomly through a digital social media site called banana roulette, which was recently shut-down after a cyber attack from the North. They have managed to keep in touch thanks to the submarine mailing system between the two republics. 

It is a time overshadowed by a constant threat of invasion from the North. Although there are no official declarations, the tension is palpable. Yusnavy and Miledys fear that what once happened will happen again…

Radio Huracán  hosted by Tatiana Rais and Mario Llanos, is a sonic collaboration project featuring a diverse range of guests – artists, researchers, and musicians residing in the Americas, the Caribbean, or Africa. These guests will bring a selection of songs and rhythms that will serve as triggers for conversations about their practices. This will enable us to establish a dialogue through sound, where connections between each guest materialize in a kind of frequency that travels through the radio, through conversations, sound exchanges, and stories that reflect multiple realities.