Erased Daughters Series: Bringing Back the Mothers’ Village

Dive into stories that revive the spirit and strength of the mothers’ village in this powerful series session. Free in New Bedford. Before the records, before the erasure, the mothers kept the village. Join visual artist Katherin Joyette for the opening night of Erased Daughters, a five-week series at 3rd Eye Unlimited on Union Street, kicking off on AHA! Night. Katherin opens with a talk on why this space matters. 3rd Eye Unlimited has long been a home for community, creativity, and healing in New Bedford, the kind of gathering place our ancestral mothers built wherever they landed. For five weeks, we’ll bring that village back to life. The Erased Daughters series honors the mothers and daughters the colonial record tried to silence: Kalinago and Taíno women of the Caribbean, African, Cape Verdean, Celtic Irish, Chinese, and Japanese lineages, and the Indigenous mothers who held them all. Opening night introduces the art and the women behind it, including Kalinago Mother, Danu, Sekhmet, Maha Maya, and Maternity Reclaimed, along with the sacred symbols they carry: the spiral, the lioness, the tree of life, the lotus. Come see the work, meet the women in your community, and hear what’s ahead over the next five weeks: stories, rituals, and hands-on art making, including your own ancestral altar piece honoring a mother in your line. Free and open to all. No art experience needed. The series (Thursdays at 3rd Eye Unlimited): • Nov 12, 4:30–6:30 pm — Opening Night and Artist Talk (AHA! Night) • Nov 19, 6–7:30 pm — Remember: The Mothers of the Islands. The erased stories of the Kalinago, Taíno, and Cape Verdean women who held the Caribbean and Cabo Verde together through colonization and the crossing. Begin your mother-line map. • Nov 26 — no session (Thanksgiving) • Dec 3, 6–7:30 pm — Reconnect: Rituals Our Grandmothers Kept. The sacred symbols, songs, foods, and healing practices Caribbean and Cape Verdean mothers carried in secret and passed to their daughters. Make a lineage altar card. • Dec 10, 4:30–6:30 pm — Reclaim: The Ancestral Altar (AHA! Night). Paint or collage a portrait of a mother from your own line and complete your ancestral altar piece, open to AHA! visitors. • Dec 17, 6–7:30 pm — Closing Showcase When we remember our mothers together, we restore the village. Supported in part by Mass Cultural Council.