Bitterest Sweet

Bitterest Sweet is a multimodal art installation that combines visual art, poetry, music, narration, and other sound effects to tell the story of the Indigenous Manhansett tribe, the kidnapped enslaved Africans, and the indentured Irish and English laborers whose labor sustained Sylvester Manor, a provisioning plantation on Shelter Island. Shelter Island is a tiny island located off the coast of Long Island, New York.

Bitterest Sweet is designed as a 3-D pathway in the twisting multi-path of the Nkyinkyim. The Nkyinkyim is an African symbol that represents the twisting nature of life's journey. The pathway is lined with terracotta clay sculptures that were created by members of the Long Island community at various community clay workshops. The installation is rounded out by an accompanying audio walk that tells the story through multimodal media. You may read more about the project here.

Listen to the Bitterest Sweet audio walk below.

Project Collaborators

Annemarie Waugh (Suffolk County Community College), Michelle Whittaker (Stony Brook University), and Neisha Terry Young (Stony Brook University. 

The Stony Brook University English department field trip to Sylvester Manor, Shelter Island, to view the Bitterest Sweet installation and participate in a department clay workshop.