ssweatarchive@forthefuture.family
Rooted in Afro-Latin/Afro-Indigenous traditions, the exhibition reflects on labor and migration. The title points to an essential truth: while one body sweats, another enjoys the fruit. This reality is carried in the histories of immigrant families, where women and men sustain households through relentless work, often at the cost of their own rest, health, or joy. Your Fruit Taste Sweet, I Taste Sweat is a space to honor these sacrifices and celebrate the resilience, ingenuity, and intergenerational memory that labor produces.
Sovern LA
5757 W Adams Blvd.
Los Angeles, CA 90016
EXHIBITION CATALOGUE (COMING SOON) - SIGN UP FOR PRE-ORDER LIST
Cheyann Washington (Artist)
Francis Robateau (Artist)
Madelyn Inez (Artist)
Menyelek (Artist)
Jahneli Leslie (Artist)
Schessa Garbutt (Artist)
Philip Patrick Harper Bucknor (Curator, Artist)
South Central Los Angeles → Systems, Sound
Earth → Memory, Archives
(1997–ongoing)
Logging → Mahogany, Colonial Trade
Domestic Work → LA, South Central
Underground Economy → Culture, Social
Cooking as Archive / Plant Medicine / Collective Jam
Vinyl / Cassette / Digital Radio Broadcast
Performance / Improvisation / Storytelling
Opening Reception → October 22
Rooted Readings I → October 24
Rooted Readings II → November 7
Sweat & Sugar Dinner → November 8
Sweat Archive: Show & Tell → November 15
Closing Reception + Artist Talk → November 19
Sweat labored → Story carried
Lineage preserved → Memory archived
Sound → Document of survival
Referenced across → Oral Histories, Jam Sessions, Radio Airwaves
While one body sweats, Another enjoys the fruit.
YOUR FRUIT TASTES SWEET, I TASTE SWEAT
Selected Archival Materials & Research
Land, Labor, Extraction & Memory
An evolving collection of historical documents, publications, and research materials gathered in connection with Your Fruit Tastes Sweet, I Taste Sweat, a group exhibition exploring the histories and inheritances that connect Belize, Central America, and the wider diaspora.
These materials extend the exhibition beyond the gallery, offering pathways into the political, economic, and cultural histories that shape our relationships to land, labor, migration, and memory.
From colonial accounts and government records to personal histories and contemporary scholarship, this collection invites readers to examine not only what has been preserved, but whose perspectives have shaped the historical record.
This is a living archive. New materials, references, and research will continue to be added as the exhibition and its conversations develop.
HISTORICAL DOCUMENTS & PRIMARY SOURCES
01 — The Laws of the Settlement of British Honduras, in Force in the Twentieth Year of the Reign of Her Majesty, Queen Victoria
Honourable House of Assembly, British Honduras
1857
02 — A Narrative of a Journey Across the Unexplored Portion of British Honduras, with a Short Sketch of the History and Resources of the Colony
Henry Fowler
1879
03 — The Colony of British Honduras: Its Resources and Prospects
Daniel Morris
1883
04 — The Soil, Climate and Fruit Trade of British Honduras
Dr. Phil G. Guiney (attribution in scanned document)
Undated
05 — The Baymen of Belize and How They Wrested British Honduras from the Spaniards
Steven Forbes; edited by E. W. Williams
c. 1914–1915
06 — Colonial Annual Reports: British Honduras, 1948
British Colonial Government
Reporting year: 1948
07 — A Development Plan for British Honduras, Part One — General Report
Gamal Corea and Krishna R. V. Naidu
United Nations, June 17, 1963
HISTORIES, TESTIMONIES & CONTEMPORARY RESEARCH
08 — Telling the Truth: The Life and Times of the British Honduran Forestry Unit in Scotland (1941–44)
Amos A. Ford
1985
09 — From Piracy to Mechanization: The Atlantic Logwood Trade, 1550–1775
Cameron J. G. Dodge
Itinerario, Vol. 49 (2025), pp. 43–63
READING THE ARCHIVE
Archives are not neutral.
Many of the documents collected here were produced within colonial systems of governance, commerce, and historical documentation. Their language and interpretations reflect the institutional interests, political conditions, and prevailing attitudes of their time.
These materials are presented for historical study, critical examination, and continued conversation. Their inclusion does not constitute an endorsement of their perspectives or accounts.
We encourage readers to consider what these documents reveal, what they obscure, and whose experiences remain absent from the written record.
AN ONGOING COLLECTION
This archive is not intended to be complete or definitive.
It will continue to grow through further research, newly discovered documents, oral histories, recordings, publications, and contributions that expand our understanding of the exhibition's central themes.
The work of remembering is ongoing.
As new materials become available, they will be added to this collection, allowing it to remain an open and evolving resource for artists, researchers, students, and the broader community.
Have a resource to share?
We welcome relevant archival materials, publications, recordings, and research that may contribute to this growing collection.
[SUBMIT A RESOURCE / GET IN TOUCH]
ABOUT THE EXHIBITION
YOUR FRUIT TASTES SWEET, I TASTE SWEAT
October 22 – November 19, 2026
Rooted in Belizean and Central American histories, Your Fruit Tastes Sweet, I Taste Sweat brings together artists exploring land, labor, migration, memory, and inheritance.
Through the movement of people, materials, and histories across generations, the exhibition considers the often-unseen labor behind what we consume, what we carry, and what remains.
Curated by Philip Patrick Harper Bucknor.
Presented by FORTHEFUTURE in partnership with SOVERN.
West Adams, Los Angeles.
[LEARN MORE ABOUT THE EXHIBITION]
Curated and assembled by Philip Patrick Harper Bucknor / FORTHEFUTURE.
An evolving archive, 2026–ongoing.