Haiti: A Tribute in Art
Haiti: A Tribute in Art
Delaware Art Museum
May 8, 2010 – July 11, 2010
The Delaware Art Museum and the Wilmington, Delaware, Chapter of The Links, Incorporated, present Haiti: A Tribute in Art, featuring sequined and beaded voodoo flags, ironwork, and paintings by contemporary artists, on view at the Museum May 8, 2010 – July 11, 2010. This exhibition celebrates Haiti’s rich artistic diversity. The works of art are based on several themes relevant to this creative Caribbean country—history, religion, landscape, and daily life. Drawn from local collections, Haiti: A Tribute in Art was inspired by and organized in collaboration with the Wilmington, Delaware, Chapter of The Links, Incorporated.
Much of Haitian art is closely tied to voodoo (also spelled vodou or vodun), a complicated blending of Christianity and African religions. Haitian flags, such as Yves Telemaque’s Erzulie Freda, are used at the beginning of voodoo ceremonies to summon the spirits they represent. Erzulie is the spirit of romantic love, and in this work, she is shown as a parallel to the Virgin Mary. Another flag, Marriage La Sirene et Agoue, shows the marriage of the god and goddess of the sea, Agoue and La Sirene. The figure of La Sirene appears in multiple works throughout the exhibition.
Many Haitian painters continue to honor the heroes of Haiti’s war for independence from France. Included in the exhibition are portraits of Henri Christophe, Jean-Jacques Dessaline, and Francois Dominique Toussaint Louverture, who commanded the armies of the Haitian revolution before he was kidnapped and taken to France.