A Brief History of Haitian Art

After the earthquake last January, Haiti has been in the news and at front of peoples minds. There was great human suffering, and many around the world came together to help the people of Haiti. From this we are reminded, as we so often are not in the daily news, that all people are basically good. But as the dust settles, we see more damage, damage to other things that already existed to remind us of the good in human nature, and one of those things is Haitian art.

The modern formal history of Haitian art is fairly short. It began in 1943, when DeWitt Peters moved to Haiti from America to teach English. Besides being and English teacher, he had a passion for painting, particularly watercolors, and was surprised that there was no place for art exhibits or any art galleries to be found. Seeing the poverty of the people and the lack of opportunity, he had a vision to offer a place where talented, local Haitians could further develop these natural talents while at the same time provide a respectable alternative way to make a living besides manual labor.

It only took a year for him to start bringing his dream to fruition. He convinced the Haitian government to donate a local building to his cause and he opened Le Center d'Art in Port-au-Prince, which served as both an art school and an art gallery. It did not take much searching to find local talent, who are well known in the Haitian art community today. Particularly, Peters focused on local primitive art, in which he saw huge potential. Talented artists, or potential artists, arose from everywhere: Voodoo priests, taxi drivers, factory workers, and even the art school's yard boy.

After only three years, in 1947, it was time take the art to the world, and this was done in a large way (literally) by painting murals on the side of buildings. These murals attracted world wide attention, and slowly the demand for Haitian art began to grow. Many early Haitian painters have become internationally known because of the attention these murals attracted.

So what characterizes Haitian art? When I think of Haitian art, the first thing that comes to mind are vibrant colors. Much of it is considered primitive art, and the themes of social activities, the market, and country life is the focus of many artists. Like any form of art, there are various schools of painting. Some focus on daily life in the city, others more on the country side and the coastal towns, another is characterized by abstract human forms. Many artists are also heavily influenced by religion and lifestyle, primarily Catholicism, the religion brought by the European; and Voodoo, the religion of the indigenous people.

Besides paintings, there is sculptural art as well. Some of this art is seen in paper mache bowls and figures. Continuing in the spirt of Peters is the Art Creation Foundation for Children, which both educates and teaches children of Haiti artistic skills, something they can do to help support their family, both now and after they grow up. Their art work is bright and cheerful, and through them we see the continuation of the Haitian art tradition.