[Online exclusive] Fowler’s vodou artifacts at risk in Haiti

The recent crisis in Haiti has caused concern among curators at
the Fowler Museum of Cultural History over the safety of important
artifacts residing in the beleaguered country.

With two Haitian artifact exhibits scheduled to be on display at
the Fowler Museum, which holds one of the most extensive permanent
collections of vodou artifacts in the world, there is worry for the
survival of important Haitian vodou artifacts, said Donald
Cosentino, a guest curator and world arts and cultures
professor.

Haiti has been plagued with political and social unrest. An
insurrection there has resulted in U.S. military intervention and
the abdication of President Jean Bertrand Aristide from office.

Currently, an interim government has taken control of the
country while U.S. Marines and a multinational peacekeeping force
maintain order.

Several works of Haitian American artist Edouard Duval-Carrie,
whose artwork makes up the second Haitian exhibit at the Fowler
Museum, have already been burned when rioters attacked museums in
Haiti.

The upcoming exhibits of Haitian artwork at the Fowler Museum
seek to reveal the spiritual power of art that is deeply
intertwined in Haitian life.

Stacy Abarbanel, a spokeswoman for the Fowler Museum, said the
first exhibit will be unveiled in the galleria of the museum this
August.

Titled “Saluting Vodou Spirits,” the exhibition will
feature 40 sequined Haitian flags from the Fowler Museum’s
larger repository of vodou sacred artifacts that are used in sacred
vodou ritual. Made of material such as velvet and rayon, and
ornamented with sequins and applique, these flags are used to
salute the spirits at the beginning of vodou ceremonies.

In October, the museum will feature Duval-Carrie’s work,
called “Divine Revolution.” The artwork comes in
various mediums, from newly sequined renditions of
Duval-Carrie’s paintings depicting the Haitian revolution to
an intricate altar for vodou spirits.

Both exhibits, which had been planned in anticipation of the
bicentennial anniversary of Haitian independence, make reference to
the country’s independence from France, achieved in 1804.
Many Haitians believe vodou spirits facilitated their
independence.

Representations of the vodou religion are often targeted in
times of political upheaval because of the enormous power they
signify, Cosentino said.

Cosentino said the celebratory nature of the exhibits will not
be undermined by the recent crisis. Rather, he said it “makes
the exhibition more relevant because it highlights the fact that
Haiti was born out of inequality.”

He added that the people of Haiti have struggled for equality
throughout their history, and these works of art will further
portray that struggle.

Six newly commissioned sequined portraits based upon
Duval-Carrie’s paintings for the follow-up exhibit were being
sequined by artists in Haiti when the crisis occurred. Yet the
artists remained undeterred by the unsteady social atmosphere.

“These artists insisted on continuing work, demonstrating
that they weren’t going to be prevented from completing their
art. I think it demonstrates a resilience of the arts,” said
Polly Roberts, deputy director and chief curator at the Fowler
Museum.

She added that the two exhibits work together to “overall
portray the uplifting and positive sides of Haitian life that
continues in the face of the turbulence. The combination of
exhibitions will be striking for people visually and
culturally.”

Roberts said the pieces of art shown at the Fowler Museum will
demonstrate that the Haitian artists strive to show that the vodou
spirits are still involved in their country’s political
landscape.

“The way that these Haitian artists interpret the power of
cultural tradition gives them hope amidst political turmoil. It is
an opportunity that we should seize to see the extraordinary
artistic vitality that continues nonetheless,” she said.