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By Floré Zephir, Ph. D. Scholars describe Haiti as a country of "political failures" but "cultural successes," and acknowledge that "an original and vibrant culture has thrived for nearly two centuries in spite of politics." The richness and breadth of Haitian culture that emerged in the early days of independence continues to flourish to the present day, and is visible in Haitian diasporic communities in the United States. Some of its core elements include a strong sense of racial pride, deeply rooted religious beliefs and practices, and a real enthusiasm for artistic and literary creativity. Those themes are prominent in the works of the writers of the indigenist movement that developed during the U.S. Occupation of Haiti. One of the chief proponents of that movement was Jean Price-Mars, who has been considered the father, or the precursor, of the Negritude movement that emerged in Paris under the leadership of Senegalese President Léopold Sédar Senghor. Jacques Roumain is another authoritative Haitian writer of that period, whose acclaimed novel, Gouverneurs de la rosée, is perhaps the most widely-read piece of Haitian literature. Both Price-Mars and Roumain have become literary icons, and their works are regularly taught in Black literature courses in many U.S. universities. Another Haitian literary giant is undoubtedly Félix Morisseau-Leroy, who lived in Miami for the last twenty years of his life after a long exile in France and Africa. Morisseau-Leroy died in late summer 1998 at the age of 86. His influence on the Haitian diasporic community is seen in the fact that a major thoroughfare in Miami's Little Haiti - Second Avenue N.E. - has been renamed Avenue Morisseau-Leroy in his honor. In addition to its literary and intellectual legacy, Haiti is well known throughout the world for its artistic expression. The first art form that developed right after independence was portrait and historical painting. In December of 1980, an exhibition titled, "Haitian History as Seen by its Painters," showcased a great many of these paintings and documented the existence of Haitian art as early as the nineteenth century. However, it was in the 1940s that Haitian art really emerged on the international scene. This recognition is attributed to the American watercolorist Dewitt Peters, who in 1944 came to Haiti as an English teacher, and founded the Centre d'Art "where Haitians would come and paint and exchange ideas without having to follow academic lectures, fostering a state of mind favorable to artistic development." Some artists at the Centre d'Art developed an art form that is called primitive or naive art. It focuses on nature and daily life, and Vodou rhythm and structure. These themes coincide precisely with those of the indigenist literary movement. Eminent personalities visited the Centre d'Art, including French surrealist André Breton - who gave special attention to Haitian art in his book Surrealism and Painting - Cuban painter Wilfredo Lam, and renowned Cuban art critique José Gomez-Sicré. In 1947, a UNESCO art exhibition held in Paris at the Museum of Modern Art featured the work of the Vodouist painter Hector Hyppolite, thus bringing a great deal of visibility to Haitian artistic traditions. The nationally and internationally known Galerie d'Art Nader, that opened in Port-au-Prince in 1966, has the finest collection of Haitian paintings available for purchase. Over the years, the gallery has expanded with branches in the Dominican Republic and the United States; in March 2003, it opened a branch in Coral Gables, Florida. Other artists also trained at the Centre d'Art, such as Georges Liautaud, developed an ironwork art form and produced decorative metal sculptures. These structures represent a variety of things: snakes, dragons, mermaids, and many other creatures. Other artists expressed their talents through the designing of sequined flags that are used in Vodou ceremonies. In fact, in the 1980s and 1990s, sequined flags produced in Haiti, depicting representations of Vodou lwas really caught the attention of foreigners. As recently as the mid/late 1990s, the Fowler Museum at the University of California-Los Angeles organized a very successful exhibition entitled "Sacred Arts of Haitian Vodou," which toured a number of major cities, including New York City, where the exhibit was housed at the Museum of Natural History in the Fall of 1998. It is also important to note that the Milwaukee Art Museum is home to the largest collection of Haitian art in the United States and, in fact, in the world. This collection of Haitian art classics, named the Flagg collection, was originally purchased by the late multimillionaire Richard Flagg (and his wife Erna) at the urging of his friend, Monsignor Alfred Voegeli, the Episcopalian Bishop of Haiti who was from Milwaukee. Upon his death, the collection was bequeathed to the Milwaukee Art Museum. Music is certainly another form of artistic expression that has brought a great deal of visibility to Haitians. Haiti has a long-standing musical tradition ranging from folkloric music to Creole rap singers. One popular indigenous form of music that is very popular and is used in Vodou ceremonies is the Rara. Rara rhythms originated with the peasant class, and is embedded in African traditions. Rara bands perform in the streets at various times when there are particular political events that incite grassroot movements. However, the established tradition of the Rara festival is during the Lent season, right after Carnival up until Easter Sunday. Because Rara uses songs that can also be found in the traditional Vodou repertoire, it has attracted the attention of scholars. Elizabeth McAlister, for instance, wrote extensively on the topic in her book Rara! Vodou, Power, Performance in Haiti and Its Diaspora. In the mid-1950s, another well known form of music in Haiti known as Konpa developed, based on the influence of the Meringue from the Dominican Republic. For many years, Konpa dominated the Haitian musical scene with such artists as Weber Sicot and Nemours Jean-Baptiste. As one scholar notes, Konpa "marks the emergence of a music industry in Haiti and is the first Haitian popular music to achieve commercial success." In the late 1960s and early 1970s, with the international rise of rock music, young Haitian musicians, some from the middle class, began to produce their own version of Konpa music and formed other types of music known as Combo. Tabou Combo&emdash;which was formed in Haiti and relocated to New York when the political situation worsened in the late 1970s&emdash; and Miami-based T-Vice are two bands illustrative of this type of music. The deterioration of the country forced many musicians to leave Haiti, taking their art with them to New York and Miami. Consequently, new musical interests developed that sought to return to Haitian folk forms, in particular Vodou and Rara musical traditions. These new interests crystallized in 1978 with the formation of a group called Boukman Eksperyans. This group takes its name after the famous slave Boukman, who presided over the ceremony of the Bois-Caïman on the night of August 14th, 1791, held to set the final details of the massive slave insurrection that would eventually lead to Saint-Domingue's independence. This newer form of music is known as mizik rasin, meaning roots music. Through their music and lyrics, artists spoke against the abuses of the Duvalier regime, and allied themselves with the struggle of the masses. This explains the strong use of Rara traditions in their music. In this connection, one needs to acknowldege the Haitian American idol and Hip-Hop artist Wyclef Jean, who is the most influential artist of the Haitian diaspora. Many of his songs relate to core issues of the Haitian experience; he is truly the embodiment of the most fundamental elements of Haitian culture. In short, Haitians have good reason to be proud of their artistic achievements, and the visibility that Haitian literature, art, and music have gained might palliate some of the negative portrayals of Haitians in the media. Flore Zéphir, Ph.D. is a Professor of Romance Languages and African Disapora Studies at the University of Missouri- Columbia. Her column appears monthly in the Reporter.
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