Commentary: Haiti, a deep reservoir of artistic talent!
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| Published on Saturday, December 20, 2008 |
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By Jean H Charles
During the last two months, three major shows of high artistic quality took place in Port au Prince, Haiti. They deserve a wider international coverage, with buyers from the department stores of the world visiting these shows to satisfy the appetite of fine connoisseurs of luxury products.
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| Jean H Charles MSW, JD is Executive Director of AINDOH Inc a non profit organization dedicated to build a kinder and gentle Caribbean zone for all. He can be reached at: jeanhcharles@aol. |
The pieces were of high quality and of excellent artistic value. The venue was enchanting, the service inviting and the variety impressive. You could find indoor and outdoor furniture, where art and utility were competing to meet the needs of those who must have both. Fine linen embroidered with care and skill was placed closed to paintings that remind one of the works of Jean Michel Basquiat, with home décor and fashion accessories to suit the diva that needs and requests the best of everything.
The first artistic show and sale took place at the magnificent Park de la Cane a Sucre in mid October. The site was an old colonial sugar plantation restored to modern standard and organized into a show place for outdoor functions and commercial shows. It was planned by a young entrepreneur, Martine Blanchard, who took the time and the patience to comb the entire country to nurture and incubate the artists in creating pieces that the Bourbons and the Bonapartes of France could commission for the Royal Court in the 18th Century.
From the town of Croix des Bouquets, located at a joy ride from Port au Prince, the capital, a whole school of artisans brought their ironwork that could be a lamp or a sculpture or both. John Edwards, the former candidate in the American presidential election, may have heard the news; he was in Haiti for a charity event, he profited by visiting the small town with an entourage of celebrities to pick up pieces to decorate his mansion in North Carolina.
From Fonds des Blanc’s, a small town in the south of Haiti that still has a Polish cultural genealogy, came the fine embroidered linen. Some two hundred years ago, the Polish contingent brought to St Domingue by Napoleon to fight the Black insurgents, made a volte-face against the French army to side with the Haitian heroes. As a reward, they were made honorary citizens of Haiti and were given large piece of land that those descendants still inhabit.
From Grande Riviere du Nord, the birth place of Jean Jacques Dessalines, Haiti’s founding father, and of Jean Price Mars, Black is beautiful motto’ ancestor, came baskets of all types and all genres, to decorate the kitchen, showcase the fruits and the vegetables or hop to the supermarket in tropical style with the green and ecological spirit in mind.
And there was more…
The second show was put on by another energetic young woman, Danielle St Lot, whose foreparent was the rapporteur for and one of the drafters of the Declaration of Human Rights, which is celebrating its 60th anniversary this month. She has assembled most of the women artists of the country into a federation to better market their skills and their production to a wider audience. That commercial fair took place at the magnificent Caribe Hotel and Convention Center, one of the finest jewels of hospitality of Haiti, run by the Buteau family. They have a chain of three hotels maintained with immaculate care and attention in spite of the de facto tourist embargo against Haiti.
The third and the last show took place in the first week of December at the same place, the Hotel Caribe. It was sponsored by one of the largest book edition companies of the country: Maison Henry Deschamps, more than a century old. It has created the Foundation Lucienne Deschamps to promote education in and, the arts and the culture of Haiti.
The fair was coordinated by an attractive young Haitian socialite, Stephanie Villedroin. It showcases the spectacular artistic production of the Haitian artisans, where more than 70 kiosks of art galleries, fine coffee brands, as well as the presence of the famous aroma of Barbancourt rum could be felt. It was designed also to feature the Haitian tourist village. In the vast and well decorated courtyard of the hotel, you could visit with and talk to the managers of all the hotels of Haiti, from the magnificent and majestic Montana, where kings and the princesses usually feel at home, to the small rustic mountain hideaway of Mont St Jean of La Vallee de Jacmel, the Vail of Haiti for the newlyweds in search of a secluded place for their honeymoon.
The managers of these hotels were called in by the Association Touristique d’Haiti. They were all there, enthusiastic of this new synergy where the private sector refuses to wait for the leadership from the public sector in creating the infrastructure and the environment that would bring in tourists by the thousands to enjoy a Haiti that is still the pearl of the islands in spite of its bruises from the international community.
The next round of artistic shows will take place in May, October and December of 2009. Buyers and connoisseurs of fine and luxury items, be aware! Haiti is your rendezvous for the next venue for quality art accessories that please the eye and the spirit while fully functional.
Note:
Martine Blanchard and her association can be reached at: www.lenouvelliste.com
Danielle St Lot and her group can be reached at: vitalvoiceshaiti@yahoo.com
The ATA: The Haiti Association of Hotel Owners can be contacted at: ath_haiti@yahoo.com | | | | Reads : 2192 | | | |
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