A marvellous chaos - "Haiti, Kingdom of this World" Exhibition, Paris

The major exhibition of modern Haitian visual arts which took place at the Agnès B Gallery in Paris from 8 April to 22 May 2011 took its name from a novel by Cuban writer Alejo Carpentier. There were works by eighteen1 painters, sculptors, installation artists and video makers, including key figures like the now deceased Jean-Michel Basquiat, Mario Benjamin, a familiar figure at art meccas such as the Venice Biennial, and Edouard Duval-Carrié. 

The exhibition was staged with the support of the Musée des Beaux-Arts in Paris, the French Institute and funds allocated by the Agnès B Gallery. It is to be shown for three years in different countries in Europe, Africa, Asia and the Americas, and from June to August 2011 it will be at the Venice Biennial, in the Haitian pavilion. The Courier spoke to the curator of the exhibition and a number of the artists. 

Words from a marvellous chaos

Giscard Bouchotte, filmmaker and curator of the exhibition2

"My idea was to show present-day Haitian creative art, and the concept that most interested me was that of marvellous chaos. My starting point was the marvellous realism described by Haitian writers such as Jacques Stephen Alexis and René Depestre. The magic side of myths, which, instead of destabilizing society, give it structure. These myths are carried along by Haitian society: people live within them. 

It is no coincidence that Frank Etienne plays a key role in the exhibition. For 40 years, he has been exploring the theme of the aesthetics of chaos, and he is at the same time a major writer and a top visual artist."

Pascale Monnin, visual artist and gallery owner and creator of the installation 'The angel sacrificed"2

"In 'The Kingdom of this world' there is Noël, the slave who rises up against the colonists and who ends up as the slave of Christophe, the king of northern Haiti from 1808 to 1820. This is the explanation for this angel sacrificed in front of a backdrop of posters of politicians.  Though this country always finds the strength to get up again and to revolt, it always ends up falling down again, and even lower. 

I remember the hope in 2004 after the return of Aristide. But unfortunately those who take power, so far at least, have not managed to carry with them the dream that has carried them to power." 

Sébastien Jean, painter and sculptor whose canvas "Ignorance and torment" displays a vague Munch-like character

"Life is always turbulent in Haiti. And then there is another storm too, in my spirit. There are some very ignorant people who don’t understand what we are doing, and this is why I cross boundaries in my work. There are also artists who do more classic things but we chose to explore. It is a new Haiti.  People are afraid of my pictures: they find too much of the devil in them."

Michelange Quay is a video artist and film director. His films are inspired by movies and by the graphic arts, and his short film 'The Gospel of the Creole Pig' was part of the official competition at Cannes in 2004, and won the prize for best short film at the festivals of Locarno, Turin, Stockholm, Tokyo Con Can, Rio de Janeiro and São Paulo. He is showing extracts from "Eat, this is my body".2

"A central theme for me is identity and non-identity, one part a fiction in which we immerse ourselves, and the other a sort of arbitrary entity that emerges, bouncing back to us the question of who I am in relation to the face which I see in the mirror.

'Eat, this is my body' is also of course a meditation on the body of the country of Haiti, the physical, physiological body. Looking at questions like the insularity or inexorable nature of a certain Haitian identity or destiny which come up again and again every election day, the crossroads of a destiny where everything is still to be reinvented." 

Sergine André (Djinn), painter and installation artist and creator of the installation "Gédé Gateway no 3"

"My installation is about the gédés, the spirit of death. It is a spirit of death, but with a festive, joyful side and a bawdy charm. There is always a kind of continuity between death and life. Any believer who prepares a dead body in Haiti is involved in a conversation with death, and death takes on the appearance of a chain of life.

When I came to portray that I wanted it to be beautiful, poetic, with the components needed to characterize the gédés -  renowned for their good taste -  with dark purple velvet for colour and  touch;  gold, black light for depth, music…  and balance. And the poetry of the ritual of the gédés."

Frantz Jacques (Guyodo), sculptor

"The sculpture that you have seen is homage to the handicapped in the aftermath of the earthquake. When they see my work, visitors from abroad often ask me if it is voodoo. No, my work is about politics, world poverty. I am a Grande Rue artist. (Editor's note: this is a school of politically engaged and self-taught artists from the Bas de la ville, a poor neighbourhood of Port-au-Prince.)"

1 The artists not named in this article are: Elodie Barthélémy, Jean-Hérard Celeur, Maksaens Denis, André Eugène, Killy, Tessa Mars, Pasko, Barbara Prézeau, Roberto Stephenson and Hervé Télémaque.
2 See interview on the Courier website www.acp-eucourier.info

Hegel Goutier