SATURDAY SESSION

Art of Haiti: Modernity and Tradition, Local Identities and Global Markets in Haitian Art
4:15 PM – 5:30 PM
Presenter: LeGrace Benson

Haiti, formed in the modern revolutionary crucible of the eighteenth century, produced high quality works of art during its French colonial period. Afterward the revolutionary heroes become president or king supported flourishing academies and studios. Yet the new country was a trade and cultural pariah, and it would be 150 years before the art would come to international attention. A convergence of Haitian nationalism and African heritage consciousness met recognition from French and United States cultural leaders and resulted in combined financial subventions from Haiti, The United States, and UNESCO. Thus several distinct styles of Haitian art flourished. Haitian modernism, arising out of French and North American training appeared side by side with the works of Kreyol painters from a milieu of centuries-old traditions carefully protected and nurtured. Both continuities subsequently responded to events and circumstances of the evolving twentieth and twenty-first centuries, creating art that is now both strikingly diverse and unmistakably Haitian.