[Haitireport] Visit Haiti: Jacmel Artist Retreat
Melinda Miles
February 20 - March 1, 2006
Come celebrate Haitis carnival with the Centre de Formation
Artistique de Jacmel (CFAJ), an artist-run cooperative in the home of
Haitis folk art
tradition and the capitol of its carnival festivities!
The Jacmel International Artist Retreat exists to encourage
international exchanges and to raise support for the CFAJ art
center. This years
delegation offers educational panels, art sessions, and fun
excursions. KONPAY invites input from participants and implements
every possible
delegation request. Interpreters and guides are included with all
activities and accommodations are provided by the Cyvadier Hotel in
Jacmel
(www.hotelcyvadier.com).
There is music, Carnival... The surf pounds; the flowers bloom.
Governments change, but Jacmel remains the same.
~ Carole Cleaver, The New Leader
Panel Discussions:
Intro to Haiti, with the commentary: Experiencing History as an Artist
The meanings of carnival - artists, community leaders, historians
Slideshow of prevalent carnival art
Vodou: The Culture & Spirit of Haitian Art
Activities:
Trip to Bassin Bleu waterfall
Time to work on your own art
Beach party
Interactions:
Sessions with the women, men and youth artists of CFAJ
Face painting at the carnival stand
Papier-mbche creation for CFAJ
Tree planting with the MEPE Youth Movement for the Environment
Konbit Pou Ayiti/KONPAY
(Working Together for Haiti)
We are a Haitian-American non-governmental organization based in
Haiti. Our mission is to strengthen existing Haitian organizations,
build local
and national networks and create relationships between individuals in
the U.S. and Haiti.
KONPAY focuses on Haitian solutions to environmental, social and
economic problems and provides training and funding to grassroots and
community-based projects. KONPAY coordinates educational trips for
those interested in an exchange with the staff of our partner
programs. For more
information about KONPAY and our programs, please visit our website
at konpay.org.
Contact Elise Hansen for information about KONPAY and the
International Artist Retreat at 978-335-2758, or el...@konpay.org.
Delegation Dates: February 20-March 1, 2006
In-Country Cost including airfare from Port-au-Prince to Jacmel:
$850.00
You can lower your total cost by: pricing international airline
tickets and buying them early, staying at our approved Guest House
instead of the
hotel, and staying for one week instead of two.
New Jacmel Art Cooperative Holds First Exposition
Gede and Jean Rony Honored
Walking into the courtyard of the Center for Aristic Training of
Jacmel/CFAJ on November 1, 2005 was a lot like walking into a
cemetery. A skeleton wearing the black top hat of Papa Gede, the
playful and rowdy spirit of the dead, hung from a large cross just
inside the gate, and spotlights nestled in the trees cast long
shadows from coffins strewn throughout the yard. On the front step of
the gallery a group of drummers sat before a flag and gave the rhythm
of banda to the cool Caribbean night.
Director Didier Civil explained the choice of November 1 for CFAJs
first community open house and exhibition: Here in Haiti, November 1
is the holiday we value most not only because we are celebrating the
spirit Gede, but also because it is the day when we remember all of
our loved ones who have passed away. Although many different
religions are practiced in Haiti, all Haitians have a link to vodou,
Didier explained. Indeed, vodou is more a cultural tradition than a
religion, and its spirituality pervades virtually all of Haitian life.
According to anthropologist Karen McCarthy Brown, Gede raises life
energy and redefines the most painful situations even death itself
as one worth a good laugh. In a country like Haiti, it is not
surprising that the fet, or celebration, for Gede is the most valued.
Within Gede Haitians find a release from many social constraints he
is bawdy and bad-mouthed, the spirit of sex, humor and small children
as well as death. As McCarthy Brown discovered, Gedes humor is an
antidote to pain.
Central to Gedes iconography is the cross, because he stands at the
crossroads between life and death. Didier explained, Ours is a very
special thing because what people remember most is the installation
we represented Bawon (Gede at the crossroads) and put him at the
entrance to the cemetery because thats where he traditionally is. We
put flowers on the coffins to represent that even though people are
dead they are still in our minds and we remember them. The drummers
were also accompanied by traditional dancers as part of the
installation.
The goal of this first exposition was for CFAJ to do a big grand
opening something decidedly different to grab the imagination of
the city and promotion for CFAJ, while at the same time selling
some art work to benefit the cooperatives ongoing programs. CFAJ
offers training to disadvantaged children. Some of their paper house
and painting projects were displayed along the work of CFAJ member
artists in the two gallery rooms. It was also a community-oriented
event. No admission was charged so residents of Jacmel came and went
throughout the week-long exposition.
In addition to celebrating Gede, Didier and the artists of CFAJ chose
this event to commemorate their friend, Jean Rony David, who passed
away last year. Didier said, Jean Rony was an artist and friend of
ours who worked together with us. We could not go through this day
without thinking of him. A musician, Jean Rony was known throughout
Jacmel for his guitar playing and his renditions of popular songs,
including a version of Hotel California about Jacmel city. He had a
positive spirit and a progressive mind, and really appreciated things
with a cultural aspect.
To honor Jean Rony, Didier created another installation, which
included photos of Jean Rony, his guitar and painters palatte, and a
funeral wreath. Co-Director of KONPAY, CFAJs fiscal sponsor, Joe
Duplan said a few words: He was a brother to us and he was always
ready to help somebody, whatever the request. He sleeps with his
guitar and he wakes with his guitar. He would have been here to
serenade us.
CFAJs next big project is gearing up for Carnival 2006. This
involves papier-mache masks and floats, decorating a stand on the
parade route, designing a carnival t-shirt and preparing to host the
First Annual International Artist Retreat.
To learn more about Haitian Vodou, see Karen McCarthy Brown, "Mama
Lola: A Vodou Priestess in Brooklyn;" for more on Carnival in Jacmel,
Haiti, see Edwidge Danticat, "After the Dance"
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