Haiti: A Tribute in Art

May 8, 2010 – July 11, 2010

The Delaware Art Museum and the Wilmington, Delaware, Chapter of The Links, Incorporated, are presenting Haiti: A Tribute in Art, featuring sequined and beaded voodoo flags, ironwork, and paintings by contemporary artists. This exhibition celebrates Haiti’s rich artistic diversity. The works of art are based on several themes relevant to this creative Caribbean country—history, religion, landscape, and daily life. Drawn from local collections,  Haiti: A Tribute in Art was inspired by and organized in collaboration with the Wilmington, Delaware, Chapter of The Links, Incorporated.

Much of Haitian art is closely tied to voodoo (also spelled vodou or vodun), a complicated blending of Christianity and African religions. Haitian flags, such as Yves Telemaque’s Erzulie Freda, are used at the beginning of voodoo ceremonies to summon the spirits they represent. Erzulie is the spirit of romantic love, and in this work, she is shown as a parallel to the Virgin Mary. Another flag, Marriage La Sirene et Agoue, shows the marriage of the god and goddess of the sea, Agoue and La Sirene. The figure of La Sirene appears in multiple works throughout the exhibition.

Many Haitian painters continue to honor the heroes of Haiti’s war for independence from France.  Included in the exhibition are portraits of Henri Christophe, Jean-Jacques Dessaline, and Francois Dominique Toussaint Louverture, who commanded the armies of the Haitian revolution before he was kidnapped and taken to France.

Marriage La Sirene et Agoue, c. 2009 Evelyn Alcide Sequins on fabric Collection of Nancy Josephson

About The Links, Incorporated

The Links, Incorporated, is an international, not-for-profit corporation, established in 1946.  The membership consists of 12,000 professional women of color in 270 chapters located in 42 states, the District of Columbia, and the Commonwealth of the Bahamas.  It is one of the nation’s oldest and largest volunteer service organizations of extraordinary women who are committed to enriching, sustaining, and ensuring the culture and economic survival of African Americans and other persons of African ancestry.  Learn more at www.linksinc.org.

The Wilmington, Delaware, Chapter of The Links, Incorporated, is hosting a fundraiser, “The Art of Haiti,” at the Delaware Art Museum on Saturday, June 5, and a Family Walk for Haiti’s Children on Sunday, June 6.  These events will benefit Art Creation Foundation for Children, Les P’tits Trésors School, and Partners in Health.  For more information, contact Valerie J. Gilliam at 302.762.4027 or vgilliama@yahoo.com.

Click here to view The Links’ invitations for these events. 

About Outlooks

The Delaware Art Museum’s Outlooks Exhibition Series encourages community involvement in the creation of exhibitions that will be hosted by the Museum. The Delaware Art Museum accepts proposals for Outlooks exhibitions from organizations, community groups, and residents of our surrounding area, contributing to the Museum’s mission of providing an inclusive and essential community resource.

All Outlooks exhibitions are displayed in the Ammon Galleries on the Museum’s second floor.

Click here to learn more about the Outlooks Exhibition Series.

Farmland, c. 2000      Serge Pierre Acrylic on panel, 16 x 22 inches         Courtesy of Vivant Art Collection

Organizer & Sponsors

Haiti: A Tribute in Art was organized by the Delaware Art Museum in collaboration with the Wilmington, Delaware, Chapter of The Links, Incorporated.

In Delaware, this exhibition is made possible, in part, by grants from the Delaware Division of the Arts, a state agency dedicated to nurturing and supporting the arts in Delaware, in partnership with the National Endowment for the Arts.

This exhibition is supported, in part, by a grant from the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS).