Haiti: Vodou Visionaries

African Arts, Spring, 2002 by Neysa Page-Lieberman

Intuit: The Center for Intuitive and Outsider Art Chicago, Illinois March 9-May 26, 2001

The stunning "Haiti: Vodou Visionaries" presented recent contributions by contemporary Haitian artists placed in the context of Vodou's vibrant and complex cosmology. This traveling exhibition was originated and curated by Marilyn Houlberg, professor of art history and anthropology at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. The crowded opening night, featuring a dedication by oungans (priests) Dr. Max Beauvoir and Sauveur St. Cyr and the entertainment of Haitian drummers, showed that the arts of Haitian Vodou are as vital as ever. The unconventional flavor of the exhibition was immediately evident. Visitors were greeted by a blaze of sequined flags in the images of Legba and Marasa, the Vodou lwa (spirits) who must be honored before a proper ceremony may begin. One assemblage after another followed, either in the form of extraordinary altars or groups of sculptures arranged for dramatic impact. Featuring very little didactic material, "Vodou Visionaries" did not invite the audience to interact intellectually within the confines of a traditional museum exhibition. Rather, it offered an experiential and organic approach of sheer creative force and visual surprise, similar to the impact of a Vodou ceremony.

The organizing theme was inspired by the sevis kay ceremony, performed in an ounfo, or temple, approximately once a year. The weeklong service pays homage and reverence to all the lwa served in the temple by dedicating a day of the week to each spirit. The devotees and initiates of the ounfo are guided through each day, learning sacred rites and absorbing the Vodou cosmology. In "Vodou Visionaries" the days of the week and the respective lwa of the sevis kay were represented through flags for Legba and Marasa, followed by altars for Lasiren, Ezili Freda, Ezili Danto, Danbala, Ogou, and Gede. The exhibition's weaving path made frequent pauses in front of ritual ground drawings called veves, and invited both the audience and the lwa to meet and make exchanges at the altars.

The spiritual and educational environment was communicated and represented through inanimate, highly symbolic objects. As is common within the Vodou aesthetic, an overabundance of reflective surfaces was at play: mirrors, metals, glass, beads, lushly textured fabrics, and of course the ever dazzling sequins created visual highlights. The most frequently utilized objects were dolls, either held within clear bottles or sculpted into animated poses. Numerous heavily sequined bottles dotted the altars and platforms, while ample flags gave the effect of shimmering wallpaper. Powerful ideas of transformation and the crossroads came to life through the hands of the artists, who had removed their work from the sacred realm of ounfo or home altars for aesthetic appreciation on a secular level. Ironically, the objects found their way back into a sacred environment, taking their places on altars or underneath lwa's flags. The omnipresent stereo-generated drumming and the flickering of candles that illuminated the veves completed the feeling that the visitor had left the secular space and entered an ounfo.

Marilyn Houlberg conceived of "Haiti: Vodou Visionaries" in part as a follow-up to the groundbreaking 1995 exhibition "Sacred Arts of Haitian Vodou," which she co-curated with Donald Cosentino. Unlike "Sacred Arts," which was not presented in Haiti because of its gigantic size and sweeping installations, "Vodou Visionaries" opened at Le Musee d'Art Haitien in Petionville, a major accomplishment for the exhibition. Although it was designed to be a smaller, intimate affair in order to be accommodated by the museum, the exhibit showed signs of growth and change. In Haiti, new objects were added throughout the show's tenure, and in Chicago the work of several new artists such as Veronique Leriche-Fischetti and Richard Pierre were introduced, bringing the exhibition to a size beyond initial expectations. Anticipation is building as much larger American venues are expected to participate, offering the potential for continued growth.

Ideas of metamorphosis, spontaneity, and progression were integral to the display, which complied with and exemplified the major premises of Houlberg's highly conceptual exhibition. The primary objective of "Vodou Visionaries" was to answer the question "What are Haitian Vodou artists doing right now?" The visual response showcased the work of contemporary artists and represented the most up-to-date developments and movements in the Vodou arts. Houlberg selected the artists to lead the audience in a contemporary dialogue about the religion and its creative expression, as all of the artists are active in Vodou, with many descending from mambos and oungans. It was no coincidence that the Haitian opening took place during the first weeks of the new millennium. The timing was intended to illustrate that this intensely expressive religion, whose traditions date back at least 500 years, has survived into this era through the hands of fresh, young talent with a new vision.