Worldtown Hearsay :: Haiti Bienniale - Before the Quake
Haiti Ghetto Bienniale
One Month before Haiti’s tragic earthquake, one month before the world suddenly woke up to the country’s plight - Haitian life and art were captured poetically in the first ever Ghetto Bienniale. The townships of Port-Au-Prince transformed into urban art landscapes, showcasing the dynamic visual artists in an aptly titled, “A Salon des Refuses for the 21st Century”. Asking the question, “What happens when first world art rubs up against third world art? Does it bleed?” The Bienniale hosted artists and academics from countries like Jamaica, Venezuela and Columbia to respond. This feature in Dazed Digital magazine captures some of what there was to say.
As Haiti struggles to pick itself up from the most recent disaster, long after the cameras leave and the history of revolution and powerful resilience becomes a documented footnote in the media, the people’s drive to recollect and drive a message against oppression is persistent and clear.
In downtown Port-Au-Prince, Haiti, the “Red Alert Zone” is home for three weeks to the world’s first Ghetto Biennale, with 35 artists and scholars in attendance from many countries, including Haiti, USA, UK, Jamaica, Colombia, Croatia and Germany. In the Grand Rue area of the ghetto, we navigate past food stalls, welders, pavement garages and people just hanging out (most with stunning, sculptured physiques and posture). People entering into the ghetto are greeted by a sculpture of Vodou (“voodoo”) god Papa Legba – trickster, warrior, and messenger of destiny. Standing over eight metres high and sporting a formidable phallus, it is constructed from a car chassis, part of an old truck, bed-frames and scrap metal.
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