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1978
- 1988
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In Haitian rural areas, art plays mainly a functional role and is an integral part of peoples' daily lives. Artists are not singled out nor do they receive special training. Rather, people use art forms to sort through the meaning of personal and community events. Haitians draw on their experiences, their environment and their religion to decorate homes, tombs and other objects.
In the early days of their migration, Haitians drew and painted boats in several contexts. The boat drawings reflected their experience as fishermen who eked out a living from fishing in their homeland. The boats also represented their migration; they had crossed the open seas in small sailboats in search of a better future. The boat drawings were further reminders that adaptation to American culture was not easy. They reflect the uncertainty of the early days, the feelings of alienation, home sickness and the yearning for familiar surroundings. Cantave Sean and his friends took advantage of Migrant Center's CAMPS program to express these feelings in art while harvesting potatoes in upstate New York. |
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This photograph expresses the
drama of migration and the adaptation of Haitian boat people. The boat
drawing is the veve of Agwe. A veve is a
symbolic representation of a lwa, or vodou
spirit. Veves carry layers of meaning and contain critical
elements that link them to particular spirits and communicate to the
people aspects of that spirit.
Veves were extremely important in the early stages of the boat people migration. They helped Haitians deal with the stress and alienation of migration by providing links to their homeland, the spirits and the ancestors. The veve of Agwe reflects his role as "master of the sea and protector of fishermen and those who travel on the water." Depressed and homesick boat people sometimes stood on a veve of Agwe, asking him to take them home. |
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