Photojournalists’ documentation of Haitian Traditional Artists in South Florida on display at Historical Museum
MIAMI – Almann Ulysse chisels sculptures out of steel drums. Andre Fouad delivers Creole and French poems in local cafes. Marie Montes bakes vanilla wedding cakes in her converted garage. Gabriel Fleury creates kites to fly on Easter and other celebrations.
These and other local Haitian artists are the subjects of a new photographic exhibition at the Historical Museum of Southern Florida.
Haitian Community Arts: Images by Iris PhotoCollective will be on display at the downtown Miami museum September 28 through January 14, 2007.
The opening reception will begin at 5:30 pm on Thursday, September 28, at the Celebrating Your Museum Annual Season Kick-off. The event is free and open to the public. Guests will also enjoy live Haitian music and dance and delicious hors d’oeuvres.
“Some of these artists struggle to eek out a living from their work. Many have other full-time professions, and continue practicing their art not for money but for tradition. It’s essential for them to express and honor their Haitian heritage,” says Curator for Community Research Dr. Joanne Hyppolite, who organized the exhibition. Luis Rios, The Miami Herald’s Director of Photography assisted with editing photographs for the exhibition.
Museum visitors will see 38 color photographs of artistic, festive and religious traditions in South Florida, home to the largest Haitian community in the United States. Featured art forms include fè koupe (steel drum sculpture), woodcarving, sewing, baking, drumming, dancing, singing, poetry, kite-making and children’s games. One of the exhibition goals is to show how everyday photographs often invoke more questions than seek to define a moment.
Award-winning photojournalists André Chung (Baltimore Sun), Carl Juste (The Miami Herald) and Pablo Martínez Monsivaís (Associated Press) formed Iris PhotoCollective in 2000 out of an artistic vent. “We were frustrated with the lack of soul and substance in photographs of people of color, ” explains Juste. “We wanted their voices to be heard. They’re not victims, and we’re not their saviors. We’re their apostles.”
The members of Iris PhotoCollective fulfill their mission through extensive travel, capturing images in places such as Cuba, Haiti, Mexico, Pakistan, South Africa and the United States. They also teach, give lectures, and present exhibitions in universities and museums around the country.
Haitian Community Arts: Images by Iris PhotoCollective was funded in part by the National Endowment for the Arts.
About Iris PhotoCollective
As artists of color, the members of Iris have collaborated to create a new context in order to explore and document the relationship of people of color to the world. Free from the overriding influence of the dominant culture, they examine this relationship in their own voices, while preserving the integrity and principles of photojournalism.
For more information, visit www.irisphotocollective.com
