Vodou Riche Exhibit – by Anita Simmons
When most Americans outside of Haiti hear the word Voudou, they automatically assume the worst. This notion can be best expressed as people fear what they don’t know. It isn’t in most American curriculums, or institutions that we learn about Haitian art, or Voudou inspired art, when the United States is a society based on Christian beliefs, morals, and values.
Columbia College Chicago, can be credited as being one of the breakthrough colleges that had the open-mindedness to welcome the Haitian art exhibit, Voudou Riche. The exhibit has been housed at Columbia College Chicago since August 27 2007 in its Glass Curtain Gallery, 1104 S. Wabash Ave, and will end October 16, 2007. The exhibit is free and open to the public, which makes the art more accessible to art viewers and students alike.
The curator of the exhibit, Ms. Neysa Page-Lieberman added a wonderful touch of rhetorical skill and immense knowledge to exhibit. Her nonchalant, down to earth style conveyed to me her comfortable and earned place as a continually learning student in the field of African art forms, and Haitian religion and culture. Her appreciation and acceptance of Haitian art, and their national religion Voudou despite her different cultural, ethnic, racial, social, and religious background was apparent, well needed and well deserved.
Seeing the Voudou Riche exhibit for the first time in its entirety I was blown away. All the negative connotations associated with Voudou didn’t matter to me because at one point in my life I wanted, and still plan to adapt Voudou as my religion since I am non-religious. I had done my own previous research on Voudou, but nothing could have prepared me for what I saw at the exhibit. Huge penises, dolls bound to chairs, dolls in bottles, rum and cigars on the altar, the spirit Gede, not knowing whether he wanted to masturbate or urinate was all too overwhelmingly funny and intriguing to me. I loved it. Since Haitians are geographically African Americans I felt a spiritual connection to the exhibit being an African American woman myself. Isn’t that one of main purposes of art, to have a spiritual connection?
The exhibit did a wonderful job of exploring the complexities and intricate connections between Voudou and Catholicism. I readily identified the double consciousness that W.E.B. DuBois declares that all peoples of African descent embody through all the artist’s pieces. My ultimate favorite piece that had me transfixed the moment I laid eyes on it was the green deity, Ms. Erzulie Freda, the goddess of love and luxury. Mr. Frantz Jacques created Ms. Freda as a modern-day punk rocker character. Everything about Erzulie screamed confidence, that’s why I loved her. With her feet planted firmly, her tattoos, and her helmet, she was ready to combat love. She reminded me so much of myself that I simply adored her. What also caught my attention about Erzulie Freda was the hole staring at us in her crotch that was intentionally made for the insertion of the huge penis. Putting aside my feminist beliefs for the sake of art, I allowed myself to find humor in the situation as the artist himself had intended.
The essence of the exhibit, turning nothing into something, laughing to keep from crying, letting the world know that Haiti does exist and can thrive in the realm of creative expression we call art. I commend and thank all of the artists for giving their viewers a unique lens in which to view contemporary Haitian art, and shattering negative misconceptions and preconceived notions associated with Voudou for years to come.
Anita Simmons
Senior
Cultural Studies Major
Black World Studies Minor
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