Quake's toll on Haitian art, heritage and income High in the hills above the Haitian capital, artist Levoy Exil paints at his terrace studio. The man who began a career using beets, carrots, tomatoes and black beans for paint creates vibrant abstractions of life and nature. A year ago, he infused a celestial oil painting with hues of purplish red, symbolizing blood, after he gazed outward and for a moment the verdant landscape turned to black. He knew then that something bad was coming. He saw the blood he had imagined on the streets of Port-au-Prince on January 12 when the earth heaved and 150,000 people perished.
CNN, 01/29/2010
Haiti's Cultural Destruction, Given the scale of the human destruction caused by the recent earthquake in Haiti -- at least 150,000 people are thought to have lost their lives in the tremors that hit the island on Jan. 12, 2010, the initial focus of media coverage was understandably on the efforts to provide basic relief. However, a week on, a number of reports have begun to come in about how the cultural sector has fared, and they are not good. With the disaster still ongoing, no one knows the true extent of the damage to Haitian cultural life. What is certain, however, is that as the weeks go by, more bad news can be expected.
ArtNet, 01/26/2010
Art Trove Is Among Nation's Losses Georges Nader Sr. considers himself lucky: The two rooms of his vast home that survived this month's earthquake were those in which he and his wife were napping. What didn't survive were the 12,000 artworks in the rest of his 35-room mansion, believed to be the world's largest repository of Haitian art. Many important Haitian works have survived elsewhere, but the future of Haiti's art community is harder to divine. Haitian art supporters abroad say many artists were injured, and some remain unaccounted for. Mario Benjamin, a prominent artist who survived the earthquake, said the absence of state support had stunted the development of Haitian art before the quakes, and he sees little indication the quake will provide a revival. "How could I see an opportunity on top of bodies on the street?" he asked.
Wall Street Journal, 1/25/2010
A cultural agony in a nation where art is life At Port-au-Prince's main art museum, it looked as if a cruel giant had taken bites out of the walls and ceiling of the cavernous exhibition hall. Joseph Gaspard, a member of the board of directors of the College Saint Pierre museum, was inspecting the site Saturday for the first time since the Jan. 12 earthquake, crunching broken glass as he walked through the debris. He struggled not to cry. "Haitian art is what makes the international eye see us," he said. "Every Haitian is an artist. Art, it is us, it's what we are. Even our children are artists."
LATimes, 1/24/2010
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Quake painting by Haitian artist Frantz Zephirin has already incorporated the earthquake in his art, as seen in his newest creation. "I wanted to show Haitians in a sea of blood," he said. But amid the hands in the sea of blood, Zephirin has painted this: "Haiti will reborn." LA Times ]
Op-Art: Scenes From a Catastrophe New York Times, 1/24/2010
Vibrant Haitian art vanishes in the dust The earthquake two weeks ago buried hundreds of thousands and struck deep into Haiti's vibrant arts community, erasing in seconds cultural touchstones like the murals that depicted Christ's birth, crucifixion and ascension. Even as talk turns to rebuilding, artists struggle to account for the loss of thousands of expressions of artwork that shows themselves, and the world, a creativity that persists through years of political strife, turmoil and poverty. "We'll be knocking on every door possible to save whatever is left," said Gerald Alexis, a Haitian-born curator and expert on Caribbean art who from his home in Quebec is trying to mobilize arts groups to find a way to preserve the portions of the mural that survive. "It is essential for future generations, for our identity." The losses on the cultural front are staggering.
Miami Herald, 1/24/2010
Cultural Riches Turn to Rubble in Haiti Quake Long before its ground started heaving, Haiti was already a byword for a broken place. Its leaders were considered kleptocrats; its people were jaw-droppingly poor. But there was still a pride that burst forth from the people here, linked both to the country’s heroic history and to the vibrant culture that united them and enabled them to endure. Now many of the symbols of that proud side of Haiti lie in ruins. The National Palace, the Notre Dame Cathedral, the Supreme Court, all are in various states of collapse. Also devastated is the Episcopal Church’s Holy Trinity Cathedral, known for its murals of Bible stories with all black figures.
NewYork Times, 1/23/2010
Collection connection: Fate of artists whose work is exhibited in Waterloo is unknown, Waterloo Center for the Arts curator Kent Shankle was relieved to receive word that Haitian artist Frantz Zephirin had survived the devastating earthquake that struck Haiti Jan. 12. But the fate of many other artists whose work is represented in the center's extensive Haitian collection is unknown, as well as other friends and colleagues. Marilyn Houlberg from Chicago's Art Institute, an expert on Haitian Voudou arts and culture, was among the missing, but has since been found OK, said Shankle. "We're working the e-mail and other sources to try to find out what we can. It's still chaotic," he said.
WCFCourier, 01/20/2010
The following is a list of lists, resources and other contacts that have been used to ascertain the well being of Basil Akenson. We share these in hopes that any information about Bresil can be posted on these same lists, communicated to the resources and/or contacts. Our prayers are with Bresil, his family and other Haitian artists. 
