page_title: Haitian Vodou art
section_title: Other objects
hierarchical_section_title: Haitian Vodou art / Other objects
caption_attribution_description: English: Haitian Vodou altar created during a festival for the Guede spirits, Boston, MA. Top right area is offerings to Rada spirits; top left to Petwo spirits; bottom to Gede. Русский: Алтарь сторонников Гаитянского Вуду, в котором сочетаются символы католичества и вуду.
context_page_description: Haitian Vodou art is art related to the Haitian Vodou religion. This religion has its roots in West African traditional religions brought to Haiti by slaves, but has assimilated elements from Europe and the Americas and continues to evolve. The most distinctive Vodou art form is the drapo Vodou, an embroidered flag often decorated with sequins or beads, but the term covers a wide range of visual art forms including paintings, embroidered clothing, clay or wooden figures, musical instruments and assemblages. Since the 1950s there has been growing demand for Vodou art by tourists and collectors.
context_section_description: In the 1940s Haitian professional artists began to create imitations of images provided by foreign entrepreneurs. The images represented the foreigners' view of the essence of Vodou art. This interaction was later dismissed and the Haitian works were stated to be authentic.
  In 1949 fifteen artists decorated the Episcopal Saint Trinite Cathedral in Port-au-Prince with murals that contrast Vodou art and traditional scenes from the bible.
  Thirteen of the artists were Catholics and/or Vodouists.
  In the 1950s the murals became world famous. African gods were found in the symbolism of Christian images. Thus the "Damballah Virgin" by Andre Dimanche was identified as Erzulie, a lwa connected to Aphrodite, Mater Dolorosa, health and an angry Madonna.
  A doll incorporated in a work of Vodou art can be animated so it can perform supernatural work, protecting the home. The Haitian Vodou priest Georges René explains the process, saying "anything can do mystique if you believe in it... you have to turn it into mystic. You baptize it. You make a ceremony. You put the food the lwa eats... after that you can work with it. It gets a soul. You can put it on an altar."
  Pierrot Barra (1942–99) and Marie Cassaise made sacred altar installations from everyday objects such as dolls, sunglasses, sequins, speedometers, rosaries, mirrors and tinsel.
  Barra said his work was inspired by the Vodou spirits, who sometimes demanded it. He said, "When I sleep, while I'm dreaming, I see the Mysteries. When I sleep I see the spirits...they show me a design, some face, some kind of thing. Then when I wake up I create it."
  A visitor to Port-au-Prince in 1991 described an altar installation Barra made for the mother goddess Ezili Dantor. Her head came from a plaster doll, with rouge, lipstick and white synthetic hair. She held a cutout picture of the baby Jesus, which represented the goddess's daughter Anais.
  A red fabric snake was wrapped round the body of the goddess, and a small rubber baby doll was at the foot of the statue. The whole was decorated with sparkles and cheap jewelry. This was not a traditional design, but was immediately recognized by Vodouists as authentic Vodou art.
caption: Altar to Petwo, Rada, and Gede spirits; 2010
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