Haitian Vodou art

Haitian Vodou art is the visual art of Haiti's Vodou religion, whose roots lie in the West and Central African traditions carried by enslaved people and which has absorbed Catholic and American elements ever since. Its best-known form is the drapo Vodou, a hand-embroidered flag dazzling with beads and sequins that bears an image of a Catholic saint or a vèvè - the drawn emblem of a spirit (lwa) such as Ogou, Erzulie or Gede. The range runs wider: veve drawings, carved figures, drums, ceremonial suits and altar assemblages of dolls, mirrors and tinsel, made by oungan priests and by artists such as Myrlande Constant and Pierrot Barra. Ransacked as idolatry as late as the 1940s and only officially recognised in 2002, Vodou art resists the Western split between sacred object and artwork.

Defining characteristics

• Dense sparkle: fields of sequins and beads covering cloth edge to edge
• Central iconic image - saint, spirit or vèvè - framed by diamond or ornate borders
• Syncretic iconography: Catholic saints, African lwa and maritime symbols side by side
• Vèvè line-drawing: delicate tracery emblems of the spirits
• Assemblage bricolage: everyday objects (dolls, mirrors, bottles, jewelry) charged with sacred force
• Bold, symmetrical compositions sized for carrying in ceremony

Key figures

• Myrlande Constant (b. 1970) — Flag-maker who turned the drapo into large narrative beadwork and gained international recognition
• Pierrot Barra (1942-1999) — Maker of sacred altar assemblages from dolls, mirrors and found objects

Example works

• Drapo Vodou for Damballa — Joseph Fortine (1943)
• Damballah Virgin (Saint Trinité Cathedral mural) — Andre Dimanche (1949)

Sources

• Haitian Vodou art - Wikipedia encyclopedia

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