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26628: Miles (announce): Jacmel Artist Retreat, Gede Expo (fwd)



From: Melinda Miles <melinda@haitikonpay.org>

First Jacmel Annual International Artist Retreat
February 20 - March 1, 2006

[for info contact: Elise Hansen, elise@konpay.org]
Come celebrate Haiti’s carnival with the Centre de Formation Artistique de Jacmel (CFAJ), an artist-run cooperative in the home of Haiti’s folk art 
tradition and the capitol of its carnival festivities!
The Jacmel International Artist Retreat exists to encourage international exchanges and to raise support for the CFAJ art center. This year’s delegation offers educational panels, art sessions, and fun excursions. KONPAY invites input from participants and implements every possible delegation request. Interpreters and guides are included with all activities and accommodations are provided by the Cyvadier Hotel in Jacmel 
(www.hotelcyvadier.com).

There is music, Carnival... The surf pounds; the flowers bloom.
Governments change, but  Jacmel remains the same.
~ Carole Cleaver, The New Leader

Panel Discussions:
•Intro to Haiti, with the commentary: Experiencing History as an Artist
•The meanings of carnival - artists, community leaders, historians
•Slideshow of prevalent carnival art
•Vodou: The Culture & Spirit of Haitian Art

Activities:
•Trip to Bassin Bleu waterfall
•Time to work on your own art
•Beach party

Interactions:
•Sessions with the women, men and youth artists of CFAJ
•Face painting at the carnival stand
•Papier-mâche creation for CFAJ
•Tree planting with the MEPE Youth Movement for the Environment

Konbit Pou Ayiti/KONPAY
(Working Together for Haiti)
We are a Haitian-American non-governmental organization based in Haiti. Our mission is to strengthen existing Haitian organizations, build local and national networks and create relationships between individuals in the U.S. and Haiti.
KONPAY focuses on Haitian solutions to environmental, social and economic problems and provides training and funding to grassroots and community-based projects. KONPAY coordinates educational trips for those interested in an exchange with the staff of our partner programs. For more information about KONPAY and our programs, please visit our website at konpay.org.
Contact Elise Hansen for information about KONPAY and the International Artist Retreat at 978-335-2758, or elise@konpay.org. 

Delegation Dates:  February 20-March 1, 2006
In-Country Cost including airfare from Port-au-Prince to Jacmel:  $850.00
You can lower your total cost by: pricing international airline tickets and buying them early, staying at our approved Guest House instead of the 
hotel, and staying for one week instead of two.



New Jacmel Art Cooperative Holds First Exposition

Gede and Jean Rony Honored
Walking into the courtyard of the Center for Aristic Training of Jacmel/CFAJ on November 1, 2005 was a lot like walking into a cemetery. A skeleton wearing the black top hat of Papa Gede, the playful and rowdy spirit of the dead, hung from a large cross just inside the gate, and spotlights nestled in the trees cast long shadows from coffins strewn throughout the yard. On the front step of the gallery a group of drummers sat before a flag and gave the rhythm of banda to the cool Caribbean night.
Director Didier Civil explained the choice of November 1 for CFAJ’s first community open house and exhibition: “Here in Haiti, November 1 is the holiday we value most not only because we are celebrating the spirit Gede, but also because it is the day when we remember all of our loved ones who have passed away.” Although many different religions are practiced in Haiti, all Haitians have a link to vodou, Didier explained. Indeed, vodou is more a cultural tradition than a religion, and its spirituality pervades virtually all of Haitian life.
According to anthropologist Karen McCarthy Brown ("Mama Lola: A Vodou Priestess in Brooklyn"), “Gede raises life energy and redefines the most painful situations – even death itself – as one worth a good laugh.” In a country like Haiti, it is not surprising that the fet, or celebration, for Gede is the most valued. Within Gede Haitians find a release from many social constraints – he is bawdy and bad-mouthed, the spirit of sex, humor and small children as well as death. As McCarthy Brown discovered, Gede’s humor is an antidote to pain.
Central to Gede’s iconography is the cross, because he stands at the crossroads between life and death. Didier explained, “Ours is a very special thing because what people remember most is the installation… we represented Bawon (Gede at the crossroads) and put him at the entrance to the cemetery because that’s where he traditionally is. We put flowers on the coffins to represent that even though people are dead they are still in our minds and we remember them.” The drummers were also accompanied by traditional dancers as part of the installation.
The goal of this first exposition was for CFAJ to do a big grand opening – something decidedly different to grab the imagination of the city – and promotion for CFAJ, while at the same time selling some art work to benefit the cooperative’s ongoing programs. CFAJ offers art training to disadvantaged children in the area, and some of their paper house and painting projects were displayed along the work of CFAJ member artists in the two gallery rooms. It was also a community-oriented event. No admission was charged so residents of Jacmel came and went throughout the week-long exposition.
In addition to celebrating Gede, Didier and the artists of CFAJ chose this event to commemorate their friend, Jean Rony David, who passed away last year. Didier said, “Jean Rony was an artist and friend of ours who worked together with us. We could not go through this day without thinking of him.” A musician, Jean Rony was known throughout Jacmel for his guitar playing and his renditions of popular songs, including a version of “Hotel California” about Jacmel city. He had a positive spirit and a progressive mind, and really appreciated things with a cultural aspect.
To honor Jean Rony, Didier created another installation, which included photos of Jean Rony, his guitar and painter’s palatte, and a funeral wreath. Co-Director of KONPAY, CFAJ’s fiscal sponsor, Joe Duplan said a few words: “He was a brother to us and he was always ready to help somebody, whatever the request. He sleeps with his guitar and he wakes with his guitar. He would have been here to serenade us.”
CFAJ’s next big project is gearing up for Carnival 2006. This involves papier-mache masks and floats, decorating a stand on the parade route, designing a carnival t-shirt and preparing to host the First Annual International Artist Retreat.
To learn more about Haitian Vodou, see Karen McCarthy Brown, "Mama Lola: A Vodou Priestess in Brooklyn;" for more on Carnival in Jacmel, Haiti, see Edwidge Danticat, "After the Dance"