PART 1
JACQUES BARTOLI COLLECTION
PRESENTED BY THE HAITIAN RESOURCE DEVELOPMENT FOUNDATION


Haiti is one of the few countries in the world where pictorial art seems omnipresent. This is because there are thousands of Haitians, many of them geniuses, motivated to depict and communicate their lives, their hopes, their philosophies, world views, and their spirituality, including vodou. This exhibition salutes the exceptional lifelong effort and accomplishment of Dr. Jacques Bartoli who, for more than forty years, with his wise judgment of each canvas, has acquired paintings of immense impression and impact. These are exclusively from Haitian artists, many of whom are unknown beyond their immediate communities.

Carefully selected and protected by Dr. Bartoli, these paintings contribute to Haiti's cultural heritage and become worthy of widespread viewing, study, and appreciation of the Haitian condition that is one part Paradise and one part Purgatory.

The Haitian Resource Development Foundation, which Dr. Bartoli co-founded in 1987 and continues as a board member, initiates, and supports projects in health, education, science, art and culture, economy, disaster preparedness, and response. HRDF is proud to have helped bring this exhibit to the people of New Orleans Louisiana.

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CHAPTER 1: THE LWA

Among the many commonalities between Louisiana and Haiti, Vodou holds a prominent place. The word "Vodou" originates from the Fon language of the Dahomey Kingdom (present-day Benin) and means "spirit" or "deity." The presence of Vodou in Haiti and Louisiana highlights a shared painful history: that of the transatlantic slave trade and slavery.

In Haiti, the first Africans were forcibly deported in 1502, just 10 years after the arrival of the Spaniards. In Louisiana, the slave trade began in 1719. During their journey, millions of deported Africans brought their "djobolo bossou," their Vodou, spirits, and deities, also called "lwa." Sub-Saharan African Vodou was transformed in the Americas, converging with Christianity and indigenous practices: this is the phenomenon of religious creolization, also called syncretism.

To understand the roots of Voodoo in New Orleans and its fusion with Christianity, West Africans enslaved and forced into the slave trade during the 18th century were brought to New Orleans and had to adapt to their new environment. This process resulted in a syncretic fusion of Catholicism, the region's dominant religion, and Vodou, now known as "New Orleans Voodoo" or "Vodou- Catholicism." This fusion significantly impacted the city, fundamentally shaping what it is today.

Papa Legba, Bawon Samdi, and Grann Brijit, represented here by their "vèvè" (ceremonial image), are three popular lwa in Haiti and Louisiana. Papa Legba is the guardian of Crossroads, "opening the door" to other spirits. Bawon Samdi and Grann Brijit form the royal couple of the realm of the dead.

Visitors who wish can ring the bell in front of the vèvè of these lwa to "request passage" and pay homage to the freedom fighters of the Haitian Revolution and the 1811 Rebellion in Louisiana.

CHAPTER 3: AYITI

Before the arrival of Europeans in the 15th century, Haiti and the territory now known as Louisiana were inhabited by indigenous peoples who would later face the disastrous fate of enslavement.

The island of Haiti, encompassing Haiti and the Dominican Republic today, was primarily inhabited by the Tainos, a peaceful people living harmoniously with nature. The name "Haiti" in the Taino language means "high mountain land," reflecting the region's geographical features. In 1492, Christopher Columbus landed on the island, leading to the enslavement of the Tainos by the Spaniards, who sought to exploit gold and other resources. Unaccustomed to forced labor and devastated by massacres and diseases brought by the colonizers, the Tainos faced rapid decline. In 1518, to compensate for this near-annihilation, the official black slave trade began on the island. Interestingly, when Africans defeated Napoleon's army in 1804, over 300 years later, they renamed "Saint Domingue" to the Taino name it had before European arrival: Haiti.

Louisiana was also home to various indigenous peoples before European arrival, including the Natchez, Houmas, Chitimachas, and Caddo. Engaging in hunting, fishing, and farming, they possessed a rich spiritual culture. Similar to the fate of the Tainos, the native people of Louisiana experienced enslavement by European colonizers. In 1539, Spanish explorer Hernando de Soto and his men captured and enslaved Louisiana natives. Over subsequent centuries, French, Spanish, and American powers enslaved Louisiana natives. In 1718, the French governor of Louisiana enacted the Code Noir, legalizing the enslavement of natives, a practice that continued until the sale of Louisiana to the United States in 1803. Even post-1803, Louisiana natives endured violence and discrimination. In 1830, U.S. President Andrew Jackson signed the Indian Removal Act, forcing natives to leave their ancestral lands for territories west of the Mississippi. Though initially viewed as an honorable figure, contemporary citizens are now fully aware of the severity of Jackson's decisions, leading to protests to remove certain monuments, such as his statue in Jackson Square, a historic park in New Orleans' Vieux Carré.

CHAPTER 5: FREEDOM FIGHTERS

For countless centuries, slavery was propagated as "the norm." It was deemed "normal" and "natural" to enslave Africans, who were deemed "inferior" to whites. This was the entrenched system and order in Louisiana or Saint-Domingue (now Haiti). While the enslaved individual epitomized lawlessness, the Code Noir, enforced in Saint-Domingue and Louisiana, legislated on their condition.

The Code Noir regarded enslaved individuals as movable property, something a master could acquire. It dictated that the enslaved owed obedience to their masters and were subject to absolute power. Fundamental rights, such as life, liberty, freedom of movement, and property, were stripped from them. Initially crafted by Minister Jean-Baptiste Colbert in 1685, the Code Noir found its second iteration under Louis XV in 1724. It symbolized the oppression and brutality of slavery, institutionalizing it and making abolition a more formidable challenge.

Confronted with this oppressive system, the enslaved people of Saint-Domingue took up arms. In 1791, during the Bois-Caïman ceremony, arguably one of the earliest pan-African congresses in history, Hougan (vodou priest) Boukman, at the Bréda habitation near Cap-Haïtien, initiated the Haitian Revolution. It persisted until November 18, 1803, culminating in the victory of Dessalines' indigenous army at Vertières against the formidable Napoleonic army. Haiti's independence was declared on January 1, 1804, establishing it as the first free Black nation globally.

Twenty years after the onset of the Haitian Revolution, enslaved people in Louisiana, directly influenced by the Saint-Domingue events, initiated their revolt. Specifically, the rebellion erupted in the German Coast, a coastal region south of Louisiana, led by figures like Charles Lalonde, Kook, and Quamana. Regrettably, the revolt was violently suppressed and failed.

Here, portraits of key figures from the Haitian Revolution and the 1811 Louisiana Revolt are presented.

CHAPTER 7: TO EXPRESS FREEDOM

"Haiti-Louisiana: Tides of Freedom" at the Contemporary Arts Center (CAC) is a satellite exhibition aiming to evoke, raise awareness of, and highlight the many atrocities suffered by people enslaved by the system of colonialism and how this dehumanizing conquest has impacted civilizations today. Through various media, this exhibition invites dialogue on the different forms and routes of struggles for racial equality, freedom, and identity diversity. The success of the Haitian Revolution in 1791 proved that these efforts were worthwhile.

Although the exhibition features many commissioned and selected works of art that deal with specific themes and figures vital to the Revolution, artists were encouraged to infuse their works with the creativity and inspiration inherent in their artistic practices. Pieces by Alyn Defay and Youseline Vital, both from Haiti, reflect art's eternal capacity to question the past and the future.

CHAPTER 9: FADENYA

In his poem “On the Origins of Things,” Listervelt Middleton consistently articulates a predominant thesis on Africa’s fundamental position. Like a leit- motif, he tirelessly enunciates an essential asser- tion:

“Minute by minute
Hour by hour
As you lose your history
You lose your power”

Thus, he advocates opening our eyes and sharpen- ing our ears so that clarity may illuminate our vision and understanding guide our listening.

Let’s adopt this enlightened approach as we briefly explore two concepts of African descent, largely un- known but undoubtedly present in the fabric of the contemporary world.

The concept of fadenya, developed by the Mandingo peoples of Africa (including the Malinké, Bambara, Dioula, Foula, etc.), literally means father-child. Ini- tially used to describe tensions between half-broth- ers of the same father and different mothers, it opposes the notion of badenya. Badenya, translated as “mother-child,” refers to the relationship between brothers and sisters of the same mother within the polygamous structure that exists among the Mande ethnic groups. It is characterized by harmony and cooperation. These concepts of the family setting have evolved and have been extended to politics

and other disciplines. Thus, fadenya is also used as a term for conflict in general. Innovation emerges from these conflicts, unlike the conformism that char- acterizes badenya. Fadenya enables individuals to question the established order and propose new, of- ten disruptive solutions. Thus, fadenya is seen as the source of political and social change in the Mande world, as the upheaval of the existing social order occurs due to the tension of fadenya.

As a consequence of the slave trade, the Mandingo peoples were taken to Saint-Domingue and Louisi- ana. An unprecedented human tragedy, the trian- gular trade uprooted millions of Africans from their homeland and reduced them to slavery. In this con- text, the concept of fadenya played a vital role in the resistance of the enslaved in both territories.

Thus, the marronnage is a more or less passive form of resistance practiced by rebels, consisting of flee- ing from the plantation or escaping from the mas- ter’s house to “save” themselves from the condition of enslaved people and hiding in the hills, caves, swamps, hard-to-reach areas and surviving with nature. This was probably the first manifestation

of fadenya, and then, as this exhibition shows, men and women went from the passive resistance of “marronnage” “crossing the Rubicon” to active re- sistance movements and revolts in the French colo- ny of Saint-Domingue and in Louisiana.

Dear visitors, the fight is not over. Many other estab- lished orders worldwide have succeeded the “estab- lished order” of slavery. They are all sources of in- justice, perpetuating inequality and discrimination. The road to change is often a long one. “Revolutions” can be veritable relay races, with a succession of seemingly disparate and even desperate actions and figures, but in reality, so proper and necessary in the long term.

The cacique (chief) Caonabo attacked the Spaniards in 1493 in the territory then called Ayiti-Quisqueya. Then, in 1522, the cacique Henri launched a revolt from the mountains of Baoruco. Following this, in the 1750s, Mackandal led multiple rebellions in the northwest of Santo Domingo, paving the road that led to the Bois-Caïman Sermon in 1791, and to the solemn proclamation of Haitian independence by the General-in-Chief of the Indigenous Army, Des- salines, on January 1, 1804.

The same was true of Louisiana: the Natchez revolt of 1729 and, much later, the Pointe-Coupée revolt of 1795 – already inspired by events in Saint-Domingue – all paved the way for the 1811 Slave Revolt, the larg- est revolt of enslaved people ever to take place in the United States.

As Curator, in developing the concept of this exhibi- tion, I wanted to connect the past, the present, and the future: the past with the history of resistance in Haiti and Louisiana, but also the present and the future in which you are the players. The future is a present that ignores itself. So I invite you to drink fadenya, embrace the duty of intranquility, and ques- tion the silent injustices of our time. Together, we can create a world where everyone lives free, equal, and at peace. It will take time, of course, but it is possible and, above all, necessary! It’s our turn to shape the future!

Goodbye and happy fighting!
Max Jean-Louis

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