Thursday, May 2, 2013

VIDEO: Atis-Rezistans // the Sculptors of Grand Rue



Grand Rue is the main avenue that runs through downtown Port au Prince, Haiti. At its southern end is a community that has a historical tradition of arts, crafts and religious practice. Contemporary Haitian artists Celeur, Eugène, Claude and Guyodo all grew up in this ghetto atmosphere of junkyard make-do and artistic endeavour. Their powerful sculptural collages of have transformed the detritus of a failing economy into bold, radical and warped sculptures. Their work references their shared African & Haitian cultural heritage, a dystopian sci-fi view of the future and the transformative act of assemblage. The monumental works they have created are liberally scattered around this slum area, transforming the clamorous area into an organic art installation. This multi-layered film is a portrait of a neighbourhood both materially poor but culturally rich, and a meditation of the links between sex, death and creativity as expressed through the Vodou spirit Gede, that influences all their work. (2008)

2009 April:: Puerto Rico Ethnographic Film Festival (prize winner), San Juan
2009 May:: World Nomads Film Festival, Maysles Institute, Harlem NY
2009 June:: Mercredis, Musee de l'Homme, Paris
2012 Sept:: In Extremis, Fowler Museum, UCLA, USA
2012:: Kafou: Haiti, Art & Vodou, Nottingham Contemporary, UK
2012:: Taboo, Museum of Contemporary Art, Sydney

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