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The recent crisis in Haiti has caused concern among curators at the Fowler Museum of Cultural History over the safety of important artifacts residing in the beleaguered country.

With two Haitian artifact exhibits scheduled to be on display at the Fowler Museum, which holds one of the most extensive permanent collections of vodou artifacts in the world, there is worry for the survival of important Haitian vodou artifacts, said Donald Cosentino, a guest curator and world arts and cultures professor.

Haiti has been plagued with political and social unrest. An insurrection there has resulted in U.S. military intervention and the abdication of President Jean Bertrand Aristide from office.

Currently, an interim government has taken control of the country while U.S. Marines and a multinational peacekeeping force maintain order.

Several works of Haitian American artist Edouard Duval-Carrie, whose artwork makes up the second Haitian exhibit at the Fowler Museum, have already been burned when rioters attacked museums in Haiti.

The upcoming exhibits of Haitian artwork at the Fowler Museum seek to reveal the spiritual power of art that is deeply intertwined in Haitian life.

Stacy Abarbanel, a spokeswoman for the Fowler Museum, said the first exhibit will be unveiled in the galleria of the museum this August.

Titled “Saluting Vodou Spirits,” the exhibition will feature 40 sequined Haitian flags from the Fowler Museum’s larger repository of vodou sacred artifacts that are used in sacred vodou ritual. Made of material such as velvet and rayon, and ornamented with sequins and applique, these flags are used to salute the spirits at the beginning of vodou ceremonies.

In October, the museum will feature Duval-Carrie’s work, called “Divine Revolution.” The artwork comes in various mediums, from newly sequined renditions of Duval-Carrie’s paintings depicting the Haitian revolution to an intricate altar for vodou spirits.

Both exhibits, which had been planned in anticipation of the bicentennial anniversary of Haitian independence, make reference to the country’s independence from France, achieved in 1804. Many Haitians believe vodou spirits facilitated their independence.

Representations of the vodou religion are often targeted in times of political upheaval because of the enormous power they signify, Cosentino said.

Cosentino said the celebratory nature of the exhibits will not be undermined by the recent crisis. Rather, he said it “makes the exhibition more relevant because it highlights the fact that Haiti was born out of inequality.”

He added that the people of Haiti have struggled for equality throughout their history, and these works of art will further portray that struggle.

Six newly commissioned sequined portraits based upon Duval-Carrie’s paintings for the follow-up exhibit were being sequined by artists in Haiti when the crisis occurred. Yet the artists remained undeterred by the unsteady social atmosphere.

“These artists insisted on continuing work, demonstrating that they weren’t going to be prevented from completing their art. I think it demonstrates a resilience of the arts,” said Polly Roberts, deputy director and chief curator at the Fowler Museum.

She added that the two exhibits work together to “overall portray the uplifting and positive sides of Haitian life that continues in the face of the turbulence. The combination of exhibitions will be striking for people visually and culturally.”

Roberts said the pieces of art shown at the Fowler Museum will demonstrate that the Haitian artists strive to show that the vodou spirits are still involved in their country’s political landscape.

“The way that these Haitian artists interpret the power of cultural tradition gives them hope amidst political turmoil. It is an opportunity that we should seize to see the extraordinary artistic vitality that continues nonetheless,” she said.

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