WELCOME to our brilliant, brand new website featuring all of the work of the artists from Matènwa, Haiti. We hope you’ll explore everything it offers from artist profiles to videos to this “notebook.” The notebook will be personal. It’s where you can read in depth about the lives of the artists as well as about how our products evolve. You’ll be able to check on upcoming events but you’ll also read about what it’s like to create an ongoing collaboration between two cultures. These will be my own observations and associations and occasionally those of others both Haitian and American who are intimately involved in the project. I don’t intend to limit myself to the surface of things except where...
Arielle and I got back from Haiti a few weeks ago and I wanted to tell you a little bit about the visit, which, as usual, had its dramas and pleasures. This was a very short trip, mostly to bring more materials and celebrate with the silk artists who had been awarded a very large order from the Fetzer Institute. The organization intends to give the scarves as gifts to participants during their summit meeting in Assisi, Italy. One evening we were approached by a group of local neighbors, all men, who wanted to tell us about their organization and its goals. We sat down together, the rose-colored walls of my room, lit by oil lamps, cast everyone in...
A few days ago Arielle Berrick and I returned from our annual summer stay in Matènwa. We brought new work from the artists and left them with new designs to master. Good things had happened. The artists finished their biggest order yet from the Fetzer Institute. The Gason Kouraj (“Courageous Men”) began, with our funding, to repair the failing road with shovels and pick axes. The scarf painters planned a journey to the main island where they were invited to preform their grass roots theater. But this was one of our sadder visits. Some months ago we’d raised some emergency funds for the family of one of our best-loved silk painters and my longest friend in Matènwa, Venez Kasimir. Venez...
Fanm Kouraj as well as the artists' theater groups have been sending very clear public messages with their plays: It's unacceptable for men to beat, neglect, abandon, impregnate without protection, or otherwise maltreat their wives and families, especially young, vulnerable. Fanm Kouraj as well as the artists' theater groups have been sending very clear public messages with their plays: It's unacceptable for men to beat, neglect, abandon, impregnate without protection, or otherwise maltreat their wives and families, especially young, vulnerable. Fanm Kouraj as well as the artists' theater groups have been sending very clear public messages with their plays: It's unacceptable for men to beat, neglect, abandon, impregnate without protection, or otherwise maltreat their wives and families, especially young, vulnerable. Fanm...
Several years ago the director of the local school together with an American artist tried to find a way to tap the great creativity of the women of Matènwa.
Several years ago the director of the local school together with an American artist tried to find a way to tap the great creativity of the women of Matènwa. Several years ago the director of the local school together with an American artist tried to find a way to tap the great creativity of the women of Matènwa.
