Haiti exhibit
shows global
ties among blacks
By ROBIN BARKSDALE
Communrty News Editor
Dana Frida gained a new sense of pride in her race after viewing the
current exhibit at the Delta Arts Center. She said that the detailed history of
Haiti being shown at the center opened her eyes to just how important
black people were to the histories of several countries.
"It was quite educational to me. We were the first set of slaves in Haiti.
We took the place of some of the Indians," she said. "To find out mort
about how we were treated and what we accomplished was very interest
ing."
The exhibit, "Haiti: The First Black Republic and Its Monument to
Freedom," is on loan to the center from the Smithsonian Institution as part
of the museum's national traveling exhibition service. The visual display
* presents an overview of Haiti's historieaHrackground from the days of
Christopher Columbus, through a Haitian slave revolt and the country's
eventual independence;
The revolution in Haiti is history's only recorded instance of a slave
uprising that resulted in the establishment of an independent nation. In
1791, a battalion of slaves launched a battle against their colonial oppres
sors. Twelve years later and 200 years after their initial enslavement, Haiti
became the first black republic. To safeguard its new independence, the
Haitians built a series of fortresses. The center of that network is the
Citadelle Henry, which has become a monument to the freedom of slaves.
The Delta Arts Center exhibit depicts Haitian generals' proclamation
of independence, the unloading of human cargo, the country's French peri
od and tributes to Toussaint L'Ouverture, the leader of the slave revolt in
Haiti.
Ms. Frida said that she was most impressed with the depictions of the
Citadelle because it is recognized as one of the most brilliant structures in
? the world. -s:
?"The Citadelle is like the pyramids. It gives us pride to know that they
were built with our own hands," she said. "The pyramids and the Citadelle
are very important structures and we built them. That means a lot to me."
UNESCO and the World Heritage Foundation have ranked Haiti's
Citadelle with the Cathedral of Chartres and the Acropolis of Athens as
major treasures of the world. ? ? -
?The island of Haiti is located about 750 miles from Miami and is?
approximately the size of the state of Maryland. Ms, Frida said that even
though Haiti is not a part of this country, its residents' accomplishments are
universal.
"Haiti is important to us because^it is a part of our heritage. A lot of
people say Tm not from there,' but our ancestors come from there and we
should be interested in it," said Ms. Frida. "It's always good to know as
much as possible about our past. That's how we deal with the future. In
Toussaint L'Ouverture and King Henry Christophe, Ms. Frida said, Afro
Americans will find heroic traits that they can be proud of.
"Those two men are two more blacks for us to be proud of," Ms. Frida
said. "We didn't just start doing great things. They did some cruel stuff to "
us back then but we've still managed to accomplish things and that's some
of what I learned from this exhibit."
Annette Scippio, the center's director, said that the Haiti exhibit was
selected because of its strong educational potential. She said that the
Smithsonian exhibit, which will be on display at Delta Arts through July
31, fit in nicely with the center's purpose of providing exposure to various
cultures and arts.
"The Smithsonian has whole exhibits on various areas. I liked to look
at them for the things that might be applied to blacks," she said. "Our mis
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sion is to provide programs in the arts and humanities. This is an historical
exhibit and history is one of the ways we can provide insight.''
In addition to the exhibit at the Delta Arts Center, there will be a sec
ond exhibit on Haiti at the Sawtooth Building July 1 5 to Aug. 20. Ms. Scip
pio said that exhibit, "The Many Faces of Haitian Painting," will provide
more of an artistic view of Haiti.
"They're two separate exhibits on similar themes," she said. "July
seemed to be a good time for us to do an educational theme."
SOCIAL NOTES
The First Republic
At top, Dana Frida discusses some of the pieces in the Haiti
exhibit. She said the display highlights more people that blacks
can be proud of; the Delta Arts Center Haiti exhibit includes
information on prominent members of the slave revolt, pictured
at left, and on the landing of the first slaves in Haiti, above.
The Sawtooth exhibit will feature works from the collection of John
and Vivian Hewitt. The couple began collecting art by Afro-American
artists more than 30 years ago and today they have gained a national repu
tation as collectors.
There will be a lecture and opening reception featuring Mr. and Mrs.
Hewitt Saturday, July 15, at 4 p.m. at the Sawtooth Building.
The Delta Arts Center exhibit is on display Monday through Friday
from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. and Saturday from noon to 4 p.m.
-BOOBS ggggg?? ? Ml
Maya Angelou recently stirred festival audiences in the British
Isles.
Author Maya Angelou finds
festive British Isles audience
Author, poet and actress Maya
Angelou has found an enthusiastic
audience for A fro- American poetry
in ihc British Isles. *
Ms. Angelou, the Reynolds
professor of American studies at
Wake Forest University, was the
featured poet at the Glasgow, Scot
land, Mayfest and participated in
the Exeter, Devon festival in Eng
land.
... Both events were in May and
were "smashing successes," she
said. "The poetry was just beautiful
ly accepted."
She met with the same enthusi
asm in 1987, when she was the fea
tured poet at the Edinburgh, Scot
land festival.
"I read black American poetry
to an international audience," she
said. "Russians, Chinese, Irish, who
had never heard the poetry before.
They went wild!"
Ms. Angelou read her own
works as well as those of James
Weldon Johnson. Paul Lawrence
Dunbar and Langston Hughes.
Carolina Streetscene '89 seeking applications for festival participation
Carolina Streetscene '89 has
announced that it is now accepting
applications from artists, crafts peo
ple and traditional crafts and folk
art demon strators and exhibitors.
Scheduled for Sept. 9 and 10,
Carolina Streetscene '89iias formed
committees which arc now looking
for artists who wish to participate in
one of the three following areas of demonstrate their skills or the pro
the festival: cess leading to their finished prod
uct. According to organizers of the
Art^cene: Deadline for these area, "We're looking for jewelry
applications is Aug. 1 for eligible makers, blacksmiths, even barrel
media and fees. makers who will demonstrate how
they make w hatever it is they sell or
Folksccne is an opportunity for may do for a hobby that has a
those craftsmen who wish to strong tic to folk heritage."
Craftsccne is for craftspeople
interested in selling their hand
made wares. ?
Anyone wishing to participate
should send a postcard listing the
area of interest, their name, address
and medium to Carolina
Streetscene, 305 W. Fourth St.