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Copyright Material Didier William COPYRIGHT MATERIAL DIDIER WILLIAM FIGGE ART MUSEUM | DAVENPORT, IOWA COPYRIGHT MATERIAL © 2020 Figge Art Museum Figge Art Museum 225 West Second Street | Davenport, IA 52801 563.326.7804 www.figgeartmuseum.org ISBN 978-0-9771491-0-0 Editor | Vanessa Sage | Assistant Curator, Figge Art Museum Design | Pederson Paetz Printing | Elman Print This catalogue was published in conjunction with the exhibition Didier William: Lakou at the Figge Art Museum, February 8-May 31, 2020. Support for this catalogue has been provided by The Figge Art Museum Haitian Art Travel Endowment, Estate of Walter E. Neiswanger, MD In “The Beautiful Condition of Diaspora,” Dr. Jerry Philogene draws on previous writing completed for Curtains, Stages and Shadows, Act I and Act II, 2018. Artwork images courtesy of the artist, Anna Zorina Gallery, New York, NY, and James Fuentes, LLC, New York, NY 2 COPYRIGHT MATERIAL CONTENTS 5 Foreword 7 Acknowledgments 9 Visuals from a “New World” Edouard Duval-Carrié 15 The Beautiful Condition of Diaspora Jerry Philogene, Ph.D. 22 Exhibition Checklist 23 Exhibition Images 36 Artist Biography 3 COPYRIGHT MATERIAL Installation image 4 COPYRIGHT MATERIAL FOREWORD As the preeminent cultural hub of the Quad Cities, the perspective with which to view the Figge’s renowned Figge Art Museum is privileged to bring outstanding Haitian collection. artwork and new experiences to the community it Vanessa Sage, the exhibition’s curator, organized serves, and we are pleased to present Didier William: this catalogue featuring essays by Dr. Jerry Philogene Lakou, the first solo museum exhibition of celebrated and Edouard Duval-Carrié. Duval-Carrié’s essay Haitian American artist Didier William and the first explores the cultural history of Haiti and how artists time his work has been shown in the Midwest. This of the past and present grapple with their communal exhibition speaks to our mission of enriching our legacies. A Haitian American artist and curator, community by “bringing art and people together.” The Duval-Carrié has a long relationship with the Figge powerful connection between people and art, and the Art Museum and has several works in the museum possibilities that lie within that experience, exist at collection. Dr. Jerry Philogene, Professor of American the heart of Didier William’s work. Studies at Dickinson College, specializes in contem- Born in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, and raised in Miami, porary African American and Afro Caribbean visual arts Florida, William uses a variety of artistic techniques to and cultural history. Her thoughtful text examines the thoughtfully examine his cultural identity. In addition to aesthetic and conceptual framework of the artist’s offering rich visual experiences, his artwork challenges work and demonstrates how William’s compositions the way in which we view our world and the people initiate new ways of thinking about race, gender, and in it. Through Lakou, we will introduce visitors to art. Through this exhibition and catalogue, we hope William’s recent body of work and hope to initiate you will gain new perspectives on the world and your conversations surrounding what it means to make art relationship to the communities in which you live. in an increasingly globalized world, the complexities of cultural identity, and the creative potential born from Michelle Hargrave immigration. Importantly, Lakou brings with it a new Executive Director and CEO, Figge Art Museum 5 COPYRIGHT MATERIAL N’ ap naje ansamn, n’ap vole ansamn from Broken Skies: Vertières (detail), 2019 6 COPYRIGHT MATERIAL ACKNOWLEDGMENTS The Figge Art Museum is grateful to those individuals Wallace and to Assistant Registrar and Preparator and organizations who generously supported Didier Joshua Johnson, who gave their time and expertise William: Lakou through loans and logistical assistance, to realize the exhibition. Leanne Paetz, of Pederson including Marie Nyquist at Anna Zorina Gallery, New Paetz, deserves a warm thank you for the beautiful York, NY; Katrin Lewinsky and Peter Curtis at James design and layout of this catalogue. Fuentes LLC, New York, NY; Sarah Mottalini and Julie I would also like to express my gratitude to Lohnes at Union College, Schenectady, NY; and the Executive Director and CEO Michelle Hargrave numerous private lenders to the exhibition. for her immediate interest and support for the I would like to express my gratitude to Edouard exhibition following her arrival at the Figge. Duval-Carrié and Dr. Jerry Philogene for their I am deeply thankful to Didier William for insightful texts on Didier William’s work. In addition his work towards the exhibition, his openness to offering invaluable perspectives on the work to discussion leading up to Lakou, and for the presented in Lakou, the essays add to the exciting opportunity to exhibit the newly finished work, dialogue surrounding contemporary artwork of the N’ ap naje ansamn, n’ap vole ansamn. It is an honor Caribbean diaspora. to exhibit his stunning artwork at the Figge Art Thank you also to the talented staff at the Figge Museum and to share it with our community. Art Museum for their excitement and support for this project. Special recognition should be given Vanessa Sage to Director of Collections and Exhibitions Andrew Assistant Curator, Figge Art Museum 7 COPYRIGHT MATERIAL VISUALS FROM A “NEW WORLD” M mache toupatou ave I (detail), 2018 8 COPYRIGHT MATERIAL VISUALS FROM A “NEW WORLD” The cultural visual production of the Republic of Haiti merely two chapters are devoted to the island nation’s has garnered my attention and that of many scholars pre-revolutionary period. Thus, I became preoccupied of the Black Atlantic. It is a relatively recent field of by grappling with the events that prompted the massive research for materials have been rather scant. slave rebellion and the revolution that created the Three decades ago, I met Dr. Marcel Châtillon in nation of Haiti. Paris.1 He had invited me to his apartment in the Gare My colleagues and I had less than a year to formulate de Lyon neighborhood to view what he said was the what was to be presented in an exhibition titled La most comprehensive collection of visual material from Révolution Française sous les Tropiques.3 Several Parisian the French Caribbean, including the colonial outpost archives were opened to us for consultation. When of Saint Domingue.2 I was then a guest of the French it became evident, after many visits and increasing government, invited to celebrate the Bicentennial frustration, that the visual material concerning the of the French Revolution. However, in my thinking, I region was rather slim, I was referred to Dr. Châtillon. could not conceptualize the French Revolution without In his minuscule apartment, he had amassed a trove thinking about the Haitian Revolution and life in the of documents, mostly visual, concerning the region. To colony before it. This was for me a daunting task, for my delight (as Saint Domingue was the crown jewel of my historical understanding of Haiti was rather scant. the French dominions), he had the most comprehensive Our history, as presented in most educational manuals, set of documents concerning that colony. Maps, prints, literally starts with our own revolution. Oftentimes, illustrated books—some very rare, many paintings and 9 COPYRIGHT MATERIAL other “objets d’art” were ensconced everywhere, even Though study of the colonial period is of great under his bed, in that small apartment. From these, I interest, what ensued after the Haitian Revolution is gleaned enough material to help me in configuring our even more complicated, and research around that history own “French” past, which left a cultural imprint not to proves to be far more convoluted than one can imagine. be discarded, as it had been in our own historical texts. Had our revolutionary forefathers realized that the Though of great value and interest, Dr. Châtillon’s new Haitian nation as the first Black republic resulting collection unfortunately ended with the Haitian from the first successful slave rebellion in history Revolution. He explained that his interest was in the was the most novel of circumstances, they probably Ancien Régime of France, specifically the so-called would have made a serious case for understanding the glorious golden age of Louis XIV (r. 1643-1715), population they were destined to govern. Who were which coincided with significant territorial expansion, they? Where did they come from? What were their including the acquisition of a remote Caribbean outpost “cultural givens”?6 All this was of no importance as the called Saint Domingue.4 That island was responsible for new governing elite had to create a state in a world providing the French crown with vast riches through totally unsympathetic to the plight of the former slaves the massive production of sugar, one of the most of Saint Domingue. prized commodities at the time. It can be argued that The history and evolution of the very novel and an industrial revolution occurred on the island of Saint complex state of Haiti fills the library shelves of Domingue long before the one that began in England in many libraries. Haitian history has indeed been a the 18th century. But contrary to England’s harnessing succession of what can only be described as experi- of the steam engine, sugar production in Saint mental and tentative socio-political projects that are Domingue was due entirely to the sweat and toil of ongoing to this day. The period after the revolution nearly 10 million African slaves brought
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