14683: Charles: Must see at Baruch College in NY City

[Bob Corbett <corbetre@webster.edu>]

From: Carolle Charles <Carolle_Charles@baruch.cuny.edu>

Sequined Surfaces--Haitian Voudon Flags
February 7, 2003
Baruch College  135, E. 22nd Street  212/802-2690
Glittering textiles known as drapo, or Haitian voudon flags, are more than
an indigenous Haitian folk art. Flags sewn with sequins and beads have a
sacred purpose within the religion on this Caribbean island. They are used
to honor the loas, or
spirits, believed to attend ceremonies. There are hundreds of loa in
voudon. As time, place, and need dictate, new loa are created, while other
spirits outlive their usefulness and fade into ancestral memory. The flags
have also been appropriated by secular artists in recent years.

Carolle Charles
Associate Professor
Sociology
Baruch College of CUNY
646-312-4473
fax-646-312-4461