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[Bob Corbett <corbetre@webster.edu>]

From: D. Esser torx@joimail.com


Museum Marks Haiti’s Bicentennial

Associated Press

January 7, 2004, 4:04 PM EST

The American Museum of Natural History is bringing some warmth to the
winter, using music, dance, film, and of course, food, to celebrate the
culture of Haiti, and mark the 200th anniversary of the Caribbean
country's
independence.

"The Haitian Experience," being held over three weekends in January, is
the
third in the museum's annual "Living in America" series, which
spotlights
different communities in the city each year. The 2000 census puts the
number of New Yorkers of Haitian descent at 118,000, although community
organizations say the population is larger.

The series starts on Jan. 10, with a performance by Grammy Award winner
Wyclef Jean, singing in Creole, the language of Haiti, and remarks from
Haitian Consul General Harry Fouche. Other events include dance and
storytelling performances, as well as a discussion on the impact of the
Haitian Revolution.

The series continues on Jan. 17 and Jan. 18, with dance and theater, a
drumming demonstration, a discussion of voodoo, an artists' marketplace
and
Haitian food -- including tastes like conch chowder and barbecued goat
--
being served by the museum's culinary staff.

A film festival, examining aspects of day to day life in Haiti, will be
held on the afternoon of Jan. 31, following a children's storytelling
event.

For those participating in the series, it's a chance to shine a good
light
on their homeland, a place where poverty and political instability have
led
to plenty of not-so-good attention.

"When they show Haiti on the news, they show the negative part, they
never
show the positive part," said painter Eric Girault, who will be selling
some of his works at the artists' marketplace. "In Haiti, we have a lot
of
good things" like music and a strong history of the visual arts and
literary culture, he said.

He hoped the series would draw many of the young Haitian Americans in
the
New York metro area to learn something about where they come from.

"They can see with their own eyes what is good about their own country,"
Girault said.

Artist Yolene Legrand agreed. "It's to give them some pride in their
country," she said of the series.

Haiti declared its independence on Jan. 1, 1804, after Gen. Jean-Jacques
Dessalines ousted the French following years of unrest. Dessalines was a
follower of Toussaint Louverture, the one-time slave whose army of
ex-slaves had crushed Napoleon's troops.

But since then, the country, which shares the Caribbean island of
Hispanola
with the Dominican Republic, has been wracked with political turmoil, as
well as poverty and in recent years, a high rate of AIDS infections.

The "Living in America" series started with a focus on Arab/South Asian
Muslim communities in 2002. Last year, the focus was on
Mexican-Americans.

The point is to bring about a "better understanding of communities,"
said
Roberto Borrero, public programs coordinator for the museum. "Hopefully
these type of things alleviate stereotypes. ... I think people who have
attended have walked away with a real beautiful experience."


On the Net: American Museum of Natural History: http://www.amnh.org

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