Artzine Featuring Art and Written Work by Artists
DANZA
La verdad está del lado de los oprimidos (Malcolm X)
una ave migratoria busca el humedal bajo sus astros
siempre ha viajado entre continentes
desde siglos sobre el ocre de los mapas
entre líneas desteñidas bajo los soles
los que nos ven y los extintos
quienes atestiguan las extensiones sin nombre
ni líneas punteadas
sólo arterias hídricas y nubes.
Violenta y sometida África americana
buscando la libertad
entre vudú, santerías y rebeliones.
written and illustrated by ©Enrique De Santiago
Narcisse Daphnée Dotou crafts symbolic appliqués representing Vodun gods and African diaspora spirits. Dotou’s images encourage introspection, offering a visual journey into one’s inner self. The viewer is asked to concentrate on the visuals and consider them thoughtfully, just as one would with a tarot card. Only then can the object’s grandeur gain a mystical and meaningful quality.
To make an appliqué like this, you need at least three weeks before doing it. We make the drawings on paper and then we start by cutting things out. Materials include sewing needles scissors cotton fabric of different colors fabric. Everything is done by hand except the border which was done by machine. My teacher was François Codjo Yemadje who is from Abomey, Benin.
Narcisse Daphnée Dotou
Narcisse Daphnée Dotou was born on October 31, 1991 in Benin and has lived in the Mono department for a long time. He is an artist trained in the traditional art of tapestry sewing. The motifs of his refined works cover a wide spectrum. These include the varied symbolism of the ancient kings of Benin, which is the former Danhomey, representations of the traditional gods of Benin voodoo, Haitian voodoo, Cuba, but also modern themes and works made especially at the request of customers. In addition, Narcisse is an excellent connoisseur of the Cotonou art scene. He is happy to advise you and act as an intermediary if you have any wishes or requests.
Interested in Dotou’s appliques you can contact him via Facebook at Narcisse Daphnée Dotou.
Sanite Belair, Haitian Héroïne of the Revolution of 1803 by François Cauvin 2021.
François Cauvin is an acclaimed Haitian artist based in Montreal. His iconic portrait of Toussaint Louverture with a guinea fowl forming his hat is the cover image of Sudhir Hazareesingh’s Black Spartacus: The Epic Life of Toussaint Louverture. The famous portrait has now travelled far and wide as this book won the Wolfson Prize, the UK’s most prestigious history prize. Recently he has completed portraits of Haiti’s revolutionary women, including Sanite Belair and Marie-Jeanne Lamartinière. With funding from the Glasgow Knowledge Exchange Fund, Cauvin will speak with Rachel Douglas at UK museums and the Houses of Parliament on the topic “Visual Aftershocks of the Haitian Revolution.”
Nouvelle toile par François Cauvin ” Marie Jeanne Lamartinière “
Acrylique sur canevas. 2023.
Contrairement a ce que le noirisme duvalieriste nous a fait croire , Marie Jeanne Lamartiniere etait metisse ,d’un pere francais et d’une mere africaine. Demolition des mythes pour une nouvelle Haiti sans prejuges.
”Black Spartacus” by Sudhir Hazareesingh. Painting François Cauvin
Mitchell Pluto