Haitian Art ~ A Wonder Of The World

Haiti is an Independent Republic sharing the Caribbean Island of Hispaniola with the Dominican Republic.

Today's Haitians are of French and African descent and while their economy is based on agriculture they are best known for their art.

Haitians had been painting religious and ceremonial occasions long before the Haitian and American governments established The Centre D'Art in Port Au Prince in 1944 under the leadership of American artist and school teacher DeWitt Peters.

Peters taught Haitis artists to paint their life and do it in a marketable medium using their amazing harmony with colour.

UNESCO staged The First World Expo of Haitian Art in Paris in 1947. Since then the major public galleries of Europe and the Americas have established permanent exhibits of Haiti's Art and these days France, Germany and The Scandinavian countries absorb more than 90% of the art produced in this tiny Caribbean land.

French Minister for Arts and Culture, war hero, adventurer, art icon and author Andre' Malraux visited Haiti for an extended study tour while Arts and Culture Minister. In his subsequent work L'Intemporel published in 1975 he described Haitis Art as "the best popular art in the world".