Culture of Haiti
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Culture of Haiti |
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The culture of of Haiti.
Art
Brilliant colors, naïve perspective, and sly humor characterize Haitian art. Big, delectable foods and lush landscapes are favorite subjects in this land. Going to market is the most social activity of country life, and figures prominently into the subject matter. Jungle animals, rituals, dances, and gods evoke the African past.
Artists paint in fable as well. People are disguised as animals and animals are transformed into people. Symbols take on great meaning. For example, a rooster often represents Aristide and the red and blue colors of the flag of Haiti, often represent his Lavalas party.
Many artists cluster in 'school' of painting, such as the Cap-Haïtien school, which features depictions of daily life in the city, the Jacmel School, which reflects the steep mountains and bays of that coastal town, or the Saint-Soleil School, which is characterized by abstracted human forms, and is heavily influenced by Vodou symbolism.
Architecture
Haiti's most famous monuments are the Sans-Souci Palace and the Citadelle Laferrière, inscribed as a World Heritage Site in 1982.[1] Situated in the Northern Massif de la Hotte, in one of Haiti's National Parks, the structures date from the early 19th century.[2] The buildings were among the first to be built after Haiti's independence from France.
Jacmel, the colonial city that was tentatively accepted as a World Heritage site, is reported to be extensively damaged by the 2010 Haiti earthquake.[2]
Since the earthquake of 2010, architecture has taken a huge turn. With damages at an estimated 10 million dollars, architectural measures were taken immediately. Directly after the earthquake Article 25 of the UK gained about 350 architects in 2010 looking to help rebuild Haiti. There was also a great effort made by the U.S. through the Architecture for Humanity effort that was initiated after the earthquake. The architecture style became very reasonable and involved minimalistic and functional style to help rebuild the damage in the most efficient way possible. There has also been a strong initiative to build more open-air clinics that are designed with health precautions as a huge priority.[3][4]
Cuisine
The French influences in Haiti are present in their cuisine, but more so it is representative of their location in the Caribbean. They do however have their own flavor as a result of the lack of Spanish influence on their island compared to others in the Caribbean. The cooking style used in Haiti is predominately Creole and includes heavy use of pepper in the majority of their dishes. A main staple in Haiti Is starch, and many of their dishes include potatoes, rice, corn, beans, and plantains.
There is also a strong presence of tropical fruits in their cuisine due to their ability to grow in the tropical climate. This includes pineapples, coconuts, mangoes, and other fruits that are used for many dishes and beverages. Food also has importance in religious and status-symbol type forms. Foods that are considered delicacies in Haiti include French inspired cheeses and meats and are a symbol of money and power. Typically these types of meals are only served in the richest part of Haiti, namely in the capital of Port-au-Prince. As Far as Religious meals go, the Catholics in Haiti typically enjoy more elaborate meals during Christmas Eve.
Fashion
Haiti has the potential to become the fashion capital of the Caribbean due to its recent contributions and success in the industry. Haiti’s culture is woven in its use of fabrics and forms of garments, which differs from many other countries, giving more focus towards color and volume with many ruffles which makes it very unique; gradually making a name for itself in the fashion industry for its creativity, diversity and sustainability incorporating environmental-friendly processes in its materials, which has led to a rise in aspiring Haitian fashion designers throughout the country.[5]
In Haiti, there is a variety of fashion ranging from the more traditional attire to the day-to-day clothing. The traditional female attire consist of Quadrille (or Karabela) dress. The dresses are made of a sturdy material that mainly comes in blue and red, which is usually made from an off-the-shoulder top or bodice with a full matching skirt that is embellished with additional ruffles, lace, or rickrack to add color and visual appeal. A head-scarf or turban can also be worn especially in the more rural areas of Haiti for both traditional and day-to-day use. The traditional male attire consists of a wedding shirt (guayabera) made of lightweight fabrics and are worn untucked with a jacket of any color on top.[6]
Haiti's textile industry and its moniker ‘Made In Haiti’ has been long-established in being a key export for the country which has focused on low-end commodity apparel through the use of its low-wage sweatshops that have sewed for some of the biggest American apparel brands such as American Eagle Outfitters, Calvin Klein, DKNY, Hanes, Levi Strauss & Co., Nordstrom and Ralph Lauren.[7]
The typical day-to-day clothes that most Haitians wear are second-hand clothes that are known as pepe.[8] Largely stemmimg from the 1960s, the practice of sending and receiving pepe began. Today, you can find pepe being sold by street vendors at a price that is affordable for most Haitians. The majority of pepe that arrive on the island have been donated by Americans to charities and collection centers."[9]
Festivals
The most festive time of the year in Haiti is during
Folklore and mythology
Haiti is known for its rich
Literature
The first document of Haitian literature is the collective text Acte de l'Indépendance de la République d'Haïti (Haitian Declaration of Independence). Since then, Haitian literary culture has been ever-growing and vibrant, recognized both at home and abroad with award-winning authors and large-scale literary events locally[10] and internationally.[11]
Music and dance
Haitian music combines a wide range of influences drawn from the many people who have settled on this Caribbean island. It reflects French, African rhythms, Spanish elements and others who have inhabited the island of
Very popular today is
Dancing is an important part of Haitian life. In the case of
Religion
Haiti is similar to the rest of Latin America, in that it is a predominantly
Social etiquette
Sports
Football is the most popular sport in Haiti, though basketball is growing in popularity.[15] Hundreds of small football clubs compete at the local level.[15] Stade Sylvio Cator is the multi-purpose stadium in Port-au-Prince, Haiti where it is currently used mostly for association football matches that fits a capacity of 30,000 people.
Samuel Dalembert and Olden Polynice are former NBA players born in Haiti.
Haitian football player
In the early 20th century, it was reported that
Ludovic Augustin, Ludovic Valborge, Destin Destine, Astrel Rolland, Eloi Metullus won the country's first Olympic Medal in the Men's team free rifle at the 1924 Summer Olympics.[17]
Olympian, Pan American Games medalist and World Indoor Championship Gold Medalist
Former
Traditional knowledge
Haiti's traditional knowledge found its first prominent champion in the ethnographer Jean Price-Mars, who's seminal So spoke the uncle (in French Ainsi parla L'oncle) argued in favor of a greater respect and appreciation of Haiti's African-rooted, largely oral-based peasant culture. Since then numerous authors and thinkers have documented the country's rich and complex traditional knowledge, whether it be in its approach to education and morality,[23] architecture and construction,[24] or botany and medicine.[25]
See also
- Public holidays in Haiti
- Museums in Haiti
- Cinema of Haiti
- Haitian literature
- Media of Haiti
- Tezin Nan Dlo
References
- ^ "National History Park – Citadel, Sans the great Souci, Ramiers". UNESCO.org. Retrieved 2010-01-23.
- ^ a b "Heritage in Haiti". UNESCO.org. 2010-01-20. Retrieved 2010-01-23.
- ^ "Architecture from Haiti - ArchDaily". Archdaily.com. Retrieved 2 August 2017.
- ^ Rose, Steve (14 February 2010). "Haiti and the demands of disaster-zone architecture". The Guardian. Retrieved 2 August 2017.
- ^ Handy, Gemma, ed. (6 April 2019). "Vibrant and bright: Haiti's fashion industry is on the up". BBC. Retrieved 29 January 2023.
- ^ Iddings, Emily (2017-11-08). "Learn More About Traditional Haitian Dress". Restavek Freedom. Retrieved 8 December 2022.
- ^ Barenblat, Ayesha, ed. (3 June 2015). "Behind "Made in Haiti"". Remake. Retrieved 29 January 2023.
- ^ "Fashion in Haiti". The CRUDEM Foundation, Inc. 2 March 2014. Retrieved 8 December 2022.
- ^ "PÈPÈ". Paolo Woods. Retrieved 8 December 2022.
- ^ "Livres en folie : " Un bilan satisfaisant "". Le Nouvelliste. May 27, 2016. Retrieved April 29, 2017.
- ^ Valérie Marin La Meslée (March 23, 2015). "Échos de diaspora : Haïti au Salon du livre de Paris". Le Point Afrique. Retrieved April 29, 2017.
- ^ "Music and the Story of Haiti". Afropop Worldwide. Archived from the original on 13 November 2007. Retrieved 24 July 2013.
{{cite web}}
: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link) - ^ Wise, Brian. "Band's Haitian Fusion Offers Fellow Immigrants a Musical Link to Home". New York Times. Retrieved 24 January 2015.
- ISBN 9781592134649. Retrieved 28 January 2014.)
{{cite book}}
: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link - ^ ISBN 9781566563598. Retrieved 2 August 2017 – via Google Books.
- ^ Kelsey, p. 120
- ^ "Haitian Medals and Results in the Olympic Games". Olympian Data Base. Retrieved 14 February 2022.
- ^ "Sylvio Cator used the Olympics to seek justice decades before Tommie Smith and John Carlos". Andscape. Retrieved 14 February 2022.
- ^ "Dorival brings Olympian mindset to Rider". theridernews.com. Retrieved 14 February 2022.
- ^ "Canadian track legend Bruny Surin named to Order of Canada". runningmagazine.ca. Retrieved 14 February 2022.
- ^ "Barbara Pierre are all working to get details about relatives in Haiti". ESPN. Retrieved 14 February 2022.
- ^ "A Breakthrough Season For Wadeline Jonathas". trackandfieldnews.com. 11 July 2020. Retrieved 14 February 2022.
- ^ Claudine Michel (1995). Aspects educatifs et moraux du vodou haïtien. p. 112.
- ^ Richard Campanella (12 February 2014). "Shotgun geography: the history behind the famous New Orleans elongated house". Times-Picayune. Retrieved 29 April 2017.
The shotgun house of Port-au-Prince became, quite directly, the shotgun house of New Orleans.
- ^ Marilise Neptune Rouzier (1998). Plantes médicinales d'Haïti: description, usages et propriétés.
Sources
- Kelsey, Carl (1921) "The American Intervention in Haiti and the Dominican Republic" in American Academy of Political and Social Science; National American Woman Suffrage Association Collection (Library of Congress) (March 1922). Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science. Vol. C. Published by A.L. Hummel for the American Academy of Political and Social Science. pp. 109–202. Retrieved 8 June 2011.