"If we want that the Haitian art remains at the level that existed until now, thanks to the Centre d'Art, the institution must live again..." declared Axelle Liautaud, a member of the board of the Centre d'Art, this week, on the sidelines of the presentation of the project of rescue of the Centre, launched in September 2010.

The rescue project, under the direction of the Rescue Centre of Cultural Heritage (CSBC), "has allowed to restore 5.000 paintings and nearly a thousand sculptures and works on paper" added Olsen Jean Julien Director of CSBC.

Created in 1944 under the leadership of the American watercolorist DeWitt Peters, the Centre d'Art was partially destroyed during the earthquake of January 2010. "The Centre d'Art is the source of the most important steps that led to the existence of Haitian art in the local market and internationally. This is the first gallery in Haiti, but it's an art gallery, it has been throughout its existence, a training and mentoring center for artists", has indicated Axelle Liautaud which estimates that 80% of works have been recovered under the rubble, while others are still under the rubble.

Olsen Jean Julien, the former Minister of Culture explained "We know that the Centre d'Art is a bastion of Haitian art, especially painting and sculpture and the building collapsed during the earthquake of January 2010 [...] The Centre took the responsibility to save the works [...] we have treated about 5,000 paintings, sculptures and a thousand of work on paper. In the containers that are here, we have a lot of documents on paper that relates the story of Haitian art, the history of the institution that were damaged, we also have many works that have been made ​​on paper, serigraphs, watercolors ... We also have a set of Dewitt Peters manuscripts, historical documents of great values ​​that we managed to save [...] We are working on 8 projects: the Centre d'Art, the wall of Sainte Trinité, the collection of the historian George Corvington which includes 8.000 historical documents, the history of the city of Port-au-Prince and a collection of 3,000 voodoo objects. We work with institutions of the Ministry of Culture who manage collections such as: the Institute for the Protection of National Heritage (ISPAN), the National Pantheon Museum, the National Library and the National Archives"

"We have a clear idea for the resumption of our activities", said Axelle Liautaud, who said that the CSBC will provide the necessary support for the construction of a depot and offices. "The training will be one of the first activities to resume [...] photography and videography will be incorporated in curriculum [...] these two disciplines are essential in a curriculum of contemporary art. We can not remain in the old techniques that were taught, we must go to the advanced techniques."

PI/ HaitiLibre