Contemporary Art as Cultural Product in the Context of Haiti

This article focuses on the visual arts in contemporary Haiti, providing a rare insight into the current creative context. Countering a customary focus on history painting and Vodouinspired or magical realist work, it explores the evolution of artistic production over the past two decades, situating developments in their socioeconomic and political context and considering them in relation to the international art trade. Central to the study is the work of Mario Benjamin, Maxence Denis, and Edouard Duval Carrie, but sections of the article are also devoted to women artists and to the new generation of sculptors linked to the Saint Soleil school. The article concludes with a consideration of the role of artists in contemporary political movements.