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HAITI / ART RESTORATION
STORY: HAITI / ART RESTORATION
TRT: 5:00
SOURCE: MINUSTAH
RESTRICTIONS: NONE
LANGUAGE: CREOLE / NATS
DATELINE: MARCH 2010, PORT-AU-PRINCE, HAITI
1. Wide, bulldozer excavating at the gallery “Nader” site
2. Close up, fork of the bulldozer lifting the rubble
3. Wide, a painting in the foreground in the dirt
4. Pan left, Haitian workers working on the rubble
5. Wide, a working carrying a load of salvaged paintings
6. Medium, another worker sorting paintings
7. Close up. A painting of a Haitian street
8. Tilt up, close, painting of medusa
9. Close, detail of recognizable painting of Prefete Douffaut
10. Pan right, a pile of salvaged paintings
11. Close up, a damaged painting of Prefete Douffaut
12. Medium, a worker working on a painting of Prefete Douffaut
13. Medium, worker sorting paintings in front of a container
14. SOUNDBITE (Creole) Luiz Ezor, worker, Nader Gallery:
“We have paintings that are more damaged than the others and those that we are able to restore we set apart.”
15. Pan left, paintings and worker
16. Close up, hands of worker covered with dust arranging paintings
17. SOUNDBITE (Creole) John Nader, Owner, Nader Gallery:
“Haitians will not give up. What I think is that we will see a new wave in Haitian art. What has happened (earthquake ) will be reflected in their art. They will not stop painting.”
18. Close up, a hand of Prefete Douffaut painting
19. Medium, Prefete Douffaut painting under the tarp
20. Medium, Prefete Douffaut painting in the back, a pot steaming in the foreground
21. SOUNDBITE (Creole) Prefete Douffaut, Haitian Artist:
While I work I also pray and that is how I saw this “Star of Haiti” Which will shine on Haiti after this terrible events that had happened and will bring change to better.”
22. Pan right, makeshift tent to Prefete Douffaut painting in front of it
23. Wide, Prefete Douffaut painting in the backyard with kitchen utensils in front
24. Med shot, Prefete Douffaut pointing
25. Close-up, face of Prefete Douffaut
26. Wide shot, a pile of rubble what used to be a home of Prefete Douffaut
27. Wide shot, street of Port-au-Prince with destroyed Cathedral in the back
28. Wide shot, the rubble of St Trinity church
29. Close-up, a detail from the mural of destroyed church
30. Close-up, a detail with Christ from the mural of destroyed church
31. Med shot, part of the wall with murals with rubble in the foreground
32. Wide shot, workers on the rubble of the St Trinity Church to the murals
33. SOUNDBITE (Creole) Prefete Douffaut, Haitian Artist:
“I will make better ones than there were there already. Will redo them in a more better way, in a modern way and also in a way which will have elements of what has happened here.”
34. Med shot, worker turning a salvaged painting of Prefete Douffaut
35. Close-up, hands of worker dismantling a broken frame
36. Pan right, a hip of broken frames to interior of shop
37. Med shot, worker and owner in front of painting stand
38. Close-up, restorer’s hand working on painting
39. Close-up, restorer’s face
40. Close-up, face on the painting to the brush in hand of restaurateur
41. SOUNDBITE (Creole) Eg Ferol, Art Restorer:
“This is a scratch and this also. Everywhere here there are scratches. What I do is doubling, meaning putting hardboard in the back…”
42. Close-up, a hand of Prefete Douffaut dipping into color
43. Close-up, the painting he’s working on, from top to bottom where he’s painting
44. SOUNDBITE (Creole) Prefete Douffaut, Haitian Artist:
“At this moment we have entire world is helping us, entire world is here. That says to me that Haiti will rise again. That tells me Haiti will become paradise for Prefete Douffaut!”
45. Close-up, a detail of the painting Prefete Douffaut is working on
46. Med shot, Prefete Douffaut painting to the tarp above him
When the devastating earthquake hit Haitian capital Port-au-Prince on January 12 it buried more than 200,000 people under tons of concrete. It had also destroyed a bulk of world famous Haitian art pieces kept in the galleries such as the Nader Gallery.
The gallery belongs to the Nader family which has been collecting art, mostly paintings for generations. The walls of the gallery once displaced some of the most famous and internationally known masterpieces of the Haitian art.
With the help of United Nations Peacekeepers, gallery workers are salvaging any paintings that is not completely destroyed. Some masterpieces have been rescued but many invaluable art has been lost forever.
SOUNDBITE (Creole) Luiz Ezor, worker, Nader Gallery:
“We have paintings that are more damaged than the others and those that we are able to restore we set apart.’’
The Nader Gallery was once a proud landmark of the city and its owners remain determined not to give up but to get back to business of promoting the work of local artists as soon as possible.
SOUNDBITE (Creole) John Nader, Owner, Nader Gallery:
“Haitians will not give up. What I think is that we will see a new wave in Haitian art. What has happened (earthquake) will be reflected in their art. They will not stop painting.”
Prefete Douffaut, 87, is a world famous Haitian painter. He has received numerous rewards for his work and his paintings are included in permanent collections of museums such as the Museum of Modern Art in New York and the New Orleans Museum of Art.
Douffaut is currently working on a new piece called “Star of Haiti.”
SOUNDBITE (Creole) Prefete Douffaut, Haitian Artist:
“While I work I also pray and that is how I saw this “Star of Haiti” - which will shine on Haiti after this terrible events that had happened and will bring change to better.”
Like millions of other Haitians, Douffaut has lost his house because of the earthquake. He is now living under the makeshift shelter in his neighbor’s backyard.
It is still hard to completely understand the impact of the earthquake on the Haitian art heritage. Many landmarks considered crucial to Haitian identity simply do not exist anymore. The famous murals of the Episcopal cathedral of Saint Trinity were painted by Douffaut and were considered as precious gem in the Haitian art heritage.
Artists like Douffaut are determined to keep creating new art.
SOUNDBITE (Creole) Prefete Douffaut, Haitian Artist:
“I will make better ones than there were there already. Will redo them in a more better way, in a modern way and also in a way which will have elements of what has happened here.”
In the meantime, the Nader Gallery is restoring what is left of Douffaut’s paintings. A smaller gallery in Petion-Ville is now used as a restoration facility. Here, under the hand of skilled restorers, many art pieces are getting their second chance to shine once again.
SOUNDBITE (Creole) Eg Ferol, Art Restorer:
“This is a scratch and this also. Everywhere here there are scratches. What I do is doubling, meaning putting hardboard in the back….”
Douffaut, however, is on his way to shine with new pieces of work.
SOUNDBITE (Creole) Prefete Douffaut, Haitian Artist:
“At this moment we have entire world is helping us, entire world is here. That says to me that Haiti will rise again. That tells me Haiti will become paradise for Prefete Douffaut!”
A disaster as such as the one that had hit Haiti on January 12 has a power to bring a society to a standstill. However, individuals like Doufaut are determined to see the brighter side.
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