|
|
Article: A wretched place on earth: the agony of Haiti, unending and worsening.(The Americas)
- Article from:
- National Review
- Article date:
- April 5, 2004
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2004 National Review, Inc. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
|
HAITIAN naive art often depicts landscapes replete with surreally lush vegetation, populated with friendly, smiling lions, leopards, and giraffes. When you know Haiti as it is, however, these paintings take on a different and much deeper meaning: They express a longing for a paradise lost, in Africa and in Haiti itself--a paradise that never existed, except in the imaginations of those who despair.
Such longing is understandable in a country for which today is always worse than yesterday, and for which tomorrow will almost certainly be worse than today. Idealization is an escape from a grim reality, and an even grimmer future: The painters' thriving, fruitful ...