The Ghetto Biennale: when art is defiance | Backstory By Nixon Nelson | Issue 160 (November/December 2019) Ten years ago, a group of artists in Haiti launched an audacious, even provocative, project: the Ghetto Biennale, drawing international attention to the creative community in Port-au-Prince’s Grand Rue. The event’s tensions and discomforts are at the heart of its mission, writes Nixon Nelson, as the Ghetto Biennale prepares to stage its sixth edition
Naomi Osaka: “It was never my goal to blend in” | Snapshot By Caroline Taylor | Issue 158 (July/August 2019) For anyone who likes easy answers to questions of identity, Naomi Osaka is a conundrum: half-Haitian, half-Japanese, raised for part of her childhood in New York City, visibly hybrid. As Caroline Taylor learns, Osaka hasn’t always been comfortable with the role of mixed-race role model — but she’s learning to embrace it, on her own terms
Football holiday | On this day By James Ferguson | Issue 157 (May/June 2019) When two English football clubs toured the Caribbean fifty-five years ago, local teams in Jamaica, Trinidad, and Barbados were no competition. Haiti was a different story, writes James Ferguson
“Papa Doc” Duvalier: When the bogeyman is real | On this day By James Ferguson | Issue 155 (January/February 2019) Sixty years ago, Haitian dictator “Papa Doc” Duvalier set up a fearsome paramilitary corps to dispatch political opposition. James Ferguson looks back at the sinister history of the Tontons Macoutes
Tessa Mars: full free | Closeup By Shereen Ali | Issue 151 (May/June 2018) Haitian artist Tessa Mars is influenced by her country’s revolutionary history as much as her own family’s intellectual tradition, and her lifelong fascination with riddles. Her colourful paintings often feature a semi-autobiographical character named Tessalines — and deal in complex ideas about identity and freedom. Shereen Ali finds out more
Sans-Souci, Haiti: uncovering a kingdom | Discover By Erline Andrews | Issue 151 (May/June 2018) It’s one of the Caribbean’s most resonant historic sites, but surprisingly little is known about the true history of Sans-Souci, the palace of Henri Christophe, writes Erline Andrews. Now a multinational team of archaeologists are using high-tech tools to resurvey the site, and perhaps rewrite Haitian history
Happy Day in Haiti — the Duvaliers remembered By James Ferguson | Issue 107 (January/February 2011) Twenty-five years ago, the Duvalier dynasty came to an end. James Ferguson explains why that date remains a red-letter day in the troubled country that Baby Doc left behind
Art in the open | Round trip By Caribbean Beat | Issue 149 (January/February 2018) Year-round, across the Caribbean, you can experience art in the street, in public spaces, out in the open — no need to buy a museum ticket. Here are murals, monuments, and even an impromptu art gallery in Port-au-Prince
Word of mouth (Nov/Dec 2017) By Philip Sander, Laura Dowrich-Phillips and Nixon Nelson | Issue 148 (November/December 2017) Why Jean-Michael Basquiat is a posthumous art star, how the Sunset Festival in Trinidad is changing Caribbean dance music, and where to end 2017 with a truly big bang: Paramaribo
The Lüders affair | On this day By James Ferguson | Issue 147 (September/October 2017) One hundred and twenty years ago, a minor dispute in Port-au-Prince escalated into an international incident, with the German navy threatening to bombard the city. James Ferguson remembers this episode in the long history of foreign powers meddling in Haiti’s affairs
Hadriana’s wedding | Showcase By René Depestre | Issue 146 (July/August 2017) An excerpt from the classic Haitian novel Hadriana in All My Dreams, by René Depestre, newly translated
Voyager among gods By James Ferguson | Issue 138 (March/April 2016) Eighty years ago, an African-American anthropologist stepped off a boat in Kingston, at the start of a journey to investigate Caribbean religion and spirituality. Zora Neale Hurston is better remembered for her fiction, writes James Ferguson, but her book Tell My Horse remains a fascinating record of Jamaica and Haiti in the 1930s
Jacmel, Haiti By Caribbean Beat | Issue 137 (January/February 2016) It may be most famous for its Carnival celebrations, but idyllic Jacmel on Haiti’s south coast is also home to treasures of historic architecture, art, and crafts
Castor oil, please By Nazma Muller | Issue 136 (November/December 2015) Nasty-tasting castor oil was once the bane of Caribbean childhoods. But now an innovative line of beauty products from Haiti is putting castor beans to a different use — and helping make Haiti’s hills green again, Nazma Muller reports
Word of mouth (November/December 2015) By Various Contributors | Issue 136 (November/December 2015) The fourth Ghetto Biennale opens in Haiti, Trinidad Carnival prep moves into high gear, and a family tradition puts wanderlust into Christmas
Word of mouth (July/August 2015) By Philip Sander and David Katz | Issue 134 (July/August 2015) Haiti hosts the Caribbean’s biggest arts festival, and a London exhibition celebrates the legacy of John La Rose
Faustin Wirkus: for king and country? By James Ferguson | Issue 134 (July/August 2015) How did a young man from Pennsylvania become “king” of Haiti’s La Gonave? The unlikely story, says James Ferguson, started a century ago
Stella Jean: culture chameleon By Alia Michele Orane | Issue 131 (January/February 2015) Haitian-Italian designer Stella Jean draws on her mixed heritage
The other side of Haiti By Shannon J. Effinger | Issue 128 (July/August 2014) In the aftermath of Haiti’s January 2010 earthquake, reconstruction is still a work in progress. Even so, writes Shannon J. Effinger, the country’s rich culture makes Haiti a life-changing destination for the right kind of traveller
Bookshelf (July/August 2000) By Pat Ganase, Simon Lee and Jeremy Taylor | Issue 44 (July/August 2000) New and recent books about the Caribbean
CaRiMi: hip hop from Haiti By Judy Fitzpatrick | Issue 99 (September/October 2009) Though musical trio CaRiMi have made it big in the US, their music still captures the struggles of their homeland
Wyclef Jean: Haitian sensation By Judy Fitzpatrick | Issue 97 (May/June 2009) Musician Wyclef Jean says he’ll never forget his Caribbean roots. Judy Fitzpatrick caught up with him when he came to perform in St Maarten
