Sequin Arts: The Flagmakers of Haiti

The Tampa Museum of Art’s permanent collection includes one of the largest collections of drapo vodou (Haitian vodou flags) in the Southeast. These newly acquired works, largely gifted by the Gessen Collection, will remain on view for an extended display with new rotations focused on various themes and artists associated with drapo vodou. The inaugural display will survey the first, second, and third generations of flagmakers and the evolution of the genre from ritual art to high art. Artists featured in this selection include Clotaire Bazile, Myrlande Constant, Silva Joseph, Edgar Jean-Louis, Antoine Oleyant, Yves Telemak, George Valris, and others.

Drapo Vodou, or ritual flags, are the most celebrated of Haiti’s sacred arts. The flags reflect the creative inclusivity of Vodou, which combines and juxtaposes African symbols with those of Europe and the Americas to form a mosaic of ritual art. The flags are made of sequins, beads, golden ribbons, and ropes, among other things, which are hand-sewn onto various types of fabric, from simple burlap to velvet and satin. Due to the embargo, flags created in the 1990s were often made with hand-dyed, even hand-made, sequins. Each flag features approximately 2,000 to 20,000 sequins and beads, hand-stitched by artists trained in the tradition of drapo Vodou. First-generation artists such as Clotaire Bazile, Silva Joseph, and Edgar Jean-Louis exemplify the traditional format and design of the flagmakers working in the Bel-Air neighborhood of Port-au-Prince. Second-generation artists, including Joseph Oldof Pierre, Yves Telemaque, Georges Valris, and Vil Odelesse, inherited the craftsmanship of the first generation and created new interpretations of Vodou flags. 

Vodou flags traditionally feature a central image with a geometric border. The imagery ranges from depictions of lwas (Vodou gods) or veves (symbols of the gods). The bead and sequin colors selected are typically associated with the god featured on the flag. In some flags, the syncretization of Catholicism and Vodou is evident, and the flagmaker has incorporated a chromolithograph, a paper image of a saint’s face, hands, or feet, into the textile. The flags in this selection feature several of the major lwas (or deities) present in the Vodou pantheon, including St. Jacques, Erzulie, Gran Bois, Baron, and Papa Zaka.  

The Tampa Museum of Art started collecting Haitian objects over twenty years ago but began acquiring in earnest in 2019 after receiving a gift of twenty-one flags by collectors Ed and Ann Gessen. To date, the collection includes 135 Haitian flags and represents one of the largest collections of drapo Vodou in the U.S. Over the next two years, the Tampa Museum of Art will present highlights from these holdings in this space. This inaugural display introduces the artists and motifs unique to Haiti’s sequin arts. This rotation of flags focuses on depictions of Erzulie Freida, the Goddess of Love, Beauty, Femininity, and Fertility, and Erzulie Danthor, the fierce protector of children, women, and vulnerable people.

Textiles, such as the Vodou flags, are sensitive to light. As part of the care and conservation for these objects, the flags are changed out every six months. Come back to the Tampa Museum of Art to view new Vodou flags from the permanent collection!