The Ghetto Biennale, a Haitian cross-cultural arts festival hosted every two years, is set to produce a multi-authored catalogue, which documents the first four editions of the biennale, from the initial event in 2009 to the 4th Ghetto Biennale held in December 2015. Created by the artists’ collective, Atis Rezistans, the unique artistic event brings together international artists and Haitian creatives in two adjacent informal neighbourhoods in Port-au-Prince, the capital of Haiti, called Lakou Cheri and Ghetto Leanne.
“For the visiting artists, the creativity of the Ghetto Biennale is as much about broken dreams as realised fantasy. There is a rapid entropy and deconstruction of ideas, projects, and ideals that takes place on entry to Port-au-Prince and the Ghetto Biennale and it is at this level creativity has to really take place to struggle against the disorder and chaos,” reads the collective’s campaign.
Atis Rezistans have launched a successful Kickstarter campaign to fund the catalogue. The book is expected to look like any other and feature incredible projects made in adverse conditions. In some cases, it may be the only way the projects are able to live on after the exhibition because the Ghetto Biennale by its nature is transient and ephemeral. After only four days, the works are rapidly deconstructed and re-appropriated as raw materials back by the neighbourhood.
“We want this catalogue to contribute to the debates around global art. This catalogue will be an important addition to critical resources exploring the scholarship and art history of transculturalism, and hopefully, lead to a deeper understanding of marginality in the art world,” adds the collective.
