Sculpture by the Kids of the Gran Rue

 For generations, kids who live in the neighborhood of Gran Rue, an urban ghetto
in downtown Port-au-Prince, have worked after school.

Traditionally, they were staining wooden tourist items with shoe polish. Their elders made trays,
walking sticks, powder boxes, decorative tea sets, vases. salad bowls,
and all sorts of kitsch.

As they got older, they graduated to sanding and eventually
to carving details into the pieces. Some became carvers

 In the last two generations, a few of those kids grew up and
something changed; they started incorporating some of the industrial leftovers that litter the area
and made the transition to fine art by building bizarre sculptures from the car and truck parts
and other junk that was laying around.

The first three names that were important in this movement were
Eugene, Celeur and Guyodo, As a group they were known as Atis Rezistans.
They attracted international  interest in 2006 and have traveled the world
building their art in museums and galleries,
in England, France, USA, Switzerland and other countries.

As time passes, the block is becoming joyfully infected with creativity.
In the last few years, many more artists have emerged and kids as young as four years old
have started  making art from junk.

There are two main groups of these kids are Ti Moun Klere and Ti Moun Rezistans

****************************** 

The Gran Rue was hit hard by the earthquake.
People died, houses, stores, banks and markets collapsed.
The loss of life and of limb on the Gran Rue was unspeakable.
and the children, especially, were traumatized.

After the quake, the arts exploded in Haiti, including the arts of the ti moun of the
Gran Rue

 

More kids art