Photos of Haiti in St. Paul’s are a ‘Brut Testament’ to the human condition

“Brut Testament: Visual Images of Personal Responses to the Haiti Tragedy” is a powerful statement of the human spirit’s resilience in the face of unimaginable tragedy. The small but varied collection of artwork gathered in the basement of St. Paul’s Chapel provides a thoughtful response to the devastation in Haiti and offers hope for the country’s recovery.

Co-curated by Katy Saintil, senior program coordinator of Community Impact at Columbia, and Kevin Ramone Scott, an AmeriCorps VISTA (Volunteers in Career Service to America) member also working with Community Impact, the show was organized in collaboration with the Office of the University Chaplain as part of a campus-wide effort to assist with the rebuilding of Haiti.

All of the artwork on display will be sold to benefit Haiti until the exhibit’s closing date on April 7, with 100 percent of the proceeds going to the Gawou Ginou Foundation and the Haitian Alliance. By the opening on Friday night, several of the artworks had already been sold, and a number of visitors expressed interest in buying particular pieces.

Saintil describes the show as a collective effort made possible by Columbians and community members. According to Saintil, “The process of planning and opening the show was itself a brut testament of the power of community, and of tapping into our collective resources.”

A particularly interesting aspect of the show is the variety of contributing artists and the wide range of their personal experiences with Haiti. While a number of the pieces featured in the show are the works of native Haitian artists, many others were contributed by artists working in New York with connections to Columbia.

In a painting titled “Song”—depicting a woman playing a violin—the Haitian artist Diems Joseph used dark colors and heavy shadows to evoke a melancholy mood, hinting at inner sadness. The show’s program notes that it is unknown whether Joseph, who lived in the poverty-stricken neighborhood of Carrefour in Port-au-Prince, survived January’s earthquake.

Also included in the show are a series of photographs by Yi-Ching Lin, who is a development officer at Community Impact in addition to being a writer and photographer. While Li’s photographs do not have any obvious connection to the tragedy in Haiti, she explains that she chose images that “reflect the transience of life, the beauty in its wear and tear, and the innately human ability to find uplifting gestures during difficult times.” For instance, a set of three photographs, taken just a few seconds apart, show a pigeon flying through the air to perch momentarily on a windowsill.

For Saintil, whose own relatives fortunately survived the earthquake, organizing “Brut Testament” provided an outlet for action and a way to respond personally to the tragedy in Haiti. She explains, “I was as interested in the process of healing and building as I was in fundraising and drives." While an art show is only a modest effort given the huge scale of the devastation in Haiti, the sincerity of the artists and curators involved makes the message of ‘Brut Testament’ a powerful one.