HAITI: U.N. Supports Move to Protect Heritage

• by A. D. McKenzie (paris)
• Tuesday, February 16, 2010
• Inter Press Service

'We cannot talk about reconstruction without talking about our identity, our culture, our national patrimony,' said Marie-Laurence Jocelyn Lassegue, Haiti’s minister for culture and communication, who later cried as she spoke with a supporter here Monday.

Lassegue heads a delegation that is in Paris for a special conference at UNESCO headquarters. The conference, to be held Tuesday, aims to form an 'international coordinating committee' that will discuss ways to preserve Haiti’s unique cultural legacy. It will seek financing from an array of donors to meet its goals, according to UNESCO’s director-general Irina Bokova.

It comes a day before French President Nicolas Sarkozy is scheduled to visit Haiti — the first French president to do so since the country gained its independence from France in 1804.

'Haiti’s culture is so rich, and it is up to the international community to protect this patrimony which belongs to all humanity,' Bokova told journalists ahead of the UNESCO meeting.

Last month, she wrote to U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon, asking for his support in preventing the 'dispersion of Haiti’s cultural heritage', and called for a ban on trade in Haitian artifacts. Culture experts fear that the country’s damaged museums, galleries and churches could fall victim to pillaging.

Bokova would like to see the U.N. Security Council adopt a resolution instituting a temporary ban on the trade or transfer of Haitian cultural property, and she suggested that institutions such as Interpol and the World Customs Organisation (WCO) as well as international art dealers help to implement such a ban.

'It is particularly important to verify the origin of cultural property that might be imported, exported and/or offered for sale, especially on the Internet,' she said in her letter.

So far there has been no official reply from the Secretary-General, a spokesman for UNESCO told IPS. According to the agency, treasure hunters must be prevented from 'rifling through the rubble of the numerous cultural landmarks that collapsed in the earthquake'. Such landmarks include the former Presidential Palace and the Cathedral of Port-au-Prince, along with buildings in Jacmel, the 17th-century French colonial town Haiti planned to propose for inscription on UNESCO’s World Heritage List.

The agency sent a special envoy, Bernard Hadjadj, to Haiti shortly after the earthquake to assess the damage and to explore means of protecting artworks and archives. Now back in Paris, Hadjadj told IPS that there is an urgent need for containers to store and preserve valuable works dating from the 1940s, for instance.

One of Port-au-Prince’s oldest museums, the Centre d’Art, was badly damaged in the earthquake, but artworks that could be saved were pulled out from the rubble and are now being housed by private associations, Hadjadj said. However, longer-term storage is required.

'That’s the most important thing for the paintings right now,' he stressed.

UNESCO has also helped to salvage the extensive historical archives of George Corvington, a well-known historian on Haiti, Hadjadj said, adding that the agency would try to partner with various foundations to help Haitians preserve their national archives.

Meanwhile, if there was any doubt about the richness of Haiti’s art and legacy, a current exhibition here titled ‘Haiti: 500 Years of History’ clearly illustrates what is at stake following the disaster.

Organised in homage to Haitian artists and as an act of solidarity, the show at Paris’ Montparnasse Museum comprises some 75 vibrant canvases that chronicle the island’s history from Columbus’ landing in 1492 to the present day.

One painting depicts the arrest of Haitian hero Toussaint Louverture by French soldiers, a reminder that Haiti’s freedom came at a heavy price and also that France holds some responsibility for Haiti’s poverty.

Following the country’s declaration of independence, France demanded payment of 150 million gold francs in exchange for recognition of the country’s new status and also as reparation for lost lands and funds in the slave revolt that led to autonomy.

Haiti signed a treaty agreeing to the demands, and although the amount was later reduced, the new nation still had to borrow heavily from banks in the United States, France and other countries to pay the sum plus interest, even as its people became more poverty stricken.

The paintings on display in Paris depict Haiti’s painful history and other aspects of cultural life prior to the earthquake.

With the new measures by UNESCO, the acts of support by France and the outpouring of international aid, Haitians are hoping that the 'great disaster can be transformed into an opportunity' for advancement, as a member of the official Haitian delegation put it.

'The Haitian people appreciate all the help and support,' said culture minister Lassegue. She thanked France, French NGOs and French journalists for their solidarity.

© Inter Press Service (2010) — All Rights ReservedOriginal source: Inter Press Service

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