In 1948, between the end of the US occupation and the start of the Duvaliers’ thirty-year dictatorship, a group of artists emerged in Cap-Haïtien which included Philomé Obin, who began painting by decorating houses, businesses and churches. In his art, Obin always painted street scenes, depicting Haiti’s vibrant and complex history and its multi-layered spirituality, while never losing sight of the ordinary moments of everyday life. The artist’s paintings, now considered among the most influential of the Haitian Renaissance, are acts of documentation and re-creation.
