FAQS

 

Do these sculptures rust?

 

They can.  Made of recycled steel drums, they will rust if exposed to weather or moisture over time.  However, these sculptures are great to display anywhere and care to prevent rust is easy, inexpensive, and minimal.

 

How do I care for my piece?

 

These recycled steel sculptures come with a weather-proof finish, but over time it wears away and rusting can occur.  To prevent this, simply apply a clear acrylic spray coat every couple of years.   The clear-coat is available in spray cans at any hardware store. It costs less than $5 per can, takes about one minute to spray on, and five minutes to dry.  If you find that some rusting has taken place before you could get to it, buff the affected area with steel wool and then wipe clean before spraying.

 

How did this art form originate? 

Georges Liataud (1899-1991) was a simple blacksmith, known to hand-craft decorative crosses that marked gravesites in the cemeteries of Croix-des-Bouquets. In the 1950s, DeWitt Peters, an American patron of the arts and founder of the Center d’Art in Port-au-Prince, “discovered” Liataud’s work and encouraged him to expand upon it.  Liataud went on to create many wonderful pieces, from simple crosses to elaborate three-dimensional pieces.  He took on apprentices, such as Gabriel Bien-Aime, Serge Jolimeau, and Seresier and Janvier Louisjuste.  In keeping with the tradition that Liataud established, they eventually opened their own workshops, took on apprentices, and trained many of the artists that Beyond Borders works with today.

Is Haitian metal sculpture valuable as an art form?

 

 

While some people purchase Haitian iron sculpture for decorative purposes alone, it does have value as art.  How much?  Time will tell.  Pieces by Georges Liataud, Gabriel Bien-Aime, Serge Jolimeau, and others currently hang in museums and galleries world-wide.  Great collections can be viewed in the States in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, Waterloo and Davenport, Iowa and Miami, Florida. Pieces by these timeless masters of the art can fetch thousands on the market.  Having said that, Beyond Borders represents the “new masters,” and indeed, some of them have already achieved international recognition. Generally, the pieces that most closely represent Haitian culture and tradition as well as display innovative characteristics of execution are going to be the best bets for lasting and increased value.  As your eye becomes trained, you’ll be able to spot works by the artists with the most promise.  Until that time, Beyond Borders can help you learn and choose. Always keep in mind, though, the golden rule of collecting:  Buy what you like.  The most important part of your purchasing decision is that the piece gives you pleasure.

 

How does my purchase help Haiti?

 

Beyond Borders currently buys from 72 different artists, many of whom in turn, have staffs of paid apprentices working for them. Your purchase is their sale.  Literally, our artists in Haiti are able to feed their families, keep roofs over their heads, and send their children to school because of your choice to buy their work.   Beyond Borders is not a charity, we don’t offer hand-outs.  By providing work for our artists and giving them access to the global market, we offer a hand up.  To quote sculptor Winzor Gouin: “With Beyond Borders, there is great improvement in the dealing of metal sculpture.  Casey works very hard to improve the artists’ situations.  Every time we get orders, we can help ourselves earn a life.”

 

Is Beyond Borders a participant in the fair trade movement?

 

ABSOLUTELY!  

Beyond Borders has been a member of the Fair Trade Federation since 2007.  As such, we are a part of the global fair trade movement, building equitable and sustainable trading partnerships and creating opportunities to alleviate poverty.  Our purchasing and production choices are made with concern for the well-being of people and the environment. We work to create opportunity for so that our craftsmen and artisans may have viable economic options to meet their own needs. We engage in trading practices that honor the value of labor and dignity of all people.       

Fair Trade Federation members are required to demonstrate compliance with the Nine Principles of Membership.  We are evaluated on these Principles not just once, but annually.  The Nine Principles are as follows:

 

*Creating Opportunities for Economically and Socially Marginalized *Producers

*Developing Transparent and Accountable Relationships

*Build Capacity

*Promote Fair Trade

*Pay promptly and fairly

*Support safe and empowering working conditions

*Ensure the rights of children

*Cultivate environmentally stewardship

*Respect cultural identity

 

There is actually a 34 page down-loadable pdf.document on the Fair Trade Federation website which outlines very specifically The Fair Trade Federation Code of Practice.  This is a REALLY BIG DEAL and we take our responsibilities of membership very seriously by going above and beyond.  For example, we pay  100% for every order up front, not upon delivery, sending an average of $30,000 monthly to our artists in Haiti. 

     

How is Haiti since the 2010 earthquake?

 

The best way to answer that is to let our artists tell you themselves:

 

Evenson Thenor, “The earthquake destroyed my home, my workshop, and my parents’ home.  We are all forced to regroup, surviving on the money that I can make.  We will not be discouraged, we won’t give up.”

 

Caleb Belony, “The earthquake destroyed my home and shop.  I had to recreate much of my life.  I can see that myself, my country of Haiti and the world has to have a new way to think.”

 

 Salomon Jean Belony, “On the 2010 earthquake, my house was destroyed.  Since then, everything has changed.  It was the end of the world.  Now, activities are shyly back.  Thanks to the support we get from Beyond Borders, there is still life.  But I wish to Haiti back as before.  Things cannot remain so.”

 

Yinder Decembre, “I lost my home and my brother died.  But the sun faces that I make represent the sun shining on my future.  If I can sell them, I can build my house and take care of my brothers and sisters.  It lets me know in my heart that everything will be okay.”

 

A BRIEF HISTORY AND A FEW FAST FACTS ABOUT HAITI:

-  The island of Hispaniola was “discovered” by Christopher Columbus in 1492.  At the time, it was inhabited by native Taino people.  Their population was wiped out by disease within 25 years of Columbus’ arrival.  In 1697, Spain ceded the western third of the island to France, which became Haiti. 

 - Under the French, Haiti became one of the wealthiest colonies in the Caribbean, based on its sugar production and forestry products.  This came at a great cost, both in human and environmental terms, as the French depended on African slaves for labor and heavily degraded the land by deforestation. 

- Following a successful slave revolt lead by Toussaint L’Ouverture, Haiti became the first black republic to declare independence in 1804.  This event caused grave concern in the United States, who feared that its own slave population would be inspired to follow suit.  As a result, the U.S. shunned the new nation and refused to recognize it officially until 1862.

- A series 22 of troubled (and troubling) leaders ruled Haiti until the country,  bankrupt and chaotic, was invaded by the U.S. Marine Corps on the orders of President Woodrow Wilson in 1915. They withdrew under President Franklin Roosevelt’s “Good Neighbor Policy” in 1934.  By then, a certain amount of infrastructure had been put in place and a mild degree of prosperity had been achieved, but no transitional provisions had been established and Haiti was left to fend for itself while U.S. attention was drawn to the growing menaces of Imperial Japan and Nazi Germany.

- In 1957, Francois Duvalier (Papa Doc) was elected president of Haiti.  He ruled with an iron fist, forming the “Tonton Macoutes” goon squads to protect himself and promote his government through a nationalized system of terror.  In 1964, his power was absolute, and he managed to change the Haitian Constitution to guarantee his presidency for life.  “Papa Doc” was succeeded by his son, “Baby Doc” after his death in 1971.  The Duvalier Regime finally collapsed in 1986, leaving Haiti the poorest nation in the Western Hemisphere.

- The Jean-Bertrand Aristide era commenced in 1990 when he was elected president.  He was overthrown by a military coup the following year, only to be re-instated in 1994.  He stayed in power until 1996, was replaced, and then re-elected in 2000. In 2004, unrest forced him to withdraw and he was airlifted from the country by U.S. military forces.

- In January 2010, a massive 7.0 magnitude earthquake struck Haiti, its epicenter a mere 8 miles from the capital and largest city, Port-au Prince. According to Associated Press estimates, 230,000 people died in the tragedy and over 1 million were displaced.  As of February 2012, an estimated 500,000 Haitians still live in crowded, dangerous, “temporary” tent cities throughout the country. In Port-au-Prince alone, nearly 85,000 buildings are marked for demolition, but have yet to be demolished, and 120,000 private homes are marked with yellow paint as “repairable” but still await repair.  A recent article by Isabeau Doucet of The Guardian (UK) stated that, “International donors pledged more than $5bn for Haiti's recovery; today the effort has all but fizzled out.”  The international commission in charge of coordinating the money has brokered less than half the donor funds pledged. The reasons and excuses are innumerable; blame falls like rain, and the result is muddy stagnation.  Frustration, however, runs like a river at flood stage. 

- Today Haiti is ruled by a democratically elected President and Chief of State, currently Michel Martelly.  The Prime Minister, appointed by the President, is the head of the government, currently Garry Conille. The problems their country faces today are staggering.  Haiti remains the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere.  According to the 2011 CIA World Factbook, 80 percent of its population lives in poverty and over 54 percent live in abject poverty.  The current unemployment rate is listed at slightly over 40 percent and the literacy rate of the population is a dismal 53 percent. Haiti is currently in the grips of the worst cholera epidemic in the world and ranks 31st in the incidence of HIV/AIDS.  In a February 2012 newspaper interview, Williamson Aristide, a former airfreight cargo handler summed it up rather succinctly when he said, “Life in Haiti is very, very, very hard.”