Jul
14

Saving Haiti’s Culture

The SI-PCAH delegation visits the devastated Centre d'Art site in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, on June 21, 2011. From left, Stephanie Hornbeck (Chief Conservator, Haiti Cultural Recovery Project); Dr. Richard Kurin (Under Secretary for History, Art, and Culture; Corine Wegener (President, U.S. Committee of the Blue Shield); Eryl Wentworth (ExecutiveDirector, American Institute for Conservation); Rachel Goslins (Executive Director, President's Committee on the Arts and Humanities); Axelle Liautaud (member Centre d'Art board), Dr. Wayne Clough (Secretary); Rosa Lowinger (Conservator, St. Trinity murals project); Olsen Jean Julien (Project Manager, Haiti Cultural Recovery Project); Dr. Johnnetta Cole (Director, National Museum of African Art). (Photo by Erickson Pierre-Louis)

“After the disaster, there were many who promised to help.  But, you are the only ones who actually came, and did what you said you would do.”

—The National Library of Haiti

In late June, Secretary Clough traveled to Haiti with a group of colleagues from the Smithsonian and other agencies to see the progress made by our Haiti Cultural Recovery Project, which has been an enormous success. So far, we are in the process of saving more than 26,000 works of art, paintings, sculptures, 3-D objects, books and historical documents. Just as important, from the outset of the project we included Haitians in the recovery process. For the Secretary’s first-hand account, click here to read his latest travel journal.

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Posted: 14 July 2011
About the Author:

Alex di Giovanni is primarily responsible for "other duties as assigned" in the Office of Communications and External Affairs. She has been with the Smithsonian since 2006 and plans to be interred in the Smithson crypt.