Haiti’s Scars, and Its Soul, Find Healing on Walls

THE NEW YORK TIMES
February 22, 2011

The Smithsonian’s Stephanie Hornbeck at the
Episcopal Trinity Cathedral in Port-au-Prince.

HAITI--The three remaining murals of the Episcopal Trinity Cathedral in Haiti are being restored in a painstaking 18-month project that began in the fall. The original 14 murals had been internationally treasured. Painted in the early 1950s during an artistic renaissance here, they depicted biblical scenes from a proud, local point of view: with Jesus carrying a Haitian flag as he ascended to heaven; and a last supper that, unlike some famous depictions, does not portray Judas with darker skin than the other disciples. “All of this was painted from a Haitian perspective,” said the Rev. David César, the church’s main priest and its music school director. He marveled at the image miraculously still standing: Judas, with the white beard and wavy white hair often assigned to God himself. It was his favorite mural, he said, and now, it is being saved. In a partnership between the Episcopal Church and the Smithsonian, all three surviving murals are being stabilized and carefully taken to a climate-controlled warehouse in Haiti where they will be protected until they can be redisplayed in a new home. [link]