Check out Joseph Augustin's impressive new car treatment!
Joseph Augustin is an Artibonite painter, who meticulously painted one of the hospital vehicles. This mobile mural was in part a reaction to the many different international aid vehicles that have been circulating Haiti since last January's earthquake disaster. These vehicles are labeled with the organization's name -- but none, the artist said, seemed to really represent Haiti and the Haitian people.
The van that Mr. Augustin has painted for HAS Haiti has many different aspects of Haitian everyday life. On the back, Augustin even painted amputees going to the hospital, and emerging with new prosthetic limbs, and walking.
I am a fan of Joseph Augustin's art work. I have a piece which I bought way over here in Australia. Joseph's work was being sold in a Haitian art shop in Surfers Paradise in Australia many years ago. I love the idea of painting the vehicles belonging to the NGOs. I work for an NGO which works with the Indigenous peoples of Australia. I think it is a great idea to paint the car so that the people know what the NGO is doing. A mere sign with the NGO's name on it gives little meaning to the local people. It may appeal to the NGO's sense of self, but it does not relate to the wider population. And in this day and age of Facebook etc, young Anglo students are becoming more and more visual and less literate. I think Joseph is leading the way for NGO's to learn an important visual lesson on how to relate to the "other".
ReplyDeleteBinnung Walu Dr C.F. Black