50th anniversary celebration of Sosyete Koukouy with a literary weekend at the Little Haiti Cultural Center in Miami
The festivities were for the 50th anniversary celebration of Sosyete Koukouy, but also for the 25th Anniversary of Libreri Mapou, and the third anniversary of “Foli Liv”, a full book fair in Little Haiti, already in its third year there.
For the occasion, Bernard Diederich, Edwidge Danticat and Dr. Gérard Férère were all "nominated" and each received a plaque to honor them for their work.
Bernard Diedrich signed fourteen of his last books, Gérard Férère his two books, and Edwidge Danticat, the most prolific writer of the fair, presented no less than twenty books.
Moreover, Edwidge gave the secret of her intense literary production: as soon as you have something which is bothering you, something that you are obsessing about, try to put it in writing. You will be relieved and you will see that in time it is not so difficult. With the simplicity for which she is well-known, this young writer wanted to share her experience with her audience.
How did it all begin for her?
Her childhood in Haiti, in Bel Air. The hasty departure of her father, a shoe salesman in a store in downtown Port-au-Prince, where the owner had chosen to display only shoes in plastic every time he saw a "macoute" on the horizon, in order to prevent the macoute from leaving with his beautiful leather shoes, which would have caused him a certain loss of income. And finally, Edwidge leaves to join her parents in Brooklyn!
Bernard Diederich, very funny as usual with his numerous anecdotes collected during his long life, wanted to set the record straight by saying, for example, that "It was not true. The Duvaliers had not uncorked the champagne on November 22nd, 1963, for the death of the President John Fizgerald Kennedy. No. It is one of those numerous "stories" invented by dishonest writers to sell their books. And which are so harmful for the country!”
Bernard Diederich was very sought after during the evening, and sold many of his books, even if there was only a short half hour dedicated to this event. The sale of books was to take place rather the next day on Sunday, May 24th.
As for Dr. Gérard Férère he was rather lengthy, exceeding the 20 minutes allowed to present himself and his work.
And for a good reason!
This former soldier of the coast guard, arrested five times, had to present "The Haitian Army after Magloire and the Hitlérisme of Duvalier.”
An important part of the book is dedicated to the Vespers of Jérémie and with a very disturbing realism, the author described, by quoting names, the atrocities committed by Abel Jérôme, Borges Sony, Jacques Fourcand, Gérard Brunache, Pierre Biamby, Saintange Bontemps, Pierre Frédéric, Astrel Benjamin, Max Frédéric, Massillo Thélus, Bos Séraphin, Marcel Myrtil, Franoix Cajoux, Raoul Cédras, Benoit Gely, and a certain Sanette Balmir to quote only some of diligent protagonists who murdered and tortured people who had done nothing to them, among them babies, 10-year-old girls etc, etc. …
One shivers when listening to him to speak and when reading certain passages of the book.
Moreover the author himself couldn’t refrain from becoming teary-eyed when describing these atrocities.
Never again. Never again he exclaimed, asking the room to repeat after him.
His wish, is that after having read this book, never again, never again will a young Haitian say: "I did not know." "No. I did not know that Duvalier had committed such crimes…”
“All this could have been avoided, we are talking about the atrocities that have fallen into oblivion, if only we had transformed Fort Dimanche into a memorial. This vile place where so many fellow countrymen were tortured until death followed!
We preferred to let them destroy and demolish Fort Dimanche, thinking we were eradicating the atrocities which took place there.
But fortunately there is today the “Duty of Remembrance” constituting largely of descendants of servicemen and non- servicemen who were killed under the Duvalier regime. They produced in 2015 “Mourir Pour Haiti: La Resistance a la Dictature en 1964” which was also available at the book fair last Sunday.
The event on Sunday took place without any major incidents. There were few in attendance. It seems as if reading among Haitians, as it is everywhere else, is not a chosen activity for young people.
Nevertheless, a more mature audience chose to attend. Sosyete Koukouy, with its magic show for children, and rara band performances created an upbeat atmosphere in the district. Unfortunately the rain started, forcing people to leave a little earlier. But the third edition of "FOLI LIV" took place as planned and many were seen leaving with packages of books under their arms.
Haitian-born fashion designer makes a name for himself in Quebec and works to develop talent in the Caribbean
Helmer Joseph is a haute couture designer in Montréal whose creations blend the boundaries between art and fashion, and have been featured in various exhibitions and museums around the world, including the McCord Museum in Montréal and Musée de la civilisation in Québec City.
He was born in Haiti, where he trained as a tailor at J. B. Damien vocational arts school, and moved to Jamaica for one year to study machine embroidery. At the age of 20, he came to Montréal with his family, and studied fashion design at College Lasalle. He launched his very first collection in Montréal in 1982. In 1983, at the age of 27, he moved to Paris, where he studied fashion and textile design, specializing in a variety of fields with an emphasis on haute couture at Esmod, Francoise Conte, Lesage, and l’école de la chambre syndicale de la couture parisienne. During his twenty years in Paris he took on contract positions at all the major couture and fashion houses, including Dior, Chloe, Thierry Mugler, Louis Vuitton, and many more.
“When I first moved to Paris,” he remarked, “there were 27 couture houses presenting over 152 pieces per season. Now there are only 5 left.”
When he returned to Montréal in 2004, he continued to produce a collection twice a year and to work with his clients from all over the world, including Paris, Boston, Washington, Ottawa, Toronto, Haiti, Senegal, Benin, Martinique, and Ivory Coast. He opened his gallery-boutique on Boulevard St. Laurent in 2009.
In 2010, Helmer presented his patchwork collection, with labor-intensive and hand-stitched patterns, organized as a fundraiser for Haiti relief efforts after the earthquake of January 2010.
He has worked with Québec musicians and performers like Joe Bocan, Marie-Ève Janvier, the opera singer Marie-Josée Lord, writer Kim Thúy, and actress Anne Dorval.
His artistic collaboration with glass artist Jean-Marie Giguère for the Verre Couture fashion show at Espace Verre in the Old Port in 2010, where local glass artists were matched up with local designers to create glass garments, inspired many of Helmer’s collections and accessories. Helmer’s glass dress was then featured in the “50 Years of Glass Art” exhibition in Toledo, before it became part of the collection at the Musée de la civilisation in Québec City. The hand-made glass embroidery took 260 hours to make and features bristle, metal, beads, crystals and 8000 glass tubes.
His other artistic projects include three white gowns carved entirely out of toilet paper (2007-2014), dresses made out of fresh flowers (in collaboration with Westmount Florist), a chocolate dress, and several other designs he presented at the Festival du Mode et Design.
When asked who he would like to collaborate with in the future, Helmer replied, “I would like to collaborate with Robert Lepage. It would be my dream to work with him. And my dreams come true.”
In 2011, Helmer collaborated with Musée McCord for their “90 Treasures, 90 Stories, 90 Years” exhibition, and then again for the 2014-2015 “Love in Fine Fashion” exhibition of wedding dresses, where he contributed his 2008 strapless gown with an embroidered bodice.
“I see the Montréal fashion scene as a kind of medical clinic – every designer has a specialization, and everyone respects each other’s work and specialty in the community. But the press does not understand that because most of them are not trained in fashion, or fashion journalism. They lack the words, the vocabulary to distinguish between the different types of work. They find it all equally impressive, but they lack the expertise of analysis.”
Helmer presents his collections around the world, and is regularly invited to Fashion Weeks in Toronto Ottawa, Haiti, as well as Black Fashion Week in Montréal and abroad. The discontinuation of Montréal Fashion Week has not affected his work or productivity – he continues to produce two collections per year.
Helmer believes that “Montréal is lacking fashion experts who really understand the fashion business and culture. Most people only focus on the commerce of fashion and have no long-term vision. We don’t have someone like the president of the Parisian Chambre Syndicale de la Haute Couture who comes from a generation of fashion experts. That is why Paris is a laboratory of fashion research and innovation. Montréal has the talent to be the fashion centre of North America, but it lacks organization and orchestration.”
Currently, Helmer is collaborating with the UNESCO on an initiative for Caribbean artists to provide haute couture training and education in order to train local specialists, as part of Michaëlle Jean’s and UNESCO’s Special Envoy to contribute to Haiti’s development. Helmer’s role is organizational in setting up networks and collaborations, and building the curriculum of a three-year training program starting September 2015.
“The one constant element in my life has been a lack of stability. But fashion is my family – I dedicate my life to it. And I like the freedom in my work.”
When asked whether it is hard to balance creative freedom with commercial aspects of the fashion business, he replied, “At the beginning of my career yes, I spend all the time working for others. Now I have the freedom of working for myself, and I like this freedom. My work is my passion.”