Alyssa Falco

I had the pleasure of attending Donald Cosentino lecture, “Why do the Gods let this happen? Vodou in the 21st century”. Donald Cosentino is a professor at the University of California-Los Angeles in World Arts and Cultures. Therefore, he is a professional in his field. He does a lot of his research focusing on the middle passage. He has a great love for the arts and for people who make the arts. He was the Co-editor for the Journal of African Arts. Professor Cosentino finds his love in the Haitian Vodou religion. He has studied for a number of years and finds a passion in this, therefore, he is the perfect man to talk about such a different religion. The Haitian vodou altar is one that is found in the exhibition and one that is very colorful and full of flags which was a big topic of discussion for Professor. Therefore, again making him a great choice to discuss this religion.

Throughout the lecture he talked about the arts and how and why Haiti is still a country today. He refers to the gods as well and how their attitudes and their characteristics reflect on what kind of art may be developed based in them. He used flags to symbolize or show important historical events. He used the middle passage as the reason why Haiti is the way it is today. His main point was to help us understand that even through all the hardships Haiti had, the artwork and the haitian vodou religion never faded. He says this quote to conclude; “ugly but we’re here.” This meaning that even though bad things happen and that may be the gods doing, they never go away, for the good or the bad. They are simply always present. Professor Cosentino finds this idea very powerful. The art is not only art but it tells a story, historical stories as well, not just myths. He realizes that a whole country was build on something so awful. Slavery was a horrible thing, but without it, would Haiti be where they are today?

Professor Cosentino talks a lot about the arts and history, in our class we talk about the art of different religions and how it relates to the altar that it may sit on. What we also talk about is how the world has made these religions, especially the haitian vodou religion, into something that it’s not. The art in the haitian religion has its own story. It tells the hardships of what the religion may have gone through. There was a piece he showed called Danbala La Flambeau. This was of a god who was once recognized as an old and wise god to now being known as the flaming god. Showing that because of events like the hurricane in 2010 that destroyed Haiti, the perspective on these gods may change. Thus changing, their story or their culture and how they perceive the gods all together. Making art and its meaning something that is extremely important in the fact that it will will also tell outsiders about their religion and it may give them an idea about that religion without knowing the whole story, thus the media is given this information and alters it into thinking that maybe the vodou religion isn’t a good one but in reality, they have been through hell and back and are expressing that through their art. During the talk he mentioned a little bit about other religions and how they may have some certain aspects that are also a part of the haitian religion as well, which goes back to the idea of hybridity. That this religion isn’t pure, that no religion is pure. It will never be just catholicism or just judaism just like it will never be haitian vodism.

The talk overall was informative. It was hard to look at the religion in a scholar point of view. However, it brought up some clear points and made those connections to better allow me to better understand the class aspects. It brought up more examples of hybridity and of the altars and the religion as a whole. I do think it was worth going to have an artistic take on the haitian religion. I feel as though I was looking for more of a zombie comparison and a little bit more detail about the religion and less about Haiti’s history. If that was the one thing I could change, it would be that. Personally art isn’t something I desperately enjoy, however, the way he connected the art to the history and then to the gods themselves was easier and more pleasing for myself to understand.