Cosmic Mirrors brings together striking works created by Haitian artists from the 1950s to 2000s. The exhibition – drawn almost exclusively from the Museum’s rich collection of over 160 Haitian art works – features contemporary artists in dialogue with masters of the Haitian Renaissance, who in the early and mid-twentieth century established the ateliers, movements and markets that formed the country’s modernist aesthetic.

Haiti’s creative abundance is seen through the exhibitions focus on depictions of the country’s spiritual syncretism between colonial Catholic beliefs and vodou cosmology, portrayals of its lush terrain, and an emphasis on the nation’s signature technique of creating figurative metal sculptures from repurposed steel oil drums.

The exhibition’s title refers to the Haitian Vodou belief in a parallel universe, referred to as Laviloka or Afrik Ginen. This land is both real and divine, functioning as an inverse reflection of the physical world. This cosmic sphere is populated by the immortal spirits of the country’s African ancestors and spiritual divinities, which through ceremony, reach into our own profane realm. Beyond this understanding of another dimension, the title points to the leitmotif of doubles, reflexives and equivalents that are persistent throughout Haitian culture.

Cosmic Mirrors showcases a selection of recently donated gifts to the NSU Art Museum Collection, presented by Carol J. Horning and Linda Marks. These generous offerings have enriched the Museum’s representation of Haitian culture, which remains critical to our mission to reflect and engage with the culture and communities that define our region.

This exhibition is curated by the Museum’s Bryant-Taylor Curator, Ariella Wolens.