Petrouchka Moise

DDES candidate

As a member of the first class of DDes scholars, Petrouchka Moise is studying the role of artists in Haitian society, culture and identity. An artist of Haitian descent herself, Petrouchka has managed Louisiana state government disaster services. Her Doctor of Design thesis project studies the identity of the Haitian artist, exploring how culture impacts the way artists are perceived.

“I myself am a self-taught artist and consider myself an outsider to the artistic establishment,” Petrouchka says. “I struggled with my identity of being a creative; however, there existed no platform where I could analyze how my Haitian background influenced my artistic growth. Through my work in Haiti and the States, I have met other Haitian creatives that were working through similar shared spiritual and emotional upheaval as they try to find cultural validation within the Diaspora.”

“Ezuli – Louizian” by Petrouchka Moise

Petrouchka decided to pursue this topic as an area of study after she travelled to Haiti to celebrate Carnival last year. During her stay, she began networking with local artists and community leaders to see how the artisan community in Haiti were being sustained, and how artists were using social media to communicate with the global market. While there she visited a number of arts and education organizations and learned that the Haitian government and public do not support the studies of humanities or the arts.

“I realized that my ancestral home is made up of disenfranchised artists who are isolated once they identify themselves as creatives,” she said.

With a successful long-standing career in government and education, she used her expertise in urban planning, project management and disaster recovery to learn how the arts mend the effects of loss and affirms the need for hope in the rebuilding process of a community.

While working with the Louisiana Office of Mental Health and the Governor’s Office of Community Programs during the recovery and the rebuilding of Louisiana after Hurricane Katrina, she witnessed how communities use visual arts to process and remember the impacts of a disaster. “During the aftermath of the 2010 Haitian earthquake, I saw that the contribution of the Haitian art community was appreciated, but not seen as a form of healing or revitalization to the nation as a whole, unless through the means of tourism.”

“Karbon Print” by Petrouchka Moise

Her goal is to create the LAKAY Project – LAKAY is an acronym for “L’ Étude d’Art, Kreyol, Ayisen, Ye ak Jodi” [the Study of Haitian Kreyol Art from Yesterday and Today]. LAKAY is designed to bridge the identity of Haitian art and culture within Haiti and the Diaspora with the use of collaboration, education and technology. The definition and identity of the Haitian creative and their work is a complex and robust evolution that is ever changing and adapting to its environment within Haiti, the Caribbean and throughout the global diaspora.

“My vision is to design a digital environment where the lens of Haitian art is pluralized by utilizing a digital process to tag, drive traffic, and building awareness of the artistic contributions made by people of Haitian descent,” Petrouchka says. “By creating an online exhibition that analyzes the migration of Haitian art and its influences will give visitors the depth needed to see the evolution of the Haitian masters.”

For the development of future Haitian community and their creatives, the LAKAY Project will develop a platform and online community with artist, cultural centers, schools of learning, and other stakeholders to work together in developing an artistic ecosystem for the Haitian and Caribbean diaspora community to contribute to the digital landscape.

The ultimate goal: to give Haitian artists a home.