CLOTAIRE BAZILE

Born February 27, 1950, Bazile had an unusual introduction to Vodou during his first communion at a Catholic church when he was twelve. Despite a lack of support from his family, he became a houngan or Vodou (voodoo) priest, in 1968, and made his first Vodou flag in 1972, acquiescing to the persistence of the laws (loas) who visited him in dreams. In 1974, Pierre Monosiet, the director of the Musee d’Art Haitien in Port-au-Prince, began to sell Bazile’s flags in the museum’s gift shop. Other venues in Haiti followed suit, including Galerie Issa, Galerie Monnin and Galerie Nader. Traditional in his potrayal of the spirits, Bazile calls himself a classicist. His flags are instantly recognizable, not only for his style, but also for his sometimes electrifying use of color.