Les Nids (The Nests), 1967

Benoit, Rigaud (Haitian, 1911 - 1986)

Painting
Les Nids (The Nests), 1967

The tree is a powerful symbol for Haitian artists representing the interconnection of family members to the spirits of ancestors below the earth. It is also a vodou symbol for the poto mitan or sacred vertical portal that creates an open road between Ginen (the watery pace beneath the earth where all things African go) and the land of the living. Benoit represents this tree as the symbol of all things that grow. In three nests Benoit has painted flowers, fruits and vegetables the products of a fecund earth.