Overview:
Peterson “Gabawou” René, a younger Haitian sculptor, transforms private loss and the challenges of gang violence into a strong inventive journey, creating busts of influential figures like Haitian singer-activist Emmanuel “Manno” Charlemagne at Les Créations Tob’s workshop in Delmas. After fleeing assaults that destroyed his dwelling and far of his work, Gabawou finds refuge and inspiration in artwork, honoring his late mom, who died in 2018, and Haiti’s patriotic heritage.
PORT-AU-PRINCE — In his small nook of Les Créations Tob’s workshop in Delmas —his most well-liked artistic house — sculptor Peterson “Gabawou” René carves resilience into stone. His most up-to-date creation, a bust of activist singer Emmanuel “Manno” Charlemagne, took greater than a month to finish — a cautious course of he describes as each tribute and name to motion.
“By this work, I would like Haitians to turn out to be conscious of the hardships endured by our elders, of the legacy of their era,” René, 26, advised The Haitian Occasions.
“And now, is it this degraded nation that we’re going to go away to our kids?”
For René, sculpting Charlemagne was greater than homage; it was a pilgrimage. He hopes the bust captures the singer’s fighter spirit, one whose voice denounced injustice with solely a guitar and phrases.
“The objective just isn’t solely to pay him tribute, however to let the soul of this fighter communicate and to awaken the power present in his vibrant voice, to encourage and rekindle the spirit of patriotism in each Haitian,” he mentioned.
Charlemagne, regardless of criticism throughout his time as mayor of Port-au-Prince, is remembered as a fearless cultural icon. Charlemagne’s songs like “Le mal du pays” (exile), “Zanj” (inequality), and “Ban m yon ti limyè” (fact and lightweight) stay rallying cries throughout generations.
“My mom was an excellent fan of him. I selected Manno as a type of dedication to my mom,” René mentioned.
Engaged on the bust was not with out challenges. Supplies have been costly and arduous to seek out, and navigating the streets meant fixed dangers. Nonetheless, René pressed on.
“Issues weren’t straightforward, particularly after I was underneath stress to take the streets to get to the workshop,” he mentioned. “However I used to be very completely happy after I was capable of end this stage of the work. I smiled to myself, considering that I had succeeded.”
René’s path has been formed by hardship. Born and raised in Carrefour-Feuilles, he was compelled to flee in March 2024 when gangs attacked his neighborhood. He sought refuge in Jacmel, his mom’s hometown, the place he went 4 months with out producing artwork.
“It was the primary time since I started working as a sculptor that I went 4 months with out producing something, because of the lack of supplies, funds, and connections,” he mentioned.
“The objective just isn’t solely to pay him tribute, however to let the soul of this fighter communicate and to awaken the power present in his vibrant voice, in an effort to encourage and rekindle the spirit of patriotism in each Haitian.”
Peterson “Gabawou” René, younger sculptor, 26
Splitting his time between Jacmel and his sister’s dwelling in Port-au-Prince, René risked harmful roads to proceed his work in Delmas.
Gabawou’s repertoire is wealthy and various, together with busts of Haiti’s independence heroines, singers, in addition to drawings and work. A lot of his earlier portfolio was destroyed within the violence, leaving him with solely pictures of his previous creations.
The roots of René’s artistry hint again to his late mom, a shopkeeper who purchased him pencils as a boy. Although he loved drawing, he solely started to acknowledge his expertise in highschool artwork lessons. When his mom died of most cancers in 2018, simply earlier than his nineteenth birthday, artwork grew to become a refuge.
“In that second of melancholy, in that darkness, it was artwork that introduced a little bit coloration to my life,” René recalled. “Artwork is the legacy of my mom’s dying. It’s my means of adorning my unhappiness and hope.”
“It was the worst second he has ever skilled, even to today,” Chachou André, his pal who remembers his grief vividly, mentioned. “However I used to be completely happy when he picked up his pencil once more, began drawing, and smiled.”
The 12 months his mom died, René enrolled on the Nationwide Faculty of Arts (ENARTS), initially aspiring to be a painter. However sculpture quickly captivated him.
As we speak, René’s life is a real lesson for André and Wadson Destiné, one other childhood pal, who sees in him a supply of inspiration.
“These works imply quite a bit to me, particularly as a result of they encourage me to have extra confidence and dedication in life,” Destiné mentioned. “I want and imagine that Gabawou will shine among the many world’s sculptors, reaching full success along with his creations each nationally and internationally.”
Since then, René’s inventive journey has been one in all survival and transformation. His busts of Haiti’s independence heroines, singers, and cultural icons not solely honor the previous but additionally testify to the resilience of a younger man who turned grief into artwork.
“For sculpture, it selected me,” René mentioned. “I used to be amazed at how shortly I realized. In a single 12 months, I accomplished the work {that a} third- or fourth-year pupil would usually submit.”