Drag queens dressed in colorful gowns hold a mock wedding to raise money for a local Black church. At a Miami club, a popular drag king entertains hordes of people. Local newspaper editorials call for an end to LGBTQ discrimination. And queer couples fall in love.

Creativity continues despite conditions in Haiti.

Museum holds event showcasing its substantial collection of Haitian art, one of the largest in the United States

Once upon a time, an artist was sleeping by the sea when the Haitian Vodou goddess of love appeared to him in a dream and pulled him underwater. She wanted him to paint her.

Since 1944, Le Centre d’Art (the Art Center) has been located in Haiti’s capital - Port-au-Prince. It was established to promote Haitian artistic creation and almost 80 years later it still honours its name as a center of art for the country. Though it was destroyed during Haiti’s major earthquake in 2010, Le Centre D’art has rebuilt itself and has risen to overcome local and global challenges to continue showcasing the work of Haitian artists.

At the heart of it all, art is a contemplative, clarifying, spiritual and emotional experience, and artists Charles Jean-Pierre (who goes by JP) and Kendall Robinson capture that and so much more in their newest exhibit in D.C.

On February 23, the lobby of Viceroy will hold the opening reception for the “Kinfolk” exhibit, featuring artwork from JP and Robinson. The night will also unveil their interactive, collaborative installation, “Compass to the Cosmos.” For JP, his work in this exhibit is his latest exploration of humans as vessels and spiritual beings, this concept that we all have a divine connection to the universe. The inspiration for his artwork goes way back.

The city of Miami is home to the largest Haitian population outside Haiti. Artist Didier William, who was born in Haiti, was raised in North Miami, making him one of many immigrants from the island to call it home. There, William picked up his Haitian mother’s medications at a local Walgreens and worked at the dollar store down the street from the Museum of Contemporary Art North Miami.

Haitian art is put on display all around the city in the form of art installations, exhibits and murals during Miami Art Week.

In 1995, British photographer and curator Leah Gordon traveled to Jacmel, a port town in Southern Haiti, for the first time. Then as now, the country was reeling from unrest, but that did not stop Gordon from documenting a vibrant street tradition that mines the country’s brutal past called Kanaval, a communal masquerade held in various Haitian cities in advance of Mardi Gras.

Haitians in the diaspora were hit with a pleasant surprise while watching Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, released in theaters worldwide Nov. 11. The fans saw their home country depicted in the film and a few Haitians even speaking Creole in the movie.