Matènwa is a small, rural Haitian community in the mountains of Lagonav, an island in Haiti's great, blue bay. Life on Lagonav is spare and hard. Poverty forces deforestation that ruins the balance of nature, eroding away the topsoil - which in turn washes down to the sea killing off edible fish. The village of Matènwa has survived for generations by farming small family plots and slowly turning trees into charcoal for sale. Women and children travel miles to collect precious water from a scattering of mountain springs. It becomes more and more difficult to survive by doing things the old ways in a region largely abandoned by the Haitian government. There is a constant struggle to afford rice, fuel and medicine. Women, who do much of the labor and child-raising, battle to keep their families fed, often depending on other family members, or men who have less work as traditional farming methods fail.
Several years ago, the director of the local school together with an American artist, tried to find a way to tap the great creativity of the women of Matènwa, focusing on something the women could enjoy making to sell. The goal was to encourage self-respect and independence using new methods of self-sufficiency - without rocking a fragile balance by using up limited natural resources like firewood and water. By learning a creative skill and developing a small, locally controlled artisan's collective, the community might begin to break a downward spiral caused by long economic and political neglect.
The idea for the women of the village to hand-paint their brilliant imagery on silk scarves seemed a viable solution. It is low-tech, unbreakable, and an excellent vehicle for artistic expression. In addition, the head scarf (called "mouchwa" in Kreyol) is a traditional accessory women in Matènwa wear and appreciate.
Using picturesque images drawn from their own culture and history, The Women Artists of Matenwa, Haiti paint on silk scarves stories from their lives, from the bible, from the Vodou religion, and from memories of flora and fauna that are fast disappearing from their world.
The Atis Fanm (Kreyol for Women Artists) draw their designs on white, 100% silk scarves with a clear liquid resist. Non-toxic silk paints are then brushed between the lines. Afterward, the colors are heat set with old-fashioned irons fueled with charcoal. The resist is washed out in the community stream, leaving a clean, white line separating fields of color.
