Label
John Doyle: Healing Across Cultures, 2023
This print depicts a houngan, or Voodoo priest who helps his people by performing rituals and healing with herbal and traditional remedies. The houngan in this work is summoning a loa, or spirit, by ritualistically drawing a symbol on the ground in wheat-maize flour. The symbol, known as a veve, calls upon Baron Samedi, the father of spirits of the dead, associated with healing and resurrection. His veve includes a crossroads and coffins, both of which signify in-between spaces. Sitting next to the houngan are summoning implements and offerings for Baron Samedi.
Text by Shelby Dutton, Washburn studentLabel
2024 post:
Throughout 2024, we're looking back at the 100 year history of art at the Mulvane. Washburn student Shelby Dutton writes about this 1980 lithograph: This print depicts a houngan, or Voodoo priest who helps his people by performing rituals and healing with herbal and traditional remedies. The houngan in this work is summoning a loa, or spirit, by ritualistically drawing a symbol on the ground in wheat-maize flour. The symbol, known as a veve, calls upon Baron Samedi, the father of spirits of the dead and the loa associated with healing and resurrection. His veve includes a crossroads and coffins, both of which signify in-between spaces. Sitting next to the houngan are summoning implements and offerings for Baron Samedi.