SPECIAL ANNOUNCEMENT: Haiti Earthquake Fundraiser @ Roundhouse 25th February

We have something to share that is so important and good that we’re not even going to let our beloved editor see get to this before we get to tell you about it.  Andrew, a good old Big Chill buddy, has sent us information about an Haiti Fundraiser that is going to be one of the biggest and most significant yet!

ALL, and I mean EVERY Penny, Dime, Cent is going to go to the Earthquake effort in Haiti and we are incredibly honoured to be able to bring you the previews of the acts and events that are going to be taking place, buy a ticket and have a great time and support one of the most inspiring events this year.

Andrew also tells us that Haitian visual artist Andre Eugene who will be flying over and presenting work and photography by artists involved in Ghetto Biennale Arts Festival Port Au Prince in the bars and foyer of the Roundhouse.

Andre Eugène is the progenitor of the Grand Rue movement*. Eugène started out as a house builder, but influenced by the creative energy of his neighbourhood he started to learn traditional sculpting in wood. ‘There was always something happening in our neighbourhood, the carnival band, Pep Samis, many sculptors and Vodou all around. This made me begin the life of an artist.’ Eugène’s work became increasingly influenced by contemporary Haitian artists such as Nasson. Eugène fused the fetish effigy with an apocalyptic MTV futuristic vision. Much of his work is figurative using human skulls for heads and imbued with a bold sense of irony, sexuality and humour.

The Grand Rue is the main avenue that runs a north-south swathe through downtown Port au Prince, Haiti. At the southern end of Grand Rue, near the municipal cemetery and amongst the labyrinth of back streets that line the avenue, is the Bidonville community that has a historical tradition of arts, crafts, music and religious practice. As a contemporary Haitian artist Eugène grew up in an atmosphere of survivalist recycling. Artist like Eugene who create powerful sculpture collages of engine manifolds, TV sets, wheel hubcaps and discarded lumber have transformed a failing economy into bold, radical and warped sculptures.

Mr. Eugène started out as a house builder, but influenced by the creative energy of his neighborhood he started to learn traditional sculpting in wood. Eugène’s work is increasingly influenced by Haitian artists such as Nasson and references shared African & Haitian cultural heritage and a dystopian sci-fi view of the future. Much of his work is figurative and pays particular homage to the Vodou spirit Gede, the master of the phallus and the guardian of the cemeteries.