ABN- Haitian Metal Artisans Story

Haiti is known worldwide for its unique steel drum art. Artisans collect these salvaged industrial drums to create beautiful pieces of art. The artist first removes both round ends of the drum and fills the cylinder with straw and dried banana or sugar cane leaves. He sets it on fire, to burn off any paint or residues inside the cylinder. After the metal cools down, it is cut and flattened into a "metal canvas".

With chalk, the design is drawn onto the metal sheet.  Using a hammer, chisel, and various other basic tools, the metal is given shape, and several decorative patterns are embossed onto the metal, creating a unique and treasured piece of recycled art. The artisans' creativity is inspired by themes familiar to their island life, including the sea and religion. Colors, coats, and finishes are applied to the embossed metal, finally, the piece is signed off by the artisan.

This particular art form was born in Haiti in the early 1950s by a simple blacksmith, Georges Liautaud. In his small shop, he made and repaired tools and created metal crosses for the graves in the Croix-des-Bouquets cemetery. It was at the encouragement of an American teacher, DeWitt Peters, who in 1944 opened the Le Centre d'Art in Port-au-Prince, that Georges Liautaud expanded into the creation of decorative metal sculptures. A few talented men apprenticed under him, and this tradition has continued. A particular metal artist will have assistants, who, as they mature in the art, will branch out and begin expressing themselves with their own designs. In recent years, metal drums are being replaced by plastic drums, and the availability of metal scrap for these beautiful artworks is diminishing.