(upbeat music) - I think anyone that's coming to see this exhibition, and more specifically, anyone that's coming to Haitian Art for the first time, I really hope that they get a sense of how powerful this culture is, how vibrant it's, how rich it is.

(upbeat music) These are art forms that's beyond just your typical painting and bronze sculptures.

This is something that is unique to Haiti, unique to that particular people, and it's something that needs to be celebrated.

- I remember seeing a lot of those metal pieces growing up in Haiti.

I think as art that my family had, or art that I like saw people selling, and so just seeing those pieces again is a, is a good reminder.

- Haiti holds a very kind of precarious kind of history.

It parallels some of the kind of experiences that have happened in Americas, especially here in the United States.

You know, there was a significant number, significant, millions of Africans that were taken from the western coast of Africa and brought to the Americas.

1804, 60 years before slavery ended in the United States, there was freedom in Haiti, long before freedom was really seen in the Americas.

And it's a story that has gone through a long legacy of erasure, from the wall of the civil arts charge, our goal is to try to shed a light on this.

And those stories are told in the metals, and those stories told in the Haitian flags, and within the artwork itself.

- Our cities, Nashville, as well as many other cities in the country, are seeing an increase in immigrant communities, specifically from Latin America, but also Haiti.

And so I think it's really important for people to be aware of the cultures that are coming in, and the richness that those folks are bringing.

And oftentimes Haitian culture is not recognized.

And so I think an exhibition like this is really important for people to become educated about the culture that we have.

(upbeat music) - This NPT Arts Break is made possible by the generous support of The Martha Rivers Ingram Advised Fund of the Community Foundation of Middle Tennessee, and a grant from the Tennessee Arts Commission.