Indigo Arts Gallery | Haitian Art

President Bill Clinton Selects Two Haitians and One Nigerian to Create Commemorative Art for the Clinton Global Citizen Awards

June 8, 2009 —Each year, the Clinton Global Initiative (CGI), President Bill Clinton’s ambitious platform for addressing some of the world’s greatest challenges, seeks out individuals whose activities are having a positive, lasting global impact and honors them with a prestigious Clinton Global Citizen Award.

This year, CGI collaborated with the Santa Fe International Folk Art Market—an organization that not only mounts the largest event of its kind but also fosters cultural and economic sustainability for artists and their communities—to find some of the world’s very best folk artists to create commemorative trophies for the Award.

The artists, Serge Jolimeau and Michée Ramil Remy from Haiti and Toyin Folorunso from Nigeria, were winnowed from a pool of hundreds of submissions by experts from the Santa Fe International Folk Art Market.

Established in 2007, the Clinton Global Citizen Awards embody President Clinton’s call to action by honoring those outstanding individuals who exemplify global citizenship through their demonstrated innovation and leadership. Now in their third year, the Clinton Global Citizen Awards will be presented again at the Fifth Anniversary of the Clinton Global Initiative in New York to honor select individuals who, in the spirit of CGI, have made a considerable impact through philanthropy, good works, or fresh approaches to addressing global problems. Four honorees will be chosen based on their innovative leadership in a particular industry: Civil Society, Corporate Sector, Philanthropy or Public Service. Before the artworks are presented at CGI, however, they will go on display at the world-renowned Museum of International Folk Art in Santa Fe, on July 10, 2009.

The three artists’ personal stories echo many of the same values of the Clinton Global Initiative and the Santa Fe International Folk Art Market.

Serge Jolimeau is a 57-year-old Haitian metalworking master who has refined and advanced a Haitian tradition of recycling discarded oil drums into art.

After flattening the drums, he employs hammers and chisels to cut the metal into fantastical designs swirled with Vodou symbols and deities. Through his artwork and workshop, Jolimeau now leads a community of Haitian artisans and provides jobs for many others in his impoverished hometown of Croix des Bouquets, Haiti....

Medal for Clinton Global Initiative, designed by Serge Jolimeau, 2009.

“Each of these artists exemplifies the ideals of the Clinton Global Citizen Award honorees, in that they focus their shared knowledge and skills to find economically sustainable solutions to global challenges.” said Robert S. Harrison, Chief Executive Officer of the Clinton Global Initiative. “These men are not only talented artists, but they have become leading social entrepreneurs - creating jobs, invigorating the art community and training new generations of artists to pass along their traditions.”

The three artists will be attending the 2009 Santa Fe International Folk Art Market, July 11 and 12 in Santa Fe, as well as taking part in a ceremony at the Museum of International Folk Art when their work goes on display July 10, 2009.

“As a leading international folk art organization, we envision a world that celebrates and values evolving traditional art and cultures,” says Charlene Cherny, the Market’s Executive Director. “This kind of recognition from an organization such as the Clinton Global Initiative means so much to folk artists around the world.”

Courtesy of Clare Hertel - Santa Fe International Folk Art Market

You may read more about the Clinton Global Initiative medals in the Santa Fe New Mexican.