About the Artist
Sylva Joseph (1930 - 2011)
Sylva Joseph was born in Leogane, Haiti in 1930. He was initiated into vodou in 1955, and became a houngan in 1970. He created his first vodou flag in 1972. He operater a peristil or temple and studio in the BelAir neighborhood of Port-au-Prince. He worked in the tradition of BelAir's famous flag artists, such as Tibout, Joseph Fortine and Luc Daniel Cedor. Sylva Joseph's work is published in Sequin Artists of Haiti (Girouard, 1994), Spirits in Sequins: Vodou Flags of Haiti (Nancy Josephson, 2007), Haitian Vodou Flags (Patrick Polk, 1997), and Sacred Arts of Haitian Vodou (Cosentino, 1995). Sylva passed away 0n July 26, 2011. (biographical info taken from Tina Girouard's Sequin Artists of Haiti) and other sources.