by Donovan
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In the spring, I was on a True Blood bender. Lafayette is my favorite character and his home, with its various religious symbols, plus a prominent Virgin Mary shrine, as well his general attraction to a mutation of magic and mysticism in the sticky South, got me thinking about Voodoo, a mixture of African and Christian religions, which eventually led me to Haitian Vodou Flags.
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As seen here in photos from the home of folk art collectors, the flags are hand sequined and each design presents mosaic-style images of different gods that inhabit the Vodou spirit world.
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And here's another from the Museum of Craft and Folk Art in LA.
The flags are fascinating to me -- the symbolism, and also the use of sequins! The sparkle adds such an unexpected and reverential quality to them. They can be quite expensive, but another way to have a little Vodou in your home is with these papier mache ornaments. Proceeds go to Haitian relief.
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The one on the right represents Papa Legba, guardian of the crossroads. I'm feeling particularly drawn to him these days!
BTW You have me adding a vintage style Pendleton to my list to Santa :>
ReplyDeleteha! glad to spread the gripping need for pendleton around...i have one coming for christmas too. :)
ReplyDelete...i have such a textile addiction...
ReplyDeleteI went to this shop called Silk Moon in Sebastopol today, lovely textiles galore!
ReplyDeleteI think you would really dig it :)
http://silkmoon.org/
wow, that place looks great! thanks so much for the link. if i find myself up that way (and i hope to sooner rather than later!) i will definitely stop in there. it's been so long since i've been to sebastopol. i need to take the bf there -- just the kind of small town he would love. :)
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