The Medford Haitian Oral History Project

The art of Charlot Lucien

Charlot Lucien is the founder of the Haitian Artists Assembly of Massachusetts and a well known Haitian storyteller, poet and artist in his community. He is the author of four storytelling CDs and his poems and commentaries have appeared in various publications. He has traveled in various places, including in Canada, France, Haiti, Guadeloupe and several states in the U.S. as a storyteller and poet and to offer talks on Haiti’s history and culture. His collection of poems “La tentation de l’autre rive” was released in 2013. He can be found on the net at www.charlotlucien.com or www.mioch.net/html/lucien. Contact him at charlotlucien@yahoo.com.

Charlot Lucien se fondatè Asanble atis ayisyen nan Massachusetts e li se yon kontè, yon powèt ak yon atis byen koni nan kominote li a. Li se otè 4 CD istwa e powèm li ak k”mantè sou travay li parèt nan plizyè jounal ak piblikasyon. Li vwayaje plizyè kote tankou Canada, France, Haiti, Guadeloupe ak plizyè eta nan USA pou prezante iswa, kont e pale sou kilti ak istwa Haiti. Koleksyon powèm li a, “La tentation de l’autre rive” ap soti pandan ete a. Moun ka jwen li sou entènèt nan www.charlotlucien.com.

The Oath

"Oath on the Drum" illustrates an oath taken on the Drum, the most sacred cultural instrument in the Haitian cultural world.
Drum Meditation


Grace Pausing by the Drum
From the Silhouette and the Drum Series, "Grace Pausing by the Drum" establishes subliminal correspondences among varying curves.
Mediation Pre Possession

From the Silhouette and the Drum Series, the dancer collects himself prior to the dance that will take him to new spiritual heights .
Grace Pausing by the Drum
From the Silhouette and the Drum Series, the dancer recovers from the spiritual trance generated by the beat and rhythms of the ancestral drum.
Recess on the Drum
From the Silhouette and the Drum Series, the dancer enjoys the casual pause from the more intense spiritual moments
Pregnant of the World

From the Silhouette and the Drum Series, the artist expresses the determination to go on, while pregnant with the equivalent of the whole worl,d and yet chained.
Joy by the Drum
Illustrating the ecstasy that transports upon abandoning one’s body to the waves of the beats of the ancestral drum.


Fisher of the Moon

Toussaint L'Ouverture

"Toussaint L'Ouverture in His Cell" is an oil painting of the Haitian general, who masterminded the Haitian independence movement, defeating Spanish, British and French troops before falling into an ambush and being deported to France, where he died of pneumonia in a remote French fortress, Fort de Joux.