Painting

This contemporary painting by Haitian artist Roodly Jeune alludes to the colonization of the Caribbean. Plantation economies were established there based on the labour of enslaved Africans, who are depicted here imprisoned by French officials. After years of informal partial occupation by French pirates, the island known as Saint-Domingue became a French possession in 1659; it was liberated in 1804 in the aftermath of the 13-year-long Haitian revolution, led by Africans. Haiti’s declaration of independence set an example for other Caribbean countries and all of Latin America.

Painting of prisoners on the deck of a ship. The painting shows a pirate ship in grey and brown, with the word “Negrie” on its side. A pirate flag flutters in the top right corner. Several dark skinned men, bare chested and in colourful shorts, are chained together in the foreground, with light skinned men in uniform ranged behind them. One stands in the rigging of the ship. The ocean is light blue and pink, with sea spray rising at the front. The sky is dark purple and blue.