Jean-Claude "Tiga" Garoute (December 9, 1935 – December 14, 2006) was a Haitian painter and sculptor. Born in

Jérémie Jérémie ( ht, Jeremi) is a commune and capital city of the Grand'Anse department in Haiti. It had a population of about 31,000 at the 2003 census. It is relatively isolated from the rest of the country. The Grande-Anse River flows near th ...

, Garoute co-founded a museum of

ceramic art Ceramic art is art made from ceramic materials, including clay. It may take forms including artistic pottery, including tableware, tiles, figurines and other sculpture. As one of the plastic arts, ceramic art is one of the visual arts. ...

in Haiti named Poto-Mitan. An abstract painter, he participated in art festivals throughout the world. Tiga and Maud Guerdes Robard founded the Saint-Soleil post- naïve school of Haitian painting. The school was born when they offered farmers in Soisson-La-Montagne, a rural area near Port-au-Prince, drawing and painting materials. Out of the movement came such painters as Levoy Exil,

Louisiane Saint Fleurant Louisiane Saint Fleurant (11 September 1924 – 1 June 2005) was a Haitian female artist and painter. She was a founder of the peasant Saint Soleil art movement. Saint Fleurant's paintings often depict maternal scenes of females, children, trees ...

, St-Jean, and Dieuseul Paul to name a few. The movement drew the eye of French author

André Malraux Georges André Malraux ( , ; 3 November 1901 – 23 November 1976) was a French novelist, art theorist, and Minister of Culture (France), minister of cultural affairs. Malraux's novel ''La Condition Humaine'' (Man's Fate) (1933) won the Prix Go ...

who dedicated a chapter to it in his book ''L'Intemporel''. In the late 80's Tiga also created Kaytiga, a gallery and cultural center where he taught children and adults art through his ''Rotation Artistique'' (Artistic Rotation) method. The method consisted of letting pupils roam freely from clay to drums to paint to ink. Kaytiga had various addresses in Pétion-Ville, a suburb of Port-au-Prince, over the years and eventually moved to Delmas, another suburb of Port-au-Prince. In his own paintings, Tiga often used his "Solèy Brulé" method, a combination of ink and ''acid''. Tiga died in December 2006 in

Florida Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and to ...

after suffering from

cancer Cancer is a group of diseases involving abnormal cell growth with the potential to invade or spread to other parts of the body. These contrast with benign tumors, which do not spread. Possible signs and symptoms include a lump, abnormal b ...

. Haiti's February 2007 carnival was dedicated to him and embraced the theme ''Solèy Leve'' (Risen Sun) to evoke the Saint-Soleil movement he co-created. Some of the alumni of Poto-Mitan include Haitian painters Philippe Dodard and Occenad. Brooklyn-based singer Riva Nyri Précil is an alumna of Kaytiga. The german-haitian Rapper Frederik

Torch A torch is a stick with combustible material at one end, which is ignited and used as a light source. Torches have been used throughout history, and are still used in processions, symbolic and religious events, and in juggling entertainment. I ...

Hahn was also a student of Kaytiga.

Personal life

Tiga married a Haitian woman in his 20s, whom he later divorced and with whom he had several children including the artist photographer Pascale (Kafé) Garoute and Michele Garoute,"Klode" an important and remarkable artiste painter on her own right who continues and promotes the "Soley Brulé" and "Artistic Rotation" methods and teachings.

References

* On Arnold Antonin's video-documentar
Rêve, Possession, Création, Folie''
(This article offers more details on Tiga's life and philosophy.) * (Fr) *
Documentary by Arnold Antonin: TIGA, Haiti, Dream, Creation, Possession, Madness.

External links

* kiskeácity blog entry

1935 births 2006 deaths Haitian sculptors Deaths from cancer in Florida 20th-century Haitian sculptors 20th-century Haitian painters 20th-century male artists Haitian male painters {{Caribbean-sculptor-stub