Franketienne, a notable Haitian artist, author, and cultural figure, passed away at 88 in Port-au-Prince. Known for publishing the first novel in Haitian Creole and for his extensive artistic contributions, he embodied the complexity of Haiti. Prime Minister Alix Didier Fils-Aime highlighted how Franketienne's writings expressed the essence of Haiti and challenged silence. With around 50 literary works and a diverse array of paintings, Franketienne's legacy as a prolific creator—including his embrace of chaos as a source of creativity—resonates deeply within Haitian culture and beyond, despite his lesser-known status in the English-speaking world.
Franketienne was a prolific novelist, poet and painter often all three in a single work whose art embraced and interpreted the chaos of the small, tumultuous country he came from.
I am not afraid of chaos because chaos is the womb of light and life, he said in a 2011 interview with The New York Times at his rambling gallery and home, in a working-class district of Port-au-Prince.
While not well known in the English-speaking world, Franketienne was a larger-than-life figure in Haiti and was celebrated in French and Creole-speaking literary and diaspora circles around the world.
Through his writings, he illuminated the world, carried the soul of Haiti and defied silence, Prime Minister Alix Didier Fils-Aime said in a statement.
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