Haiti – Religion: “Zombies. Death is not the end”

Haiti – Religion: “Zombies. Death is not the end”
27.08.2024 09:41:43

The exceptional exhibition “Zombies. Is death not the end?” at the Musée du quai Branly-Jacques Chirac (France) sheds light on the fantasies, beliefs and fears behind the figure of the world’s most famous “undead” and questions an anthropological reality between knowledge and fiction.

Zombies are inherent in Haitian voodoo. The exhibition explores this through objects and decorations related to the voodoo ritual of zombification, a supernatural ancestral practice. These objects (paintings, sculptures, traditional costumes and Amerindian artifacts related to Haitian voodoo) were selected by, among others, Erol Josué “Hougan” (spiritual leader of the voodoo religion) and Director General of the National Ethnological Office (BNE), member of the board of trustees of this exhibition. Erol Josué, along with other international experts, embodies the spirit of this exhibition… A significant part of these objects come from the collections of the BNE and those of Erol Josué.

Beyond simply presenting valuable and mystical objects, the exhibition is intended to be a cultural statement against prejudice and to correct negative perceptions.

Forget everything you think you know about zombies… Far from the contagious undead of cinema and pop culture, the exhibition offers you a nuanced perspective on Haitian culture, far from simplistic stereotypes.

In Haiti, the figure of the zombie takes shape on the fringes of the voodoo culture, through the practices of its secret societies and in particular the Bizango society, whose judicial role gives it the power of zombification. The zombie, convicted and sentenced, is in reality a criminal deprived of his freedom, made a slave and kept in a state of stupor in the service of a master (bokor).

Between knowledge and fiction, the exhibition reveals the realities behind the fear of zombies.

From October 8, 2024 to February 16, 2025, the temporary exhibition on the museum's east mezzanine explores this tradition linked to the Haitian Voodoo religion.

HL/ PI/ HaitiLibre