A Miami-Dade artist who was born in Haiti is looking out for the positive in a world seemingly out of positive things.
Reflecting on the political turmoil and gang violence in her home country makes Annick Duvivier worry.
“Of course there's the negative impact that it has on me,” Duvivier said. “I'm stressed. I'm scared for my family. My family's there (in Haiti), and it's this constant fear of what's going to happen next that I live with every day.”
She compares what’s going on in the Caribbean island nation right now to living through the pandemic, but without an end.
“I feel that Haitians right now are in quarantine since COVID, like it never stopped,” Duvivier said. “If you remember the feeling of fear every day, watching the news, finding out what's going to happen next—that's how they're living. It's in constant state of fear. You can't go out. You can't live.”
Though she’s in contact with her family everyday through WhatsApp, some days she finds it hard to create.
READ MORE: Fear and worry. South Florida immigration attorney talks about the termination of TPS for Haitians
On June 27, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security announced that it would terminate temporary protected status for 500,000 Haitians living in the U.S., effective Sept. 2. Four days later, a federal judge in New York blocked the move, restoring the Biden administration’s extension to Feb. 3, 2026.
Most recently, on July 7, the Trump administration said it will revoke the legal immigration status of more than 70,000 immigrants from Honduras and Nicaragua.
Can art help people in times like this?
“If you can make art and you can disconnect from everything that's going on, art has the power to heal, art has the power to connect you with a higher self,” Duvivier said. “Art has the power to make you forget temporarily what's going on around you, and I've been using art as a medium to protect myself from the past since the (2010) earthquake. I've been through a lot of different things, and art has been constant in my life, and helping me go through difficult times.”
In an effort to promote the positive in the world, she has written and illustrated a children’s book, “James and Marie Become Friends,” that celebrates the differences in Haitian and U.S. cultures. It was published earlier this year.
Though she has illustrated other authors’ books over the past ten years, “This is the first time that I actually wrote a book,” Duvivier explains, “because I was looking for something that shared positive cultural references of Haiti, and I couldn't find one for kids [ages] 3 to 5. I wanted something to teach my daughter, because she's Haitian-American."
“I wanted to show show her images of positive things in Haiti.”
She said children rarely see positive images from Haiti because they’re not shared in the media.
“They're not shared in the news,” Duvivier said. “And the parents probably might not have time to share positive things, so I shared them in the book.”
In the book, James, an American, and Marie, a Haitian, talk about the differences in their cultures, including, among other things, the different foods they eat and different ways they go to school.
The book was supported by a Florida Humanities grant through Miami Dade College.
Another book she contributed to was inspired by the time she spent in the NICU at Nicklaus Children's Hospital with her then-prematurely born daughter. She found support from ICU Baby, a nonprofit that teaches new mothers how to care for their babies, while providing resources from blankets to food to transportation.
The organization provides a guide book to new mothers, which includes a space to journal and jot down daily notes about what's going on at the NICU. It has also has QR codes which call up videos of parents telling their own stories.
Duvivier recorded videos for the guide in Creole to help Haitian families better understand their infant’s health journey. Her own daughter is now 4 years old, thriving, and — to Duvivier’s particular excitement — polylingual.
“She has no issues whatsoever. (She’s a) miracle from God,” Duvivier said.
But even if you aren’t in the market for children’s books, you probably have seen Duvivier’s works anyway without knowing it—perhaps the last time you took an airplane or shopped at Macy’s.
Duvivier was the resident artist at the InterContinental Miami Hotel for Haitian Heritage Month. Her solo show, “In Between Dreams and Reality,” was on display.(Courtesy of Annick Duvivier)
Her artwork is in the public art collections of Miami International Airport, and the City of Tamarac. Duvivier has worked with Macy’s, Bloomingdale’s and West Elm to create custom artworks for their main window displays during Art Basel, Fashion Week and Black History Month.
Most recently, Duvivier was the resident artist at the InterContinental Miami Hotel for Haitian Heritage Month in May. She said she was chosen as one of 12 artists out of 50 applicants.
The program, entitled “Noche De Arte,” featured weekly events, including a “sip and paint,” a showing of her work and a book reading and signing.
Duvivier was the resident artist at the InterContinental Miami Hotel for Haitian Heritage Month.(Courtesy of Annick Duvivier)
Her work was also featured at the Museum of Coral Springs for Haitian Heritage Month, and one piece was selected as the official bookmark for the recent Little Haiti Book Fair.
Among the places her work can be seen outside of Florida is the University Health System Women's and Children's Hospital in San Antonio, Texas.
Duvivier studied fine arts at Altos de Chavon School of Design in the Dominican Republic, which is affiliated with Parsons School of Design in New York. She graduated with a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Visual Arts at Miami International University of Art & Design.
The Greater Miami Convention & Visitors Bureau put her on its list of six “Black Miami Artists That Everyone Should Know.”
For now, Duvivier is creating a course, “From Art Studio to Spotlight,” to teach artists where and how to apply for different opportunities including art exhibitions, public art and art grants.
"As Black artists, we are ambassadors of the culture," said Duvivier. "We have the responsibility to show the positive stories of Black and brown people.”
For more information about Duvivier’s work and her course, visit annickduvivier.com or instagram.com/annickduvivier/
This story was produced by The Miami Times, one of the oldest Black-owned newspapers in the country, as part of a content sharing partnership with the WLRN newsroom. Read more at miamitimesonline.com.
