28646: Hermantin(News)ALLIATIGA FOUNDATION (fwd)

[Bob Corbett <corbetre@webster.edu>]

Posted on Sun, Jul. 16, 2006


PLANTATION | ALLIATIGA FOUNDATION
ARTIST'S OPEN HOUSE
A FAMOUS HAITIAN ARTIST IS MAKING PLANTATION HOME AWAY FROM HOME FOR ARTISTS 
AND ART LOVERS

Special to The Miami Herald

BY EILEEN SOLER

Art covers every wall in the Plantation home of Kafe Garoute, photographer, 
writer, music promoter and daughter of famous Haitian artist Jean-Claude 
Garoute, known as Tiga.

On July 9, dressed like a gallery in Tiga's vibrant, original pieces, the place 
was inaugurated amid celebration as home for the newly established Alliatiga 
Foundation.

''We are a platform to promote Tiga's work, to brainstorm about art, exhibit 
works, learn and create,'' Garoute said.

There at 845 NW 80th Way, the 70-year-old Tiga, considered by art historians to 
be the guru and founder of three Haitian art movements, is the central figure 
in a lineup of classes and discussions meant to awaken the artist in everyone.

Already, Garoute said, artists and nonartists from across the globe are 
reserving space in private art classes with Tiga ($350 per month), African 
dance workouts ($60 per month), a choral group ($50 for six months), gardening 
gatherings ($10 per week) and other offerings.

''This little place is magical because it is inspiring. It helps bring ideas 
together,'' said artist Regine Mercier of Lauderhill.

Garoute said the choir classes, called Tambour, have also been held at Harvard 
University, and the last social function, called Bouyon Kulturel, attracted 80 
guests.

The most popular classes feature Tiga's signature art method, Artistic Rotation 
($100). Four recommended sessions, two hours each, employ music, drums, paint, 
clay, rocks and other elements to stimulate sight, touch and emotion.

Taught at the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C., in 2004 by Tiga and 
daughter Klode Garoute-Michel of New York, the method has made its way around 
the world. But Artistic Rotation is just one of several discoveries that 
brought Tiga acclaim.

Tiga premiered in 1959 at the Musee de Ceramic in Port-au-Prince, but made his 
first international mark in 1964 as the founder of the Noevelle Ecole, or new 
school, method, which encourages artists to detach from conventional art 
education and find their spirit.

''Someone who says they know everything cannot learn . . . artistic discovery 
is self-discovery,'' Tiga said.

In the early 1970s, Tiga organized the Saint Soleil movement of primitive 
artists, which led to the opening of the Pot-Mitan cultural center in Haiti.

In 1985, he created the Soleil Brule art technique; a few years later, he 
opened another cultural center in Haiti, KAYTIGA.

Tiga is a philosopher, therapist, dancer, writer and musicologist, but 
primarily a teacher who blends culture, art, craftsmanship, technical study and 
science, he said.

''My goal is never to create artists, but to help people with an aptitude to be 
something better . . . to bring them to wholeness,'' Tiga said. ``I want to 
help people find themselves.''

For information about Alliatiga Foundation, call 954-747-7436.