Passport DC 2017
Around the World Tour
“Embassy of Haiti – The Secret Place”
On Saturday, May 6, the Embassy of Haiti in Washington, D.C. opened its doors to host more than 6,000 visitors, as part of Passport DC’s Around the World Tour. Held annually and organized by Cultural Tourism DC to offer participants an opportunity to travel the world while experiencing the food, art, dance, fashion, music, innovations, and manufactured goods from different countries.
This year, the Embassy took its guests on a visually curated experience of the island through the country’s most renowned artwork. Each piece more intriguing than the next, the Galerie Monnin and Fritz Racine collections displayed throughout the Chancery speaks to the country’s inspirational history and its dynamic, vibrant culture. “I felt like I was walking through a museum,” says a Senior Foreign Service officer originally from Atlanta, Georgia during his visit.
An older gentleman found himself gazing at the portraits on the walls of the renovated consulate section, as he whispers to his guest, “I knew her.” Josephine Premice was a Haitian-American premier stage actress in the 1940s and 1950s who appeared in numerous Broadway plays including Blue Holiday, Jamaica, A Hand is on the Gate, and Bubbling Brown Sugar, and who garnered several Tony Award nominations for her performances. She is one of the many historical figures on display as part of the Pearls of Excellence ongoing exhibit. The initiative is part of the Embassy’s mission to highlight Haiti’s rich culture and history. It features the many trailblazers of Haitian descent who contributed to American history and culture.
Guests were thrilled to learn about Haiti’s beauty, rich culture and profound contributions throughout the Americas. Upon exiting through the beautifully decorated Embassy Garden, one guest expressed “I feel like they’ve been hiding this place from us, it’s like DC’s little secret place.
The Embassy is pleased to share and continue this cultural experience at our Open House every Wednesdays and Thursday starting at 6 p.m. We invite you to join us to explore and re-discover Haiti in its essence.
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