Dwapo vodou (Vodou flag) for Marassa Dossou Dossa

In the French colony of Saint-Domingue, now Haiti, enslaved Africans fabricated a series of ritual systems today called Vodou. Though its name derives from vodun, a word referring to spiritual forces in Benin and Togo, Vodou pulls from a range of western and central African religions: Catholicism, native Taíno beliefs, Freemasonry, and European mysticism. The religion’s sumptuous, lively ceremonies often begin with dances performed by members who serve the Iwa (spirits), who carry elaborate flags sacred to specific Iwa. The flashy sequins covering the surface of this work come from a period when dressmaking factories were common in Haiti, and employees collected fallen sequins to use in decorating dwapo. By the late 20th century, artists began to produce elaborate sequined dwapo for sale to collectors and for the export market. This dwapo was likely produced by an artist active in the Bel-Air neighborhood of Port-au-Prince in the 1980s or 90s. Its title and vèvè (ritual design) honor Marassa, the personification of twins. The three circles in the design, however, pay homage not just to twin children but also to the child born after them: a strong-willed third aspect of Marassa, which is called dossou or dossa, depending on the child’s gender.