Last year, the Annual Miami Riverwalk Festival and Boat Parade featured artist Turgo Bastien, a Haitian American “painter for peace” with rich African and Caribbean inspiration behind his work. As the Riverwalk Festival is all about celebrating folk cultures of different countries through culinary traditions, specialty goods, dance, music, art, and more, Turgo was the perfect fit as a featured artist.
Turgo Bastien was born in Haiti, raised in the a culture of inspiration from the elements around him. To this day, his Haitian roots inspire his work and is evident in his unique style. As an 8 year old child, Turgo began his art through creative means. With just a chicken feather drenched in house paint, Turgo created his first work of art using an old shirt has his canvas. It was then that his neighbor declared him as an artist and insisted that he pursue this passion.
Following his neighbor’s advice, Turgo was able to make a living from his art within Haiti and even now the United States. Recently, he was commissioned to paint a building in Little Haiti in Miami, Florida, which took him over a month to complete. Being able to bring art to communities drives Turgo to continue his work. Little Haiti is Turgo’s largest painting as a mural on multiple walls of a building. Little Haiti’s mural was painted to capture the history of its neighborhood and those who have lived there.
For Turgo, art is not planned out. When painting the wall in Little Haiti he says “I didn’t know what I was going to paint until my brush hit the wall”, showcasing his truly improvised work of art. His painting style is rooted deeply in Haitian culture, while also incorporating abstract visuals.
Through his abstract paintings, Turgo sees the world and is able to express and portray what is happening around him. His Little Haiti mural is named “The Window of the Future”, which shows just how this painter embraces positive interactions between people and nature, and then incorporates those interactions in his work.
Although just “The Window of the Future” is just one mural painted on one building in Miami, Turgo is still an inspiration to artists not only in Florida, but all over the world. Turgo is called a “painter for peace”. The main goal of this is to bring people together through art work– transforming and reforming communities. It’s Turgo’s desire to inspire others to appreciate one another, as well as the earth through his paintings for peace.
So if you’re ever in the area, take a second to pass by Turgo Bastien’s mural on 2nd ave in Miami, Florida Little Haiti to see this stunning, inspirational, and abstract art in person.
Michael Harper 