Spiritual Significances of Vodoun as Demonstrated in Stout's 'Recurring Damballah Dream'

Abstract

In this art exhibition paper, I work to demonstrate a more accurate examination of Vodoun culture and values than is often portrayed in mainstream American media. I use Reneé Stout’s lithographic print Recurring Damballah Dream as a lens through which to analyze emblems of Vodoun culture, specifically within practices in Haiti and Louisiana, demonstrating the complexity and significance of Vodoun as a healing culture. Using Disney’s The Princess and The Frog as a misconstrued American representation of Vodoun, I attempt to characterize the ways in which Vodoun is belittled and demonized within colonial frameworks, projecting racial discrimination onto its practitioners.