San Francisco Frontiers - Haiti jazz festival is rare respite for violence-racked capital

Postponed in 2022 and moved to northern city Cap-Haitien the following year over security fears, the celebration returned to Port-au-Prince last year in a cut-down, four-day format.

This year's 18th edition of PapJazz was further truncated to just two days in the Karibe Hotel, which hosts some UN offices, and the Quartier Latin restaurant.

Lively jazz, Haitian "rara" carnival music, rap and slam poetry all performed by local artists set the atmosphere abuzz on Saturday night.

Organizers were unable to host foreign performers this year as the airport has been closed since November 11 due to gang violence.

Actor and slam poet Eliezer Guerisme and musician Joel Widmaier were among the leading artists in one of the shows, dubbed "Les amours. Balles perdues" ("Love affairs and stray bullets") recounting the grief and violence of Haitian life.

"This is exactly the power of art: overcoming even the most formidable barriers," Guerisme told AFP, wearing a crown of thorns twisted out of barbed wire.

"There were definitely people here tonight who had to cross barricades just to come and hear poetry, music during this state of war," he added.

"We're living in a city under siege, where speaking up has become an act of resistance."

- 'Coming up for air' -

Murders, rapes, looting and kidnappings across Haiti have been blamed on the criminal gangs that have flourished in a climate of political instability.

Violence has escalated since mid-February in the poorest nation in the Americas.

Already controlling around 85 percent of Port-au-Prince, according to UN figures, the gangs have upped the pressure on more neighborhoods, terrorizing local people.

The roughly 100-strong audience at PapJazz were making the most of the brief artistic interlude.

"For us, this weekend is like coming up for air," spectator Arnoux Descardes said.

"It's important for Haitians to meet, to celebrate music and the culture that brings us together and defines us," said Charles Tardieu.

Such needs are felt by all locals, said Milena Sandler of the Haiti Jazz Foundation that organizes the festival.

"We can't just endure what's happening to us. We must have convivial moments like this one, creative moments, moments for resistance," she told AFP.

Another spectator, Registre Jerry, said that "meeting friends at celebrations like this is a new way to live in Port-au-Prince."

"It's also a way to get together to say that this country belongs to us and we don't have any other."

N.Wilson--SFF