The Dominican-Haitian Gaga, a cult for the here and now Soraya Aracena

Always on Holy Thursday, the iron rod wedged in the ceremonial fire is lit awaiting the celebration of the Gaga in the the voodoo temples (hounfourd) of the villages where those engaged in the planting, cultivation and production of sugar cane live, as well as the nearby neighborhoods inhabeted by Haitians and Dominicans alike, who patronise the “Loas” of the Haitian Petros patheon strong, aggressive, demanding and severe gods. The Gaga, is a cult where the social, economic, artistic and religious are wisely intermingle, as well s being the most anticipated event of the year because it celebrates resurrection, fertility and sexuality. Part voodoo, part African religion transplanted to Haiti and then to Dominican Republic by Haitian immigrants, Gagá was brought to the Dominican Republic by Haitians who are in the country since 1844, when the Republic was created and later by those Haitians brought into the country to work in occupations related to the production of sugar cane as a result of the many agreements between the Haitian and Dominican government. It was also brought by others who came on their own in search of daily bread and as a result formed Dominican families producing offspring who are now Dominicans as they were born on this side of the island.

“The Petro Loas of the Gagá pantheon allow their servers to be who they are, and demand from their servers or wordshippers to let them be what they are, this allows, authorizes and encourages them to return to their house of wordship and to define a critical actitude, a revolutionary practice in the darkest and most miserable moments of their lives. These violent, stout, bloodthirsty divinities prevent their believers from sinking hopelessly in the denigrating mud of the slurs, the overpowering ignominious prejudice, hardship, misery and hunger that they face and allow them to await an uncertain future with honor, with attitude of challenge, violent struggle, resistance, persistence, consciousness cultural identity, pride and awareness of what belongs to them and above all they offer hope and possiblilities, with the conviction that through sacrifice, tomorrow may be much better.”1

Such Loas are revered not only for their supernatural attributes, which is the recognition of their powers, but also for their role in intervening in human affairs, in the here and now, as it is reflected in the day to day living of the human being, denoting the understanding, kindness, and love of these entities far above their “evil” features and attributes.

The Iron Fire Bar, known in voodoo as Bukan, as it is the place where the god of the same name inhabits, is located a few meters from the rustic wood construction (hounfour) that has a thatch roof made of sable palm fronts, and which, for the occasion its ceiling is decorated with bright colored paper forming a multicolored waterfall and which will accomodate hundreds of wordshippers, young and old adults of both sexes that at the begin the evening will arrive in motorcycles, by foot, or in loaded buses carrying sealed packages containing the clothing they will used during the three days of the rigorous pilgrimage that is part of the Gaga and which must not be seen until after the clothing are baptized in a ceremony where Catholicism prayers are sung and where the maximum dimension of Afro-Spanish cultural syncretism is exposed along with the mix of indigenous culture, that accompanies this cult maintained through its transformations. The god who dwells in the Bukan bar is offered grilled root vegetables, in a ceremony headed by Hungan.

These visitors, mostly young and some old Gaga participants, have a mission in this cult, they are part of a complex hierarchy that is acquired after a promise, contracted with the gods, which can be as long as one to seven years and which is sworn-in a complex ceremony of the chair, which may be weeks before Holy Thursday and in some Gagas might take place that evening. For this solemn activity one of the “heads” or knowledgeable of voodoo and its mysteries, places a white sheet in the center of the temple at the so-called “center post” of the temple - the place where it is believed the gods converge.

Here each participant escorted by the owner of Gaga, who is the head of the production and is responsible to fund and to coordinate everything to do with the route the Gaga must make, is seated and raised one by by the members of the group, some with red scarves, green blue and black on their shoulders and other with the scarves strapped to their forearms, as it is believed that it is with a scarf that you tied down the being.

The Gagá staff forms a sort of government, so it has a president, notaries, ministers or deputies, clerks and police, along with remnants of a hierarchy in which the queens occupy an important position, therefore the first elevation of the chair belongs to the president, who is to be responsible for ensuring that all personnel involved in the Gaga participates in the pilgrimage and the president is as well the one who maintains order amongst the worshippers. Then the next to be lifted is the secretary, the director of the pilgramage and next the Flag bearers of the Dominican flag, followed by those who represent each of the gods and the bearers or symbols that may be alluding to the gods - geometric lines and exquisite works of Haitian voodoo art, and also images taken from popular chromolithographs of Catholic saints.

After that it is the Queens’ turn, there being a first queen who, beginning Holy Thursday through Easter Sunday, becomes the “spiritual partner of the Gagá owner”. The owner in most cases is a priest or Hungan as they called the old Haitian voodoo practitioners of the mysteries of the gods, possessed of shrines, visited by people who seek to heal their afflictions. Besides the first queen, the queen of the tressaury who is responsible for carrying the treasury box where the public after, seen the group dance, deposits some money into, which, on Easter Sunday, at the conclusion of the celebration, is split between group members.

Part of this complex hierarchy, are the majors, the male dancers who come dressed in a kind of skirt, made from hundreds of colorful scarves that are collected and bought throughout the year and as they dance resembles a rainbow. Some of the majors tie at the ends of the scarves magic powders with titles such as: “sweep-it-all”, “ tame-the-fierce”, “fire-with-him” which they use with the conviction that they have powers to effect and bring good fortune. To complete their wardrove, they cover their heads with baseball caps adorned with fringes, colored ribbons, mirrors or other bright colored accessories.

The majors and the queens are accompanied by the musicians who play various instruments compared by some scholars to musicical instruments used by jazz bands, they play rustic metal trumpets with wide mouth known as “Tatuas” and made by popular craftsmen who are also responsible for the elaboration of the rattle or “Chacha” used to accompany the songs. In this musical band the drums stand out and in particular the “Tambú” a sacred Gaga instrument, built on the trunk of an avocado tree that in covered with goat or cow skin and is painted in bright colors and which must be baptized by its godparents in private ceremony before it can be used .

According to some Gaga musicians the “drums have gunpowder and fire that falls down from the sky; the hides are heated and the gods beging to decende to dance, eat and sing with us, others heal and give good advice to all while the party lasts”.

Other instruments are flutes or banboos made of the trunk of thethe bamboo bush from where it gets its name and of which there are very elongated ones and they are composed of four or more and range from high to low, the largest is called “Father bamboo”. Alongside these bamboos, there is a small wooden drum known as cataliè. The last instrument, which is also important is the chacha, tin rattle which sets the pace to be followed in the song. To this group of instruments one might include pieces of plastic tubes or hoses that adds a special rhythmic sound to the Gaga.

After the rise of the chair and christening of the clothes and of other objects linked to the cult, the owner of Gaga who, accompanied by a series of “experts” and who, in this case belong to the inner circle of the family, makes a series of acts of magical ritual to all of the members of the Gaga and proceeds to symbolically bathe the Gaga staff who will to start to remove the clothing from the temple to where the activity takes place in the morning.

For this bath, which is prepared in order to protect those who participate in the tour, different plants considered “magical” by voodoo priests are used which were previously sought in the bush for such purposes with their prayers and private ceremony, to this they add a mix of Florida Water perfume, Santa Clara, Jalon, Devil Expeler and hair brilliantine, among others products considered magical by voodoo believers, the mixture of the products is placed in the calves, neck, wrists and forearms of each of the persons involved in the activity as a way of protection.

At dawn on Friday, the owner takes all staff out of the temple walking backwards, covered with a white sheet as if in a shroud, symbolizing being dead and coming back to life after being blessed by the owner.

Once the entire Gaga ritual is finished, headding the procession are the Dominican and loas flags, who accompany them and a man who is part of the cult and who constantly is sweeping away the evil spirits with a broom and he is followed by the other members of the group to begin their tour. Their first visit is to the “KALFU” or crossroads at which the flags will be made to take several bows, because like rivers, streams, thunder or lightning, the crossroads are considered a magical place where Loa or mystery inhabit.

After greeting the inanimate beings, the Gaga continues its course, the queens sensually dancing and visit the homes of people who belong to the in the family of worshipers, voodoo society members and other relatives. At these stops majors, with their tin batons in hands and others with machetes twirl them dexterly in through their hands delighting observers, after which the queen will pass the treassury box asking for donations.

On Easter Sunday, the majority of Gagás, will return it to their homes, where like heroes are awaited by the public with the food that the women have previously cooked. Again under the temple or Hounfour they sing and dance nonstop, while some gods take possession of some of the dancers to deliver the haversack, which contains in addition to magic potions some beings and the dead that have been previously and symbolically unburried at the cemetery in a secret ceremony that only the owner and some of the closest members of the voodoo society participate in, to accompany the ceremony that at the end is nothing more than the celebration of life over death, regeneration and perpetuation of the human species and the triumph of the most intimate expressions of being and especially the victory of good over evil.

Therefore, it is very unlikely that the Loas, beings or gods will leave or disappear from the cultural scene of the country (Dominican Republic), even with potential material gains, since the Gagá with their infinite army of Loas, is one of the strongest aspirations of man: to communicate with the world of the “invisible” seeking to remedy their ills, meeting their needs and the hope of surviving the here and now.

Charo Oquet About The Author

Born in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic) based in Miami Beach, Fl, and inspired by her many travels all over the world, her works span a variety of practices: performance, video, painting, photography, installation and sculpture. FL Oquet, has been challenging stereotypes of African Americans and working with decolonizing narratives and aesthetics for the past three decades.

She has studied visual art in many parts of the world including the Dominican Republic, New Zealand and Miami, FL. and has been researching and documenting AfroDominican rituals and practices since 1997.

Oquet was awarded the Florida Cultural Consortium 2015 and 2005 Visual and Media Artists Fellowship Award; the Map Funds 2015 grant. She is a Grand Prize of the Museum of Modern Art of Santo Domingo Visual Arts Biennial (2011) recipient. She is a recipient of grants from: Florida State Artists Fellowship Award; The State of Florida Artists Enhancement Grant (2006); South Florida Cultural Consortium 2005 Visual and Media Artists Fellowship Award; South Florida Cultural Artists Access Grant and New Forms Florida Grant as well as the QE II Arts Council of N.Z. Artist Fellowship (84, 85 and 86) during the years she lived and worked in New Zealand. She received a BFA from Florida International University in 2000.

Oquet’s ’s current works combines performance, video and installation addressing issues of the displacement, identity, migration, gender, or sociopolitical and cultural issues. Charo Oquet’s works have been written about extensively in various publications including The Miami Herald, Atlantica Art Journal, African Arts, Art in America, Art Nexus and Art New Zealand, among others. The late renowned Spanish curator Antonio Zaya problished a book of her work, Charo Oquet – Lo Que Ve La Sirena (2002). Her work is also included in such books and catalogs as About Change in Latin American and the Caribbean, The World Bank (2011); New Hoodoo - Art of a Forgotten Faith (2008), Mami Wata –Henry John Drewal (2008) Files by Octavio Zaya (2004),; Miami Contemporary Artists; New Zealand’s National Museum Te Papa Calendar (2009), Dominican Contemporary Artists (2002) and Supermix (2007).

Oquet’s work has been exhibited in more than 10 countries. A large scale installation in Lanzarote, Canary Island in 2002, accompanied by a book of her work which included critical writing curated by the late Spanish curator renowned and editor Antonio Zaya brought her critical recognition in the Europe, the United States and the Caribbean. Oquet’s work has been exhibited internationally. Large-scale solo exhibitions include Casal Solleric, Palma de Mallorca, Convento de Santo Domingo, Lanzarote, Canary Islands, Spain

(curated by Antonio Zaya) Hollywood Arts and Culture Center, Hollywood, FL., She has participated in prestigious group exhibitions such as Art, Religion and Politics (2005) curated by Jean-Hubert Martin, Mami Watta, curated by Henry Drewal at the Fowler Museum at UCLA,(2008); Subliminals, Beijing China; (2007); Away, at the UNESCO Head Quarters – Paris (2006); After Columbus.com, Kunstnerne Hus, Oslo, Norway, (2003); V Biennal del Caribe’03, ’01, Museo de Arte Moderno de Santo Domingo; En Ruta PR’02, M&M Projects Puerto Rico; Centro Atlantico de Arte Moderno, (CAAM) Gran Canarias, Spain as well as the GovettBrewster Art Gallery, N.Z.; The World Bank, Washington, D.C.

Among the institutions that include Oquet’s work in their permanent collections are the Fort Lauderdale Museum of Art, Frost Art Museum, Florida International University, Miami, FL; The World Bank, Washington, D.C; CAAM, Centro Atlántico de Arte Moderno, Las Palmas Spain; Bass Museum of Art, Miami Beach, Fl; New Zealand National Museum, N.Z.; Dowse Art Museum, New Zealand; GovettBrewter Art Gallery, New Zealand; Foresight Collection, Auckland, New Zealand; Ministry of Foreign Affairs, New Zealand, New York; Museo de las Casas Reales, Dominican Republic and Museo del Arte Moderno, Dominican Republic.

These images where made in La Malena, La Romana, Gagá La Ceja, Templo para Gede del Gagá de San Luis, Haina, Gagá Los Chicharrones, Boca Chica, San Luis, Santo Domingo, República Dominicana between 2012- 2015.

Edge Zones Press.

All rights reserved copyright by Charo Oquet 2016. Images copyright Charo Oquet 2016.

ElGagádominico-Haitiano,uncultoporelaquí y ahora - comisionado a la autora y utilizado bajo permiso de su autora.