Woodly Caymitte

Woodly Caymitte
Caymitte standing with his sculpture of Modeste Testas, 2019
Born	1974 (age 51–52) Port-au-Prince, Haiti
Known for	Sculpting

Woodly "Filipo" Caymitte (born 1974) is a Haitian sculptor whose works center around the historical struggles of black people.

Caymitte was born in 1974 in Port-au-Prince. From 2011 to 2015, he studied at the École Nationale des Arts in Haiti, later working as a professor of sculpture at the school. ^[1]

On May 10, 2019, Caymitte unveiled a 1.7-meter-tall bronze statue of Modeste Testas, in Bordeaux. The statue was created to acknowledge the time in history. ^{[2] [3]} Karfa Diallo criticized the statue, saying that a freed person cannot represent the struggles of slavery. ^[4] On 13 September 2021, the statue was vandalized with white paint. ^[5]

On May 31, 2020, Caymitte created a bust of George Floyd following his murder, six days after the event. ^[6]

On May 10, 2024, Caymitte unveiled a bronze statue titled "Clarisse, nurse slave" in La Rochelle. Prime Minister Gabriel Attal attended the ceremony. The statue features an enslaved woman breastfeeding a white child. ^[7]

References

1. "Projets". Suzanne Louverture (in French). Archived from the original on 2024-06-04. Retrieved 2024-06-04.
2. "Art student had 'no racist motive' when plastering slavery statue". euronews. 2021-09-14. Retrieved 2024-06-04.
3. Jenny (2022-01-26). "The Bordeaux Slave Trade". Bordeaux Île de Ré Getaways. Retrieved 2024-06-04.
4. "Statue de Modeste Testas". Fondation pour la memoire de l'esclavage (in French). Retrieved 2024-06-04.
5. "French slave statue defaced in apparent racist attack". 2021-09-13. Retrieved 2025-07-30.
6. Chéry, Onz (2021-05-25). "Black Lives Matter inspires Haitian artists". The Haitian Times. Retrieved 2024-06-04.
7. "Abolition de l'esclavage: qui est Clarisse, l'esclave dont la statue a été inaugurée par Attal à La Rochelle". BFMTV (in French). Retrieved 2024-06-04.