Art Opening: Daughters of Anacaona—A Celebration of Feminine Strength & Integrity

Anacaona, or Golden Flower, was a Taíno cacica (a female cacique, or chief), religious expert, poet, and composer. Born in approximately 1474 in Xaragua, Ayiti, she was executed by hanging from a visiting Spanish “diplomatic” mission.

The Alliance Française de Chicago’s fall 2025 exhibition, Daughters of Anacaona, will explore the legacy and modern relevance of the famed Taíno leader through the eyes of three women of the diaspora:

• Chantal Bethel (mixed media)
• Persida Louison (acrylic and fiber)
• Véronique De Mesmaeker (acrylic)

Help us welcome this powerful exhibition to the Eleanor Wood Prince Salon at a special vernissage. Each artist will present her work and engage in a panel discussion moderated by Milwaukee Art Museum Curator of Community Dialogue Kantara Souffrant. Guests will then have the opportunity to discover the collection while they mix and mingle with fellow art and culture enthusiasts over complimentary Haitian hors d’œuvres and French wine.

Doors open at 6:00 p.m. Program at 6:30. Please enter via 54 W Chicago Ave. Non-alcoholic options will be available.

About the Artists

Born in Haiti, Chantal Bethel left at 12 years old for Brussels, Belgium where she was educated. Later, she relocated to The Bahamas, where her father had previously resettled. An agronomist, her father was in exile in the United States after fleeing the Papa Doc Duvalier regime.

Emotion and a reconnection with her heritage is a strong part of Bethel’s practice, creating images that are reminiscent of the landscape of her youth as well as tales and stories that are passed down.

Persida Louison was born in Port-au-Prince, Haiti. She graduated with a Fashion & Fine Art degree from the International Academy of Merchandising & Design of Chicago.

Louison started her textile art career as a teaching artist for Gallery 37, a premier art institution created by Maggie Daley, the late wife of Mayor Daley of Chicago. She later became an art program consultant for Chicago Public Schools.

Louison’s work features layering of dyes, paint, fibers, embroidery, and beads over fabrics. Her latest work has been featured in Haitian Times N.Y., Vanity Fair Italia, Ticket Magazine: Haiti, Crécia Magazine: French Antilles, and Bahamas Weekly.

Véronique De Mesmaeker was born in 1973 in Brussels, Belgium. She is the daughter of a Haitian mother and a Belgian father.

Developing her sensibility for the arts early on, she attended an art-oriented high school. She went on to earn a bachelor’s degree in business at the European School of Business in Brussels. Véronique then started working in finance while maintaining her artistic career on the side by painting murals in multiple locations such as hospitals, schools, and restaurants.

In 2010, she held her first solo exhibition. Between 2019 and 2020, she created a new body of work depicting with honesty her experience and admiration for womanhood through various cultures.

About the Moderator

Photo credit: Rosen-Jones Photography

Kantara Souffrant is an artist-scholar, museum educator, and independent curator who brings her passion for community engagement, dialogue, and facilitation to her work as a performer, educator, and community organizer. She holds a Ph.D. in Performance Studies from Northwestern University, with certificates in Critical Theory, African and Diaspora Studies, and Teaching. Her scholarship examines visual and performance art in the Haitian Diaspora following the January 12, 2010 earthquake in Haiti.