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Steel oil drum containers were initially left behind by U.S. Marines between 1915 and 1934 during the United States’ occupation of Haiti following the assassination of Haiti’s president Jean Vilbrun Guillaume Sam (1859–1915) in 1915. Haitians such as visionary artist, Georges Liautaud (1899–1991) soon began repurposing them. These same steel oil drums are also used to create steel pan drums in Trinidad & Tobago. Today, with so many Haitian artists working in the medium and selling and exporting works, artisans now purchase steel oil drums to craft metal sculpture, employ used or new fifty-gallon tomato paste drums, or even use sheet metal for large-scale commissions. See “The Enduring Spirit of Haitian Metal Sculpture” on display, pre-security, in the International Terminal. https://bit.ly/HaitianMetal This image was posted on October 18, 2023.