The opening reception of Roots: The Idea of Modernity in Haitian Contemporary Art, featuring paintings, sculpture and jewelry designs by Haitian artist Philip Dodard was held November 3, 2006 at downtown Fort Lauderdale's Main Library. The exhibit, organized by Babacar M'Bow, Broward County Library's Coordinator of International Exhibits, is a collection of 65 of Dodard's work and will be on display at Main Library's gallery six through November.

The opening reception was attended by diverse crowd. Guests wandered past the canvases and sculptures, some brightly colored, others stark in black and white.

Dodard, soft-spoken and elegant, was on hand during the reception to greet friends and guests and to discuss his work with the art fans who gathered. Haitian-born Dodard's paintings, acclaimed and appreciated by art lovers and collectors worldwide, have been exhibited internationally in galleries and museums in such far-flung locales as Haiti, Surinam, Brazil, France and throughout the Caribbean. 

"The paintings are really amazing," said Johnna Winsfield, 24, of Lauderhill Lakes. "I came here with a friend - I didn't know about the art - but I'm really impressed." Adds friend Winifred Jones, "It's also a great crowd, people you wouldn't really expect at the library, even on a Friday night."

"Broward County's goal is to provide information in many ways," says M'Bow. "In this case, instead of being presented in the written form, information is conveyed visually through the works of Dodard."

The artworks, on loan from Nader Gallery in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, span Dodard's career and are a retrospective of his body of work, which has changed and evolved as the years passed, moving from naïve imagery to modernism and then cubism. The evolution of artistic style in Haiti - and Dodard's role in the perception of contemporary art in Haiti - was discussed in a symposium held earlier that day.

"What a wonderful group of people we hosted at the Main Library" said M'Bow. "To be able to have such a discourse on art here in Broward County means so much for art lovers and for the community."