Port-au-Prince, December 16, 2025.- In a context marked by insecurity and the collapse of economic circuits, Craftsmen in Feast, scheduled for December 20 and 21 in Petion-Ville, imposes itself as one of the last opportunities for Haitian artisans to meet their audience. For Max Chauvet, Managing Director of the Newlist, the event is vital for an area threatened with progressive extinction.
The Haitian craft industry is going through one of the most critical periods in its recent history. Invited to Panel Magik on Tuesday, December 16, 2025, Max Chauvet pulled the alarm bell: the break between producers and consumers, aggravated by insecurity, endangers the very survival of the sector.
In the past, customers could go directly to the workshops to buy craft creations. This proximity has now disappeared. « There is a total break between producer and customer », Mr Chauvet notes, pointing out that "Artisanat en Fête now represents one of the few spaces where artisans and buyers meet. He calls on the public to respond present in order to economically support the creators and to give them hope.
Beyond the commercial aspect, the director of the Newlist warns about a deeper danger: the weakening of craftsmanship quality and creativity. Forced displacement and the dispersion of artisans have broken the chains of transmission of know-how between generations, weakening the very identity of Haitian handicrafts.
According to Max Chauvet, the sustainable recovery of the sector inevitably requires the resolution of the security crisis, the restoration of the free movement of people and goods, and the reopening of the axes of penetration. Without these conditions, artisans, small business and small industry will continue to extinguish « Little fire ».
The 2025 edition of Crafts at the Festival will be held on Saturday 20 and Sunday 21 December at the Brothers of Christian Instruction in Petion-Ville, a site used for the first time for this event. Building on the success of
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