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Haitian Artists Bring Garbage to Life

Using bits of garbage and flotsam and finding their roots in voodoo, poverty and the urban Haitian experience, a group of men in Port-au-Prince is pushing Haitian art's boundaries.

At the end of a twisting dirt alleyway crowded with tin shacks, a large metal man with hair made of shredded tires and feet of wheel spokes sits in a small clearing. According to its creator, who goes by the name Guyodo, he and other local artists are inspired by their daily surroundings.

"We use all that society throws away, all that is not going to be used again that we are bringing back to life," Guyodo says.

Sonny Valesco, a traditional woodcarver, says the street art has brought a measure of pride to the depressed area. "These guys are doing very good work," Valesco says. "They organized themselves and they are getting people to talk about the country and their artistic movement."

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Lulu Garcia-Navarro is the host of Weekend Edition Sunday and one of the hosts of NPR's morning news podcast Up First. She is infamous in the IT department of NPR for losing laptops to bullets, hurricanes, and bomb blasts.