J.M.G. Le Clézio - Haï - 1971

J.M.G. Le Clézio. HAÏ

Editions Skira, in the series "Les sentiers de la création", Geneva, 1971, (21.5 x 16.6 cm), 172 pages, illustrated cover with dust jacket.

101 illustrations in black and color, most of them without text.

Original edition in very good condition, except for signs of use on the front cover with small varnish defects, as is customary for this collection, interior in excellent condition.

Haï is an essay by Jean-Marie Gustave Le Clézio published initially in 1971 by Albert Skira editions, within the collection Les Sentiers de la création. This book, which opens with the statement I am an Indian, is the fruit of a four-year stay (1970–1974) that the author spent among the Emberá and Waunana, indigenous peoples, in Panama. The work is structured in three chapters that correspond to the stages of an indigenous healing ceremony (Tahu Sa, Beka, Kakwahai) and proposes a reflection on the need to encounter the Indigenous world in order to understand the modern world. Le Clézio opposes to the Indian vision of art, death, and the environment the urban Western society, which he criticizes as a destructive and insensitive agent to the earth’s vibrations.

Haï is much more than a simple travelogue: it is an initiatory experience lived by J.M.G. Le Clézio in the early seventies during a four-year stay among the Emberas and Waunanas, Amerindian peoples who live in the Darién rainforest, in Panama. The work, published in 1971, takes the form of a hybrid essay that blends ethnographic testimony, philosophical reflection, and poetic meditation.

This structure reflects a spiritual journey and an inner transformation of the author. The text alternates with photographs of objects (figurines, gourds, baskets) and landscapes, sometimes juxtaposed with images of consumer society, underscoring the contrast between the two worlds.

The Les Sentiers de la création collection, published by Éditions d'Art Albert Skira between 1969 and 1976, represents a unique editorial venture at the crossroads of the arts, literature, and visual thought. Directed by Albert Skira in collaboration with Gaëtan Picon, this collection brings together unpublished works by writers, artists, and thinkers of the era, invited to explore their own creative path by mixing text and image.

The originality of the collection lies in its founding principle: each author is not only invited to write, but also to illustrate his own work, whether by creating original images or by selecting existing reproductions. This act of self-illustration transforms the image into a medium of expression complementary to the text, sometimes even in tension with it, creating a singular dialogue between the verbal and the visual.

The authors actively participated in the conception of the layout, in close collaboration with the editorial team, which reinforced the artistic unity of each volume.