VICTOR HARRIS & FI YI YI (b. 1952, New Orleans, LA) lives in New Orleans.

Victor Harris is founder and Big Chief of one of the most innovative groups of New Orleans Mardi Gras Indians, Fi Yi Yi. After more than twenty-five years suiting with the late Allison “Tootie” Montana and his Yellow Pocahontas tribe, Harris set out on his own in 1984.  He became the first Big Chief to conceal his face entirely, African-style, and his Mandingo Warriors became the first Mardi Gras Indians to create explicitly African-themed suits.  Although he does not exhibit his work in an art gallery context, Harris’ suits from 1999-2006 form part of the collection of the Backstreet Museum in the Faubourg Treme neighborhood of New Orleans, and the appearance of Fi-Yi-Yi on Mardi Gras morning is one of the holiday’s most anticipated events.