The proposal is a response to a call for projects by the French Guadeloupe Government, the Conseil Départemental de la Guadeloupe. Our proposal has two locations: a workshop in Pointe-à-Pitre and a permanent participatory ceramic installation for the Fort Delgrès in Basse Terre.

Knowing that the scars of slavery will never disappear on the Caribbean islands, we know that it is not enough to just create a beautiful sculpture: its production process needs to be different. For a few centuries, the black population has tried to forget their own history, but it has not been working out. Forgetfulness never works. It does not create pride nor creativity. On the contrary, knowledge, studies, consciousness opening, dialogs, images, memories have a huge impact on a population’s resilience capacities.

Our special method of producing humanistic artwork is by creating participatory artistic workshops. In the city of Pointe-à-Pitre,  we are going to install a ceramic workshop, that will be opened and operating with the general public and the schools of Guadeloupe, to offer them opportunities to learn and create images about the history of slavery in Guadeloupe and the region.

We have an Association Inscrire team representative based in Haiti in Port-au-Prince. With Carine Schermann and Cherlie Rivage,  the team leaders at the Fokal organization, we will organize a local professional team in Guadeloupe that will invent, plan and construct such a participatory scenario, similar to the one we have created in Port-au-Prince. Cherlie Rivage will be forming the local team and give them our expertise about our teaching methods with the ceramic technique.

In Guadeloupe, the subject of slavery history is very sensitive. It also is a Caribbean story. The establishment of a teaching center in Pointe-à-Pitre will allow young people to come from all parts of the island to learn and create images about their own history of slavery and it will be a strong support to accept the history itself.

The objective is to gather the artworks produced by all the people, on a great grand wall “Our Memory Wall”, to be located at the entrance of the Fort Delgrès or somewhere within its walls.

FOKAL-Fondation Connaissance et Liberté in Haiti
Association Inscrire represented in Haiti
Matthieu Dussauge, curator and director of the Museum Schœlcher in Pointe-à-Pitre
Macte-Mémorial ACTe
Jacques Martial, ex President of the Macte

The City of Basse Terre
The City of Point-à-Pitre
Le Conseil Régional de la Guadeloupe
Others

Cherlie Rivage
Carine Schermann
Françoise Schein