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| Mémorial ACTe | |
|---|---|
| Name | Mémorial ACTe |
| Location | Pointe-à-Pitre, Guadeloupe |
| Established | 2015 |
| Type | Museum, Memorial, Cultural Center |
Mémorial ACTe Mémorial ACTe is a national memorial center and museum in Pointe-à-Pitre dedicated to the history and memory of transatlantic slavery, colonialism, and their legacies. It functions as a site of research, exhibition, and education, engaging with visitors through permanent galleries, temporary exhibitions, archives, and public programming. The center situates Guadeloupe within wider networks of Atlantic history, linking local narratives to continental and global events.
The project's origins trace to debates among cultural policymakers in France, activist groups in Guadeloupe, and scholars from institutions such as Université des Antilles, Institut national d'histoire de l'art, and Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique who referenced precedents like Auschwitz-Birkenau State Museum, United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, and National Museum of African American History and Culture. Proposals invoked commemorative practices comparable to those at Mémorial de Caen, Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe, and Slavery and Remembrance Project dialogues that followed the Taubira law passage and the commemorative politics surrounding the Transatlantic slave trade. Advocacy coalitions included representatives from Conseil régional de la Guadeloupe, Mairie de Pointe-à-Pitre, labor unions like Union générale des travailleurs de Guadeloupe, and NGOs such as SOS Racisme and Amnesty International who emphasized the role of memory after events like the 2009 French Caribbean riots and discussions spurred by historians including Pierre Nora, Stuart Hall, and Césaire family scholars. International advisors referenced exhibitions at Museum of London Docklands, Liverpool's International Slavery Museum, and curatorial practices developed by ICOM and UNESCO.
The center occupies a rehabilitated industrial site in downtown Pointe-à-Pitre on the island of Grande-Terre, near maritime infrastructures associated with the colonial port system and the former warehouses linked to the Middle Passage. The design competition attracted architectural firms influenced by precedents such as Dominique Perrault Architecture, Renzo Piano Building Workshop, and project teams conversant with conservation schemes employed at Hangar 13 conversions and Lowry Centre adaptations. The building's envelope and interior circulation were informed by museological examples like Musée du quai Branly, Louvre Abu Dhabi, and Zeitz Museum of Contemporary Art Africa while accommodating climate resilience measures discussed in Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change reports for island territories. Site planning intersected with urban initiatives by Agence d'Urbanisme and heritage inventories coordinated with Ministère de la Culture and Monuments Historiques authorities.
Collections combine archival material, oral history recordings, visual art, and objects connected to slavery, colonial administration, plantation economies, and diasporic cultures. Holdings include documents analogous to records preserved at The National Archives (UK), Archives Nationales d'Outre-Mer, and collections comparable to those at Bibliothèque nationale de France and Smithsonian Institution units. The permanent parcours draws on methodological frameworks from exhibitions at Museum of African American History and Culture, International Slavery Museum, and Maison des Esclaves to present chronological and thematic galleries addressing the legal frameworks of slavery, such as references to the Code Noir, emancipation moments including the 1848 abolition in France and links to uprisings comparable to Haitian Revolution and uprisings in Saint-Domingue, Cuba, Trinidad and Tobago, and Brazil. Rotating shows have featured artists and scholars connected to Édouard Glissant, Aimé Césaire, Frantz Fanon, Cécile Oumou Laly, Kara Walker, Yinka Shonibare, and curators associated with Kadist and Hirshhorn Museum. Themed exhibitions align with research partnerships with École des Hautes Études en Sciences Sociales, Maison des Sciences de l'Homme, and international collaborators like University of the West Indies, Harvard University, Columbia University, and University College London.
Programming targets school groups, researchers, and community audiences through workshops inspired by pedagogies practiced at British Museum, Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa, and Canadian Museum for Human Rights. Educational initiatives reference syllabi used in Université Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne courses and cooperative projects with Ministère de l'Éducation nationale in outreach to collèges and lycées. Memorial ceremonies connect to commemorations like International Day for Remembrance of the Slave Trade and its Abolition and collaborate with cultural festivals such as Festival International de Cannes—in film strands addressing memory—and music events referencing Carnival traditions and Afro-Caribbean practices linked to Gwo Ka and Bèlè. Oral history projects partner with Association pour la Sauvegarde groups and academic labs such as Laboratoire d'Ethnologie to document survivor descendant testimonies comparable to initiatives by W.E.B. Du Bois Institute.
Since opening, the center has provoked commentary from commentators at outlets like Le Monde, The New York Times, The Guardian, BBC News, and scholarly debate in journals such as French Historical Studies, Journal of Caribbean History, and Slavery & Abolition. Responses have connected the center to regional identity politics involving actors from Guadeloupe, Martinique, French Guiana, and diasporic communities in Paris, New York City, London, and Toronto. Critics and supporters have compared its interpretive approach to institutions including Museum of the City of New York, New-York Historical Society, and Musée d'Orsay, while policy analysts from Organisation internationale de la Francophonie and European Union cultural programs evaluated its role in tourism strategies alongside Atout France and regional development agencies.
Administration involves governance arrangements with elected councils such as Conseil régional de la Guadeloupe and national bodies including Ministère des Outre-mer, with management models informed by practices at Centre Pompidou, Musée du quai Branly, and Victoria and Albert Museum. Funding streams combine public subsidies, regional allocations, and partnerships with cultural foundations like Fondation de France, corporate sponsors comparable to those supporting Musée du Louvre projects, and research grants from entities such as Agence Nationale de la Recherche, European Research Council, and international cultural cooperation programs under UNESCO.