Carrying a universal message of awareness, solidarity and brotherhood, the Memorial’s symbolic extends outside of the Nantes borders and resonate as a vivid historical fact for future generations, commemorates its victims and declares the richness of a diverse human race.
Polish artist Krzysztof Wodiczko collaborated with Argentinean architect Julian Bonder on the museum celebrating the abolition of slavery in Nantes. Selected by the jury as part of an international contest, the concept of the Memorial was handed to renowned Polish artist and "cultural activist" Krzysztof Wodiczko, who chose the Argentinean architect Julian Bonder as a partner to create this monument. Set on the Quai de la Fosse dock, the Memorial exhumes the place’s extensively repressed sombre history, as Nantes stood as the largest French slave port in the Eighteenth Century. The memorial was officially revealed on the 25th of March, 2012.
The Memorial to the abolition of slavery stands as a definite stone in the city’s officials and citizens’ long journey towards facing their history, initiated in the 1990s with the exhibition Les Anneaux de la Mémoire /The Rings of Memory, and followed by numerous historical, cultural and social projects such as the active cooperation and twinning with African and South American towns, support for associations, humanitarian work and the creation of official sections dedicated to the matter of slavery in city museums. Most importantly, the monument is an homage to those who fought, fight and will keep on fighting against all forms of slavery in the world.
Krzysztof Wodiczko and Julian Bonder have created the Memorial to the Abolition of Slavery of Nantes as a "metaphorical and emotional rendering of the principally historical, yet still relevant fight for the abolition of slavery [that bares] the memory of the past [and serves] as a warning for the future." As the duo describes the monument, its design originates from two fundamental actions: revelation and immersion, which together produce a deep experience with multiple strata, which enables the visitors to discover and interpret the various facets of a history they believed to be already familiar with.
The Memorial is also a project to reclaim the banks of the Loire. By choosing a location in an area which had lost its function as the city’s port, and giving it an extremely symbolic purpose, the construction of the Memorial has originated the creation of new traffic routes, placing memory at the heart of Nantes. As Wodiczko and Bonder have stated:
This Memorial (…) has a dual perspective. On one side, it faces the city on the banks of the Loire estuary, a location which is marked, supported even, by colossal quays, interrupted at the points where the river has been filled. On the other side, it is linked to the sea, that vehicle of triangular trade (…) given that the main feature of Nantes’ geographical location is its inextricable link with the Loire, and the Atlantic beyond. The tides of the estuary lend an additional dynamic dimension to the design of the Memorial.
This memorial recognises a dark period in the history of France and seeks to commemorate the abolition of slavery by the French State in a fitting and solemn manner. The memorial also holds out a beacon to the future aiming to promote exchanges, in a balanced and fair way, amongst Africa, America and Europe. Between the 15th and 19th centuries, Nantes was the principal slave port of France. It was not alone in the slave trade and other ports such as Liverpool, London, Bristol, La Rochelle, Bordeaux, Amsterdam, Lisbon all exported significant numbers of slaves to the Americas. The slave trade became an integral part of the economy of Nantes during these centuries with ship-owners, bankers, industrialists, merchants, shipbuilders and sailors profiting from it to varying degrees. Displaying a profound commitment to human rights, in favour of immigrants, homeless people, victims of oppression and political refugees, Krzysztof Wodiczko’s work gives a representation to the "others", foreigners, misfits and those deprived of their rights. By joining forces with Argentinean architect Julian Bonder, heavily involved in the relationship between memory and public areas, the Polish artist founded the ultimate international collaboration for the project. In 1848, after lengthy campaigns for the abolition of slavery, led principally by Victor Schoelcher, France abolished slavery.
Born in 1943 in Warsaw, Krzysztof Wodiczko has been creating site-specific slide and video projections both within galleries and using architectural facades and monuments as backdrops for nearly 30 years. The cultural activist advocates for a didactical and critical creation that instructs the viewer. Shown all over the world, his politically-charged works of art revolve around issues regarding human rights, democracy, violence, alienation and cruelty, featuring recorded or live testimonies of his witnesses. Complementing these projections are Wodiczko’s nomadic instruments, designed to empower marginalized members of society such as immigrants, the homeless, these who lost their closest to street violence and war, women, and children-survivors of domestic abuse, the war veterans and others.
Wodiczko emigrated twice, from Poland to Canada and then from Canada to the United States. He now shares his time between New York and Cambridge, Massachusetts, where he is a head professor of Interrogative Design Group, and a director of the Center for Advanced Visual Studies and the at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
Since 1980, he has created over 70 public projections of still and video images that critically animate historic monuments and civic edifices. His politically committed works, which have been exhibited at various international art biennials (including Venice, Sao Paulo and Whitney) encourage audiences to reflect on the state of the world and its inequalities. In 1998, Krzysztof Wodiczko was awarded the Hiroshima Prize, an annual distinction which rewards an artist’s contribution to peace in the world.
Born in Argentina, Julian Bonder is an architect and lecturer living in the United States. He concentrates on studying the relationship between memory, trauma and public spaces. His work, which initially centred on remembrance of the holocaust, covers the civil war, civil rights, slavery and the events of September 11th, 2001. He created the centre for Holocaust and Genocide studies at Clark University as well as Babi Yar Park, Denver.
To mark the opening of the Memorial to the Abolition of Slavery in Nantes on March 25th 2012, an International Colloquium was held between the 22nd -24th of March at the Château des Ducs de Bretagne.
The colloquium brought together researchers across a range of disciplines, artistes and actors of civil society to discuss the long struggle against slave trade and colonial slavery as well as their current configurations. The forums, exhibitions, lectures and film screenings will embrace the history of the anti-slavery movement as a social, cultural and political movement, very modern in its ideology and iconography. Throughout three days of meetings, guests will discuss the transcontinental movement, featuring it linked slaves, "Free of colour"' philosophers, lawyers, journalists, feminists, economists and politicians. According to the United Nations, there are 27 millions enslaved individuals today. The economy of predation continues to produced trafficking and enslavement. The struggle against slavery is a contemporary struggle.
Amongst the events held surrounding the inauguration of the memorial, the Château des Ducs de Bretagne also hosts an exhibition L’histoire des Afro-Antillais en France au cœur de nos diversités / The history of African-Antilleans in France amongst its diversities(1685-2011), created and produced by the research group ACHAC with the support of ACSE (2011). The exhibition retraces the presence of Antilleans and Africans in France since the Seventeenth Century.
The Memorial to the Abolition of Slavery in Nantes was created by Krzysztof Wodiczko & Julian Bonder and financed by Europe (Feder), Nantes Métropole, the city of Nantes, the Région des Pays de la Loire and the Conseil Général de Loire Atlantique.
The inauguration of the Memorial to the Abolition of Slavery in Nantes was held on 25th of March 2012 at 15:00.
For more information, see: http://www.nantes.fr and http://memorial.nantes.fr