Amour Colère Folie Part 2

The trip to Martinique (via Paris CDG transfer to Orly) was rich and full of experiences. 

This was (and still is until mid-january 2014) the first edition of Martinique's BIENNALE led by its director Johanna Auguiac-Célénice. Ms.Auguiac-Célénice curated the various artists in residency, like myself, who were commissioned to create new public artworks especially for this first edition of BIAC. 

A number of us were placed at the Villa Melissa of Trois-ilets, where i was able to finally meet the Domican born and based artist Jorge Pineda whose work I have enjoyed for a number of years, this experience in Martinique afforded us this possibility. Our other residency neighbors were Carlos Estevez and Guillaume (who goes by the artist name of Remed which means remedy/medicine in french).

My work "Amour Colère Folie- a temporary monument to resistance" was placed in the Terre-Saintville neighborhood of Fort de France known for its Haitian and Domican immigrant population. To be place in and around the fountain of Place Abbey Grégoire facing the roman-catholic church of Saint Antoine.

The Uprising Magazine interview with art journalist Clelia Coussonnet regarding "Amour Colère Folie- a temporary monument to resistance" may be found on their website HERE (the photos in that article are by Hervé Beuze for BIAC)

The format of this Bienniale seemed to be in three distinctive parts:
PartA 
the commissioned public artworks (Parcours in situ) by artists in residence and labeled Parcours was selected by BIAC director Johanna Auguiac-Célénice. 

PartB 
the "Martinique Pavillion"(facebook photos here) was curated by the artist/curator/publisher Holly Bynoe.

PartC 
the "International Pavillion" (facebook photos here) was curated by curator/author Princeton University professor Tumelo Mosaka.

Video: working with artists Hervé Beuze and Patrick at the Square. The central tri-color cube of corrugated-metal has yet to be placed at this point during this video.
Many thanks to artist Jorge pineda (D.R.) and to Caryl Ivrisse (of Creative Renegades) for their early set-up assistance at the square.

Uprising's original summary of BIAC may be found HERE. A number of very interesting figures and thinkers were involved with the BIAC such as 
writer/author Patrick Chamoiseau, 
Art-historian Edward Sullivan 
and Historian Marianne de Tolentino.

My experience in Martinique merits now much much more understanding about this island and by extension the other territories of france in the Antilles. Every day I watch in the morning and/or the evening local television- one station in particular had rather provocative and progressive discussions. Here are some brief examples of some moderators whose conversations i followed (not always agreeing but intrigued by the conversations)

And then finally the topic of inhabitants of martinique called béké was rather surprising and yet i was not aware of any significant details that could bring it all together. All in all- a visit again to Martinique and Guadeloup and Guyane are most certainly in order in the future. Here is a réportage online regarding this small minority of citizens not often spoken about outside the french/francophone Caribbean world.