Check out the Highlights of March here
Tears don’t come out when it’s freezing, I will cry in Spring. (Erri de Luca)
Sunset in La Rochelle, France
Going to La Rochelle this spring has been a liberating experience. The coastal town is laid back, calm and mostly in a good mood. Plus my (fabulous!) friends have a boat near the Aquarium and I’m able to sight-see and meet interesting characters…
Life and how to live it?
Hi Saviour! Hi Aquarium in the background!
(And when the English are brave enough to make pasta for an Italian, this is what it looks like.)
Going back to the purpose of this writing, I was also lucky enough to step in the Museum of the New World, in La Rochelle. It had been a long time since I’d seen something similar.
Created in 1982, the Museum of the New World is a state museum and is part of the Fine Arts Museums of La Rochelle. Its purpose, as I see it, is to inform people on the relationships between France and the Americas.
Occupation of Martinique, by Théodore Gudin
Located in a beautiful hotel that was built in the 18th century by Regnault de Beaulieu (and enlarged around 1775 by Aimé-Benjamin Fleuriau), the spaces scream “Rococo!” while the settings are definitely classical. What’s to admire though is the collections, quite frankly.
Here my favorite pieces:
Portrait of Marie-Anne Grellier with her nurse, by an anonymous painter
I was invited to touch animal fur. On point since it’s #TaxidermyWeek on Twitter
Heart of Alène, by Antoine Tzapoff
The Fall of the French America, by Antoine Tzapoff
A woody case of STAIR CRUSH!
The Bridal Masquerade, by José Conrado Roza
Is The World Moving? (Barack Obama), by Pierre Pambu Bodo
Here’s to hope for a better world!
I took the following photos in the same room and it’s an exhibit on Africa, titled “Stupid and Useless” by Serge Mikpon (Aston):
A lot of allegories in these “useless” plastic bottles…
The artist seems to evoke a fantasy world which is in reality deceiving and sad. Look at all the details and you’ll realize how each part is well thought out.
All in all, I had a good time at The Museum of the New World in La Rochelle. The staff was very welcoming and they waited for me to purchase one of their catalogues before closing for lunch (one of those last minute buys!).
So make sure you stop by on your next trip to La Rochelle!
Fascinating especially having been to Nova Scotia and seeing how this links up. Simon Schama’s book Rough Crossings also makes links between the slave trade, freed slaves and the American war of independence. This was dramatised as a play in Birmingham som3 years ago
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