Anse Cafard Slave Memorial – Extra Meaningful Today From Above
Current events have me thinking a lot about the Anse Cafard Slave Memorial in Martinique. The seminal work of brilliant sculptor/painter Laurent Valére, the Memorial stands as a poignant and powerfully-moving reminder of the utter horrors of slavery. We’ve profiled the installation in depth before. We’ve never, though, shown the statues from the sky.
You can really appreciate the precision of the triangular formation from above. The shape is a purposeful and direct reference to the Triangle Slave Trade.
The bowed heads of each eight-foot statue are also uniquely dramatic from on high.
To me, they bear relevance to the today’s civil rights movement and global demonstrations.
I imagine the souls of the 40+ African slaves lost here looking down on their effigies. The bowed heads, weathered and solemn, can be said to carry added sadness these days. We black people are, after all, still fighting for real, true equality all these many hundreds of years later.
At the same time, though, the figures could be offering a nod to demonstrators currently packing the streets in cities across the globe. A nod of encouragement to keep going and finish the job this time, once and for all.
Personally, I prefer the latter interpretation.