Distribution of enslaved people on the Marie Séraphique’s ship of Nantes
I spent the last week of August in the beautiful French region of Nouvelle-Aquitaine: an area that is a wondrous blend of countryside living, heavenly villages, breathtaking ocean views and vibrantcities. On my day trip to Bordeaux, I knew that I had to visit the exhibition “Lignes d'Horizons,” which is being hosted at the Musée d’ Aquitaine until 6th February, 2022, as well as the museum’s permanent displays. I highly recommend visiting if you have the chance!
The museum originally shared the Institute of Fine Arts' halls, but since 1970 it has been located in the University of Bordeaux’s imposing former Faculty of Arts and Sciences building. The institution now displays some of France’s most impressive acquisitions of non-European ethnography and maintains a valuable archaeological and historical collection centred on Bordeaux and France.
After passing throughthe prehistoric and medieval sectionsof the museum, which are displayed in very traditional settings, I immediately understood the tone had changed as we were entering a large space dedicated to the Atlantic slave trade in the 18th and 19th centuries, which transited through the port of Bordeaux. The museum underwent significant redevelopment in 2009 to better address this subject, the city’s most unpleasant legacy.
Musée d’Aquitaine, modern area: Bordeaux in the 18th century,trans-Atlantic commerce and slavery
Just a few hours before touring the museum, I had admired Bordeaux's historic buildings; only after visiting the exhibit did I acknowledge that the town'swealth, on whichthese landmarks were built, depended, in great part, on the participation of the city in the slave trade. Instead of remaining silent about the town’s ties with the triangular commerce, the institution has instead chosen to recount its story:from 1672 to 1837, Bordeaux served as the first depot for around 500 triangular slave trade voyages, which resulted in more than 150,000 Africans being deported to France’s Caribbean colonies. Of course, Bordeaux was not alone in this; we should also acknowledge the harbours of Le Havre, La Rochelle and the City of Nantes, which organized a total of 1,744 expeditions.
We were presentedwith four very dark rooms in which videos and digital instalments were the main focus: glass panels exhibited images and pages from diaries belonging to black people who were shoved into ships with little water or food, and forced to deal with horrific diseases, agony, and starvation. They were ordered to live in an absurd proximityto one another, chained up for days. We were not spared death rates - the voyages could last from six to eight weeks, during which time between 10% and 20% of the enslaved would end up dying. Throughout this section, extremely painful and desperate scenes are projected on the walls. Other objects on display, such as chains and cufflinks,strongly recount the horrors of the trade; these are also supplemented by a great numberof paintings depictingthe daily realityof the slavery system in Saint Domingo and the Caribbean. Here slaves would have been auctioned off and sent to work on plantations, where the averagelife expectancy was no more than five to six years.
Portrait of a young black child, Anonymous- 17th-18th century
Finally, the last section examined the consequences of slavery in our societies through the political, social and culturalheritage born out of this history. I wanted to share a quote by black French author Aimé Cesaire that stuck with me: “I accept my origins, but what do I do with them?”
Black activist movements, but also the art, music and literature that sprang from this pain are a powerful answer to this question from the black community. What does that signify for people whose origins benefitted from racism, slavery, and colonial violence? The colour of our skin does not come with guilt but carries a responsibility; for too much of time the truth was buried or belittled.
The Musée d’ Aquitaine has started to acknowledge Bordeaux's history and centuries-long role in perpetuating these terrible actions. At times though, I felt its tendency to narrate how slavery was a common practice in history risked dismantling the slave trade’s crucial link with racism. I also noticed the concept that “slavery was a common practice in Africa” long before reaching Europe was repeated throughout the exhibit, almost to justify France and Europe's involvement. Certainly, their effort to bring up the matter has to be recognized, but there are stillmany layers to uncover, and many new approaches to ensure that difficult and violent histories are represented fairly, including the proper use of language and sensitive words, co-curating labels with communities, and retrieving more information about the history of the objects being displayed.
On a positive note, the Musée d’ Aquitaine is just one example of Bordeaux’s willingness to create conversations about the subject.The city has added additional information to the historic plaques which bear the names of figures that played a role in the triangular commerce - new explanatory versions, acknowledging their role in the slave trade. In 2019, to mark the anniversary of slavery abolition, a statue depicting Modeste Tastas - a woman bought by a rich Bordelais family, who worked on a Saint Domingo plantation and was eventually set free - was installed. In the same year, the city inaugurated a sculpture of a tree bearing three blindfolded blackmen symbolizing the fear, pain, abandonment and loss of identity of enslaved people.
Metallic tree statue in Bordeaux
The effect of all of this on my person was remarkable: it unsettled me, made me reflect, inquire, and meditate. The exhibition is flawed and incomplete, but still a solid achievement. It is a starting point for myself, the museum and its city, but also especially for a community.
Written by Sofia Sireno
Want to know more about the slave trade, its origins and history? I found this article for you; historian William A. Pettigrew recommends five books to help understand the slave trade, how it was established, why it flourished and why it was eventually abolished.