Today, I ventured into Pointe- a- Pitre for the first time. It's less than five minutes away and the largest city in Guadeloupe, with about 20,000 habitants. The city is not what you would expect to see on a Caribbean island: it's distinctively urban and many of the buildings are gray and boxy. Still, I liked the feel. Parts of it had the same vibe as New York, and other parts felt more European. Here are some of my favorite pictures:
 |
| Old theatre that now plays movies |
 |
| Office of Tourism (behind tree) |
 |
| Eglise Ste Pierre and Ste Paul |
I ended up spending a good part of my day at the cultural center there:
They have a library that focuses on the city's heritage- perfect for my project- so I spent the morning reading "bandes- dessinées" (comic books/ graphic novels) about the slave trade. A publishing house in Guadeloupe produces these books in the hopes of educating youth about the island's history. Hopefully I'll be able to get in touch with one of the authors or publishers!
Later in the afternoon, I returned for an exhibit opening by an artist named Fred Plumain. His website (http://www.fredplumain.com/) linked his work to the island's current social issues and reality, piquing my interest. I was not disappointed!! I met the artist himself-- it turns out his "real job" is an English professor at the local university! He and I chatted and he was very interested in my project-- he gave me his card and told me to call him anytime to set up an interview. As he and I discussed one of his paintings (in English) a camera man asked if he could record us. I am keeping an eye on the local news in case I make my international TV debut:)
After such a fruitful day, I'm excited to continue and visit a new museum/ memorial on its opening day tomorrow.
Good luck with the project! Looking forward to more posts!
ReplyDelete