Day 9: Wow I've already been here over a week!

After yesterday's flat tire fiasco, I wanted to stay a bit closer to home today! So I returned to Memorial ACTe to see their temporary exposition: Caribbean Image Festival (one of those cases where the French translation just sounds much better: Festival caribbean de l'image).  This exhibit featured photography and video from artists from all over the Caribbean: Guadeloupe, Martinique, Trinidad and Tobago, Haiti...

Good news if you invested in Memorial ACTe: it is still packed.  The line did not look that long, but moved glacially.  Imagine if a sloth took sleeping pills.  But once again, I persevered to this time purchase my ticket for the temporary exhibit.  ("You don't want to see the permanent exhibition?" the cashier inquired.  "Oh I already saw that" I said feeling quite cultured.)

I liked this exhibit, but the permanent exhibit held my attention for longer.  For me, seeing how caribbean artists portray the islands and the islands' inhabitants was the most interesting part.  We all have preconceived notions concerning certain places and people- that Haiti is dangerous, that Guadeloupe has beautiful beaches, that Caribbean women wear brightly colored, loose fitting clothing, etc- but if this the islands constitute your "normal", how do you see them? Some works conformed to my expectations, others attempted to defy them.  One of my favorite series of works, "Caribbean Rhapsody", depicted famous works of art, but replaced the people with Caribbeans in a modern day setting.

After that, I headed to the beach for some relaxation! The beaches were packed, making for great people watching on a beautiful day!

Tomorrow, I'll most likely head out to Basse- Terre (the capital) to see a famous military fort and whatever else the city offers me! (Hoping there will be some beach time in the afternoon-- don't want to work too hard ;)