Generations of artists have, ever since the abolitions of slavery, seized, revisited, rehabilitated, and transmitted, when their turn came, these esthetic legacies as to draw new horizons to intercultural relations. The increasing interest of creators for the slave trade and slavery testifies to the proteiform relation that this tragedy continues to maintain with our present.

As to continue the reflection initiated in the framework of the event Artists and the Memory of Slavery: Resistance, creative liberty and Legacies which was held on September 4, 2015 at UNESCO, the Slave Route project has produced a documentary on it and short video interviews on the topic of the relation between contemporary creation and the memory of slavery.

Each month on this page, an artist or specialist in a given field will address the question of the interaction between history, memory and artistic creation. 

The historian Myriam Cottias, the actor Jacques Martial, the musician Archie Shepp, the dancer Rhodnie Désir, the philosopher Alain Foix and the visual artist Roberto Diago, each in their respective fields, will invite us to explore the importance of the memory of slavery in contemporary artistic creation.

If the historian produces a positive knowledge based on the existing archives and sources; the artist can detach freely and narrate history differently. Beyond words, artists can directly affect us. The fruitful possibilities of dialogue between research and artistic creation are highlighted by the historian Myriam Cottias.

• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r5LgfGjLkhg&index=3&list=PL_KjI31vB0nKMKfPSRi5Kl8_e9Kl3t_5TWATCH THE INTERVIEW OF MYRIAM COTTIAS
• WATCH THE DOCUMENTARY 

More :

• When artists tell the memory of slavery: A day to remember at UNESCO
• Concept Note 
• Program
• Catalogue de l'exposition Modern Times (French Only)
• In Focus : Alain Foix 
• Worldwide view Topic : Memory and Art