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Que suggèrent aujourd’hui à un amateur d’art les
termes art de la Caraïbe? Une production singulière et
exotique confinée sur son territoire ou bien quelques
démarches individuelles fortes bien ancrées dans
la contemporanéité et largement diffusées ? Est-il
d’ailleurs toujours pertinent de se ranger sous une
bannière géographique? Comment accroître la visi-
bilité des artistes de l’arc antillais et dynamiser leur
présence sur le marché international ? Au regard de
cet objectif, quelle est la réalité actuelle?
Aujourd’hui, la Caraïbe reste encore sans doute à
construire. L’espace Caraïbe est un ensemble de
38 territoires de plus de 5,2 millions de km
2
, soit
10 fois la superficie de la Francemétropolitaine, alors
que les îles de la Caraïbe font environ 235 000 km
2
,
l’équivalent de la superficie du Royaume-Uni. C’est
une aire géographiquement, linguistiquement et
politiquement fragmentée mais dotée de caracté-
ristiques communes dues au processus partagé de
créolisation
1
. Cet air de famille est indéniablement
perceptible dans les rythmes caribéens : calypso,
soka, salsa, reggae, dancehall.
Après une longue période d’ignorance réciproque,
des tentatives de coopération voient progressivement
le jour dans les années 1940 : commission anglo-
américaine des Caraïbes
2
, Carifta
3
, Caricom
4
, alors
que, dans lemême temps, la départementalisation de
1946
5
isole davantage les trois départements français
des Amériques. Même si l’ancrage culturel des îles
francophones au sein de l’archipel est de plus en plus
fortement revendiqué, surtout à partir des années
Christopher Cozier.
Little gestures
, série
Tropical night
.
2006-2011, encre, tampons sur papier, 23 x 18 cm chaque dessin.
What do the words “Caribbean art” suggest to today’s art-lover? A single
type of exotic production confined to the Caribbean region or a few individual
approaches rooted in the present and widely disseminated? Is it still relevant
to group these artists together under a geographical banner? How can artists
from the French West Indies increase their visibility and become a dynamic
presence in the international market? How close has the Caribbean come to
achieving this objective today?
Undoubtedly, the Caribbean has yet to be built. What is known as “the
Caribbean” is a group of 38 territories stretching over more than 5.2 mil-
lion km
2
, i.e. 10 times the area of metropolitan France, whereas the Caribbean
islands span about 235,000 km
2
, equivalent to the size of the United Kingdom.
The region is geographically, linguistically and politically fragmented, but
endowed with common characteristics due to the shared process of creoli-
zation
1
.This family resemblance is unmistakably perceptible in Caribbean
rhythms: calypso, soka, salsa, reggae and dancehall.
After a long period of ignoring each other, attempts at cooperation gradu-
ally developed starting in the 1940s with the Anglo-American Caribbean
Commission
2
, Carifta
3
and Caricom
4
, whereas, at the same time, the decision
to create Overseas Departments in 1946
5
further isolated the three French
departments in the Americas. Though the French-speaking islands of the
archipelago have increasingly laid claim to their cultural roots, particularly
beginning in the 1980s, their vertical relationships with the colonial authori-
ties have continued to take precedence and trade within the archipelago
has remained limited. Thus, in the mid-1980s, only two steel companies in
Martinique maintained partnerships with the Caribbean. Almost 20 years later,
in 1998, Martinique’s relations with its immediate environment still accounted
for only 2.7 % of its trade. Indeed, there is no efficient transport system among
the islands, where the standard of living is still extremely variable. There are
no organized distribution networks and linguistic differences also remain a
significant barrier. Nevertheless, informal exchanges continue and cooperative
bodies are becoming more assertive.
From a cultural standpoint, organizations such as the Museums Association
of the Caribbean (MAC), the Association of Caribbean University, Research
and Institutional Libraries (Acuril) and the Southern Caribbean section of the
International Association of Art Critics (AICA-CS) unite professionals in the
field. The University of the West Indies (UWI) has an enrollment of 39,000
students on four campuses in Barbados, Jamaica, Trinidad, Antigua and
Barbuda. The cultural integration of the Dutch Caribbean in 1992 is more
recent, whereas a strong feeling of belonging to Latin America continues in
the Spanish-speaking Caribbean.
In contemporary art, the Caribbean has expanded its influence outside its
borders through some ten international exhibitions: participation in three bien-
nials in São Paulo in 1994, 1996 and 1998,
Caribbean Visions: contemporary
paintings & sculptures
au Center of Fine Arts in Miami in 1995,
Caribe insular:
exclusiõn, fragmentacíon y paraíso
at the Museo Extremeño e Iberoamericano
in Badajoz and Madrid in 1998,
Infinite Island: Contemporary Caribbean Art
at
the Brooklyn Museum de New York in 2008,
Afro Modern: Journeys through
the Black Atlantic
at the Tate Liverpool in 2010.
In France, the public had to wait until 2009 for the first major event devoted to
contemporary Caribbean art –
Kreyol Factory
– at La Villette. And a large-scale
project is currently under preparation for 2012:
Caribbean: Crossroads of the
World
designed by three New York museums, the Museo del Barrio, the Queens
Museum and the Studio Museum of Harlem.