Top Galleries And Museums In Martinique

One of Martinique’s older cultural organisations, the Fondation Clément has been sponsoring exhibitions and publications since the 1990s. Its involvement with contemporary art centers around the Habitation Clément, a 19th century sugarcane plantation and rum distillery that is still fully functioning today, but was adapted by the Fondation in 1996 to incorporate three large exhibition spaces. These are designed to provide an exciting and liberating venue for Francophone artists who feel isolated from the current contemporary art scene, either because they live far away from its principal centers, or because their racial or cultural background makes them feel different to their peers.
Two of the exhibition spaces (La Case à Lucie and La Cuverie) hold temporary solo exhibitions by artists working in various media, from October until June each year; some recent highlights include photographer Philippe Virapin’s Insomnie (a series of haunting images exploring our ideas of night-time) and Richard-Viktor Sainsily Cayol’s Rhizomes hybrides ou la poïétique d’un syncrétisme, consisting of paintings on the complex mix of nationalities that form the Caribbean people. The third space, La Case à Léo, features changing displays from the Fondation’s permanent art collection.

Like many of Martinique’s smaller galleries, Aux Couleurs Locales is run by the artists whose work can be seen there. Claude Henry is a celebrated painter, much liked for his brightly-coloured landscapes and portraits that depict Martinican life at its most traditional. His work is regularly exhibited at venues across the region, including (most recently) Fort de France’s large concert hall, L’Atrium. Here in his countryside home, he personally talks visitors through displays of his work and offers expert tuition in painting and drawing. He also runs a café selling homemade fruit juices and cocktails, which come highly recommended by previous visitors.

An important center for art in its widest sense, the Théâtre Aimé Césaire runs a diverse program of plays, concerts and exhibitions every October until June. The building is named after celebrated Martinican author and politician Aimé Césaire, whose work made significant progress in raising awareness of racial issues for black Caribbean people. His daughter Michèle (a writer herself) now oversees all aspects of its programming. Each recent season has offered a selection of plays by a world famous playwrights such as Bertold Brecht (2013-14), Victor Hugo (2012-13) and Shakespeare (2011-12), alongside single works by local or less familiar international writers. There are also concerts by local amateur groups.
Of most interest to art lovers, however, may be the possibility of seeing exhibitions in the theatre’s beautiful gardens; 2014’s Césaire, Neruda, Tagore, pour un universel réconcilié offers a rare opportunity to view photos, writings and other artifacts related to these three legendary authors, all of whom spoke out against oppression and prejudice in their societies. The exhibition lasts until 1 September.