Here is the rich program for Talon’s 4-day visit to Martinique

2023-12-12 12:43:26

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The President of the Republic, Patrice Talon, is making a working visit to Martinique this Wednesday 13 until December 17, 2023. This working visit by the Head of State is part of the dynamic initiated by Benin to promote its tangible and intangible cultural heritage and the dissemination of its contemporary creation beyond its borders. This stay of President Talon will be structured in several sequences around different themes.

What are these themes : During this visit, the delegation of President Patrice Talon will exchange territorial diplomacy and decentralized cooperation between Benin and the Territorial Collectivity of Martinique on priority and strategic areas of cultural and artistic, academic, economic and tourist cooperation. It will also include a visit to emblematic historical, memorial and cultural sites of Martinique such as Fort Tartenson, the military fort where King Béhanzin was deported and exiled, the museum space of the Aimé Césaire Theater in Fort-de-France. France, the Cap 110 Diamond Memorial. Current international homelessness issues will be discussed in the exhibition “Revelation! Contemporary art from Benin” which after being produced in Cotonou in February 2021, invited to Rabat, capital of Morocco at the Mohamed VI Museum from January to June 2023, is presented at the Clément Foundation in Martinique from December 15, 2023 to March 30, 2024 before stopping at a museum institution in Paris, in October 2024. This visit is expected to be the foreshadowing of the Contemporary Art Museum of Cotonou in the heart of the Cultural and Creative District of Cotonou – the MACC: dedicated museum equipment to the contemporary creation of Africa and its diasporas, deployed over 14,500m2. It must be said that the MACC positions itself as the symbol of Benin’s openness to the world and its commitment to contemporary African and Afro-descendant creation in dialogue with the World.

What about heritage enhancement? :This working visit is part of the dynamic of promoting tangible and intangible cultural heritage, in particular the program for the construction of cultural and heritage facilities in order to provide Benin with four museums of international influence, namely: the House of Memory and Slavery at Ouidah Cité-Museum (MAME); the Museum of Kings and Amazons of Danxomè in Abomey (MURAD); the International Vodun Museum in Porto-Novo (MIV) and the Museum of Contemporary Art of Cotonou (MACC). Several other subjects concerning these heritages are at the heart of this trip. Among others, the participation of Benin in the next Venice Biennale of Contemporary Art from April 20 to November 24, 2024 and the international itinerancy of the Contemporary Art of Benin exhibition between Africa (Benin – Morocco), Caribbean (Martinique ) and Europe (French mainland) between 2021 and 2024; the architectural program of the Cultural and Creative District of Cotonou: an ecosystem dedicated to Cultural and Creative Industries deployed over 15 ha in the heart of the economic capital of Benin and the flagship projects around the promotion of Vodun intangible heritage.

Between the lines : In line with these heritage projects, the Vodun Convents Route; the Slave Route; the House of Memory and Slavery within the Portuguese Fort; Ouidah City-Museum. Through the “City-Museum of Ouidah” project, the aim is to discover a historical, memorial and architectural journey emblematic of this city of memory and museum. Furthermore, another flagship project in the field of Education, Training and Innovation will be addressed as Sèmè City – City of Innovation and Knowledge. It is a regional hub of higher education, entrepreneurship and innovation, the challenge of African excellence in the 21st century. The campus, covering an area of ​​336 hectares in Ouidah, is designed as an eco-city, intended to accommodate up to 33,000 students, entrepreneurs, researchers and innovators. It is an innovative framework promoting the emergence of new centers of excellence in training, research and innovation, entrepreneurial support for youth, and the provision of cutting-edge expertise to businesses in order to strengthen their competitiveness in the international markets. The programs are organized by sector and service into 5 innovation clusters: Arts, Design and Creative Industries – Education, Human and Social Sciences – Sport, Nutrition and Well-being – Tourism, Hospitality and Catering – Science, Technology, Engineering and mathematics.