Solitude, the monument of the municipality of Bagneux in the southern suburbs of Paris dedicated to the mulatto woman and the slaves who entered the resistance during the colonial era, was burned down on the night of June 29 to 30, 2023. The memorial, a creation of the artist Nicolas Alquin, was set on fire and partially destroyed during the riots provoked following the death of the young Nahel killed in Nanterre by a policeman.
If the central element, in cast iron, of the statue has survived, the two other large totems that composed it, made of iroko, a tropical species from Africa, are irrecoverable.
Statue: Solitude, monument to resistant slaves • ©NN
A destruction that particularly affects the sculptor of this work, Nicolas Alquin, who thinks of what it could represent for the children of the town. Every year, musicians, elected officials and students from the city gathered around the work to commemorate the abolition of slavery.
Moreover, the town hall of Bagneux filed a complaint following the degradation of the work, deploring the “unacceptable acts following the degradations on the public space”, without explicitly mentioning the fate of Solitude.
On the question of a possible renovation of the monument, the artist maintains the vagueness by evoking the budget of the town hall of Bagneux.
La Mulatresse Solitude, also known as Rosalie, is one of the figures of the Guadeloupe revolt following Louis Delgrès’ call for freedom.
The Bagneux monument being partially destroyed, there are only two buildings left in homage to this fighter: one in the 17th arrondissement of Paris and the other in Les Abymes.
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