Barbara Chiron, co-curator of the exhibition “Cotton, the conquest of the world”, and project coordinator at the Nantes association Les Anneaux de la Mémoire, draws the main lessons from this presentation at the Cholet museum, until May 22.
What is the meaning of the presence of the Rings of Memory in this exhibition? And what is your association working on?
On the transmission and enhancement of the history of the slave trade, slavery, and its contemporary legacies. We work a lot internationally in Europe, Africa, America.
Our presence is first and foremost a human story. We appreciate each other because we have already worked together: the exhibition on the sculptor David d’Angers in 2016, the conference “Memory of the civil wars” in Cholet in 2019. Then, at the Rings of Memory, we are interested in colonial products and their distribution, such as sugar, coffee, cocoa, products resulting from the slave trade, slavery and the colonization of America. But Cholet is also a very connected city – and still is – from the 18the century, with Africa, America, in the context of textiles and cotton.
Also read. The story of cotton, a black and white saga told in Cholet
The history of cotton is that of the exploitation of a raw material, but not only.
It is that of the deportation of African captives for the XVIIIethe exploitation of men and women in factories in the 19echildren in the XXIe century, the exploitation of the environment and its destruction. Cotton is an energy-intensive plant in terms of water, pesticides, insecticides, and all phytosanitary products. Then, all the processing of the fiber also entails the exploitation of the environment and of man.
Cotton is still synonymous with cultural mixing.
The most striking example was the Indians [cotons imprimés en couleur] of the XVIIIe century, this fashion for exoticism in the high societies of the time, with motifs that came from India. India then adapted to European taste and adopted motifs on the theme of Greek mythology or otherwise, the standards of the time. This mix is also about fashion, standardization.
Exhibition “Cotton, the conquest of the world”, until May 22 at Museum of art and history of Cholet, 27, rue de l’Abreuvoir. Wednesday to Saturday from 10 a.m. to 12 p.m. and from 2:30 p.m. to 6 p.m., Sunday from 2:30 p.m. to 6 p.m. Price €4, reduced €2, free on Saturdays. Free for children, students, schools, teachers. Such. 02 72 77 23 22, www.cholet.fr/musee-art-histoire.ph
Conference on Wednesday May 4: “From one globalization to another, what are the prospects for the ‘next world’?” By Léo Charles, lecturer in economics at the University of Rennes II, member of the Atterred Economists collective. At 6:30 p.m., free admission, reservation required on 02 72 77 23 22.
Guided tours, Saturday, April 23 at 2:30 p.m.; Saturday, May 14 at 7:30 p.m., 9 p.m., 10:30 p.m.
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