Anse Cafard Slavery Memorial

The Anse Cafard Slavery Memorial stands on a headland above the sea at Le Diamant, on Martinique's southern coast, facing the Diamond Rock offshore. It commemorates the victims of a clandestine slave ship that was wrecked near this coast in 1830, when the transatlantic slave trade was already prohibited under French law, and many of those on board died. The memorial was created by the Martinican sculptor Laurent Valère and inaugurated in 1998 to mark the 150th anniversary of the abolition of slavery in the French colonies in 1848. It consists of a group of tall white statues, commonly described as fifteen figures, arranged in a triangle on the hillside and gazing out across the Atlantic toward Africa. The triangular layout is generally interpreted as an allusion to the triangular trade linking Europe, Africa and the Americas. The figures are simplified human forms, seated or standing with bowed heads, and their pale colour contrasts with the dark volcanic coast and the intense blue of the sea. Visitors walk among the statues, which are set in open ground without barriers, giving the memorial a quiet and contemplative character. A commemorative inscription and information panel explain the history of the wreck and the purpose of the monument. Rather than a museum, the site is an open-air memorial where the landscape forms part of the experience. The statues, made of concrete, are exposed to sun, salt and wind, and the site has needed periodic maintenance and cleaning as a result. The memorial is free to visit and open at all hours, and it is used for commemorative ceremonies, notably around 22 May, the day Martinique marks the abolition of slavery. Its setting near the beaches of Le Diamant means that it is often visited in combination with the town, the coastal views toward Diamond Rock and the nearby Grande Anse du Diamant.