Kreol West Indies Museum Space

Museum - Saint-François

Located on the Route de la Pointe des Châteaux in Saint-François (Guadeloupe), the Espace Muséal Kreol West Indies is dedicated to showcasing local arts and heritage. It is the second facility of its kind, following on the heels of the successful museum in Grand-Bourg (Marie-Galante, May 2012), which has become a major destination for cultural tourism. This innovative concept in the display of historical artifacts—a sort of time machine combining contemporary art with heritage objects—consists of rooms staged to recreate each historical—and pre-historical—period in chronological layers covering four millennia:  “The 1940s/1950s,” “Colonialization and the Plantation Economy,” “Creole Interiors,” “Post-Abolition Immigrations,” “Pirates and Buccaneers,” “Pre-Columbian Civilizations,” and more. This permanent exhibition, dubbed “4,000 Years of History,” contains a collection of traditional Antilles furniture found nowhere else (inventory estimated at 20,000 objects) inside a villa offering 400 square meters of exhibition space, and surrounded by a tropical garden. Objects are displayed alongside contemporary art by renowned Guadeloupian artists—Félie-Line Lucol, Jean-Marc Hunt, François Piquet, Hébert Edau, Bouba, Jean-Marie Heraud—and creations by the grand masters of Haitian art:  Préfète Duffaut, Louisiane Saint-Fleurant, Stivenson Magloire, André Pierre, and Alexandre Grégoire. The 2,000-m2 grounds recently acquired their first large-scale artworks. A boutique rounds out the attractions of the KWI facility, with beachwear, regional products, purses, and products made of canvas and recycled materials. Exhibitions, cocktail parties, literary gatherings, and other events are held here regularly. Tel.:  0590 244 192 – kreolwestindies@gmail.com - www.kreolwestindies.com. Open daily 9:00 a.m. – 6:30 p.m. – Free admission – Suggested donation for the museum, 2 € for adults / 1 € for children.