September 1, 2020, 11:55pm
On May 10, 2019, the President of the French Republic confirmed his commitment, taken on April 27, 2018—the 170th anniversary of the decree abolishing slavery in the French colonies—to have a Memorial built in Paris to pay tribute to the victims of slavery.
This project is intended to honour the victims of slavery and to recognize their invaluable contribution to the French Nation. The Memorial site shall be a place of remembrance and transmission with a strong pedagogical dimension, in close cooperation with associations and foundations.
The Memorial will take the form of a permanent work of art located in the Tuileries Garden, on a parcel bordering the Jeu de Paume, between the former royal and imperial residence of the Tuileries and the Hôtel de la Marine. The Memorial site will thus be a part of these emblematic places where the National Convention voted the first abolition of 1794 and where the abolition of 1848 was prepared.
The Tuileries Garden is classified as a historical monument on the list published in the government gazette of the French Republic on April 18, 1914; and as a “national domain” under the French Heritage Law. They are also registered on UNESCO’s world heritage sites.
In order to guarantee conservation and valorization of the Tuileries Garden, the project shall be presented for the opinion of the national commission of heritage and architecture.
The work of art must be harmoniously integrated in the Garden and take into account the site constraints. In particular, it must not represent a risk for the security of property and persons in the Garden, nor must it jeopardize the protection of the wildlife and plants present in the Garden.
The work of art should only require minimal maintenance, organized according to a maintenance protocol established by the laureate.
Under impetus of the French Overseas Minister and the Minister of Culture, and to provide a guide to the candidates wishing to submit a project, a committee comprised of recognized experts has produced an orientation memo that lists remembrance and symbolic expectations for the Memorial.
This committee brings together representatives of the French Ministries involved in the project, several representatives of the City of Paris, qualified personalities in the field of the memory of slavery and its abolition, and also in the field of contemporary art and the conservation of historical monuments. The committee will lead all the operations and the public institution of the Musée du Louvre will be in charge of the delegated project management.
The call for submissions was published on June 5, 2020. All artists who wish to make a project proposal for the Memorial can apply until September 1, 2020. A pre-selection of 3 to 5 artists will be established by the project’s steering committee. The selected artist will be announced on the first half of 2021. On May 23, 2021, during the national day to pay tribute to the victims of slavery, a ceremony shall be conducted by the President of the French Republic in the Tuileries Garden in the presence of the artist, during which the first foundation stone shall be laid for the work and the scale models of the latter shall be presented. The work shall then be inaugurated in the autumn of 2021. The work of art, owned by the French State, will join the inventory of the National Contemporary Art Fund managed by the National Center for Plastic Arts.
This call for art submissions is open to all art practices and is targeted at artists or art collectives evolving in the broad field of visual arts (any esthetical and artistic forms, tangible or intangible). All terms and conditions appear in the call for applications file, which can be downloaded free of charge, in French and English from the French State purchasing platform.
