The press conference organized in the gardens of the Direction des affaires culturelles (DAC) marked the presentation of the program for the 42ᵉ edition of the “European Heritage Days in Martinique “, placed this year under the theme. “Architectural Heritage.
The meeting, held on Thursday, September 18, 2025 at 5pm, brought together artists, partners and institutions, in the presence of Nathalie Mons, Rector of the Académie de Martinique, and the ABITE architectural firm, designers of the exhibition itinerary. On this occasion, three exhibitions were unveiled: the photographic works of Jean-Louis Saiz and Nicolas Derné, and the installation by Hélène Raffestin.
As soon as the conference opened, the organizing team announced 139 events registered for the weekend’s program – a figure updated “after moderation”. The day of Friday (the day before the Heritage Weekend) is dedicated to schools schoolchildrenA special welcome and mediation service is available for classes and teachers, subject to any strike-related disruptions. L’Open Agenda serves as a rallying point for all proposals on the territory, facilitating the linking of schools and cultural sites within the framework of the European Heritage Days in Martinique.
Three perspectives on the same heritage
Jean-Louis Saiz: the “aesthetics of the encounter
Photographer and author, Jean-Louis Saiz claims to work “on reality” and “on the authenticity of the image”. His approach can be summed up in one formula: “the aesthetics of the encounter. He doesn’t do studio portraits or journalistic commissions: “I’ve photographed great actors, directors and dancers, but always from a singular encounter,” he confides. His chosen terrain? The working-class neighborhoods of Martinique, surveyed “like a quest for the end of the world”, where photography becomes “a mirror of life”.
Born “in a shantytown in France”, Saiz expresses his attachment to the people, his refusal of racist presuppositions, and his desire to make the image a human link that reveals, at the moment of shooting, what is at stake “between two beings”. His participation in the European Heritage Days in Martinique illustrates this desire to highlight faces and places too often ignored.
Hélène Raffestin: revealing the singularities of buildings
Creator and plastic designer, Hélène Raffestin presents an installation inspired by several collections that revisit our architectural heritage: cement tiles from the Schœlcher library, wrought-iron balconies from the Saint-Esprit, motifs and structures from historic homes (right down to the ventilation grilles). “I had the impression that this beauty was drowned in a whole. My job is to extract these singularities and show them in a contemporary light”, she explains.
With its confrontation of materials, colors and details, his proposal is not only aesthetic: it invites us to look differently at what surrounds us. His approach is naturally in keeping with the spirit of the European Heritage Days in Martinique, where the enhancement of buildings becomes a vehicle for transmission and collective pride.
Nicolas Derné: telling the neighbourhood story from the inside
Photographer for over fifteen years in Martinique, Nicolas Derné claims “the energy of the moment” and the desire to tell stories. His images – notably from the book A stroll through the city’s political districts – offer an inside look on places that are too often observed “from above”. For the Journées du patrimoine, he emphasizes that buildings are more than just facades: “There’s life in them”, he says, advocating a “new way of looking at things”. collective reappropriation.
His message sounds like a reminder that, while we may sometimes turn our gaze outwards, “the world often looks in on us”, so much so that the richness of the region is underestimated. underestimated. As part of the European Heritage Days in Martinique, his work offers an embodied narrative, centered on the inhabitants…
"A heritage, a present, a future": the institutional framework
Appointed February 3, 2025, Johan-Hilel Hamel Martinique’s Director of Cultural Affairs, sets the scene: heritage is a shared legacy, embracing the past, present and future. In addition to the built and movable heritage, he points out the fragility of intangible heritage – culinary, musical and physical traditions – and the importance of a “common heritage”. public policy protection and transmission.
He highlights the very strong momentum of the Journées in Martinique, their record attendanceand the choice of a broad heritage angle that includes, alongside the “great sites”, the heritage of working-class neighborhoods, military heritage and know-how. From this perspective European Heritage Days in Martinique help to reconcile memories and bring citizens together around a plural history.
Program highlights: sites, mediation, young audiences
The conference detailed a itinerary throughout the island, including the following highlights:
- ✅ Military heritage Exceptional opening of Fort Saint-Louis (guided tour, lectures by INRAP and the Association des archéologues des Petites Antilles, workshops and meetings with sailors), presence of the SNSM and other forces. The Germinal surveillance frigate is open to visitors on Saturdays only (access via the harbour master’s office, on the cruise terminal side).
- ✅ Dwellings and know-how: events, demonstrations (metal sculpture, drumming, ceremonies, meetings with craftsmen and artists), with a spotlight on the “Entreprise du Patrimoine Vivant” label as a reminder of the transmission of trades.
- ✅ Saint-Pierre Saint-Pierre: rallies, immersive escape games in the former prison (around Cyparis), guided tours combining a reading of the buildings and a historical approach, digital treasure hunts via the Geogaming application.
- ✅ Fort-de-France Fort-de-France: workshops on facade reading and architecture (classes, Foyal modernism trail), urban strolls and focus on emblematic buildings (sometimes with a tribute to buildings slated for demolition).
- ✅ Archaeology: encounters and workshops in archaeological gestures, dedicated conferences (Anse Bélair/Bélet, Saint-Jacques, etc.), to get a feel for the method and heritage investigation.
This year, the emphasis is on mediation and education, particularly for young visitors: Friday’s event, dedicated to schoolchildren, enables them to discover the sites from the inside, learn about architectural concepts (vocabulary, grammar of the façade), and recontextualize primitive architecture (Ajoupa, Carbet, etc.) within the long history of the region. An essential part of the European Heritage Days in Martinique.
Beyond the weekend: memory and transmission on stage
In line with this heritage enhancement, the conference gave the floor to cultural partners around a multi-disciplinary show put on by France-Antilles for its 60th anniversary. Conceived as a journey through time – from the first air links to the rise of zouk, via key figures and dates – the show is aimed at everyone, especially young people, to revive collective memory through music, dance and theater. The staging promises an emotional elevator, alternating tributes and celebrations, to tell the story of what Martinique has become. This extension illustrates the desire of the European Heritage Days in Martinique to link heritage and contemporary creation.
A moment of sharing
The presentation concluded with a “pot de contact” outside: a time for informal encounters where artists, mediators, partners and visitors extended the exchanges. In the hall and gardens of the DAC, the three exhibitions – Saiz, Derné and Raffestin – will remain on display, allowing the public to return, take their time and, above all, look differently. A gesture fully in keeping with the spirit of the European Heritage Days in Martinique.
Looking differently: an invitation
By bringing together three artists’ perspectives and a clear institutional vision, the 42ᵉ edition of the European Heritage Days in Martinique assumes a wager: to make architectural heritage a lever of pride and transmission. Jean-Louis Saiz’s images, Hélène Raffestin’s visual writing and Nicolas Derné’s photographic narratives make up a sensitive triptych: the human, the detail, the interior. Supported by the DAC, the program – 139 events announced at the conference – is a concrete way of reconciling memories throughout the region: through encounters, mediation, experience, and care for the materials and gestures that make up the soul of the country.
