The Memorial ACTe, located in Pointe-à-Pitre, Guadeloupe, has been in the news recently due to the conviction of its former director by the criminal court of Pointe-à-Pitre in April 30. Laurella Rinçon, who served as the museum’s director from 2019 to 2023, was found guilty of favoritism in a public procurement case. She was sentenced to one year of suspended imprisonment, a fine of 10,000 euros, a two-year ineligibility, and a two-year ban on working in the public sector. Despite Rinçon’s intention to appeal the decision, this conviction highlights the ongoing issues of the establishment, which has been plagued by legal, financial, and political scandals.
Opened in 2015 in the presence of the then French President François Hollande and several Caribbean heads of state, the Memorial ACTe was meant to be a symbol of hope and healing. The memorial was designed to address the wounds of history through a process of truth and reconciliation, similar to the approach taken by Nelson Mandela and Desmond Tutu in South Africa. The aim was to create a center for exhibitions, research, and knowledge about the transatlantic slave trade and slavery. Former director Jacques Martial, now a deputy mayor of Paris responsible for overseas territories, described the museum as “an extraordinary cultural object that filled a gap on a subject for which there was an unexpressed need.”
During Martial’s tenure from 2017 to 2019, the museum hosted significant exhibitions such as “Darboussier, at the heart of migrations”, which explored the history of a sugar factory in Pointe-à-Pitre. Other exhibitions like “Human Zoos: The Invention of the Savage” and “The Black Model: From Géricault to Picasso” examined the evolution of Western society’s representations of black individuals. However, the original vision for the Memorial ACTe seems to have been lost over the years, as noted by Victorin Lurel, who expressed his dismay at what he sees as a missed opportunity in the realm of memory politics. In addition to the recent conviction of Rinçon, there has been an ongoing investigation by the French National Financial Prosecutor’s office into allegations of embezzlement and favoritism related to the museum’s construction contracts.
The investigation was initiated in 2019 following a report by the Court of Auditors on the use of European funds in overseas territories. The former Minister of Overseas France defended the decision to award a comprehensive contract and criticized regional services for their inability to justify their own decisions. In April 2024, nearly five years after the investigation was launched, authorities conducted searches at the regional offices and the offices of the architects and developers involved in the project. These events have cast a shadow over the Memorial ACTe, once seen as a beacon of remembrance and reconciliation, and have raised questions about its governance and financial management. Despite the challenges, there remains a commitment to preserving the memory of the transatlantic slave trade and slavery through this important institution.
