Ecomuseum of Martinique

Timeline

Key figures

Origin and history

The Écomusée de la Martinique was created in 1993 by the Association Martinique de Promotion et de Protection des Arts et Traditions Populaires (AMPATP), alerted in 1981 by three menacing phenomena: the disappearance of traditional trades (forgerons, carpenters, vanniers), the abandonment of local know-how to the benefit of imported products, and the increasing disregard for the objects and customs of the Martinique terroir. To remedy this, the association organized a collection of objects in four municipalities in the south of the island, including Rivière-Pilote, where these pieces were exhibited in an old restored distillery.

During the curing of a ravine at the site, pre-Columbian artifacts from the Saladoid period (Arawaks) were discovered, revealing an unsuspecting archaeological heritage. These findings, added to ethnographic collections, enabled the Écomusée to obtain the label Musée de France in 1998, after the donation of its collections by the AMPATP. The museum now covers 900 m2 in a park of 3,500 m2, offering a complete panorama of Martinique history, from Amerindian prehistory to modern banana economy.

The permanent exhibitions highlight everyday objects of the 1950s-1960s (furniture, clothing, tools), as well as remnants of the slave and colonial periods (sugar cane, coffee, cocoa). The Ecomusée is distinguished by its desire to preserve collective memory and ancestral know-how, while illustrating the social and economic transformations of the island. Its establishment in a distillery, symbol of the past sugar economy, strengthens its historical and heritage anchor.

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