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Key figures

Origin and history

The Memorial to the Abolition of Slavery in Nantes is a monument dedicated to the memory of the slave trade, slavery and its abolition. Inaugurated on 25 March 2012, it is located on the Quai de la Fosse, an emblematic place of the Nantes port history, once one of the main negriers ports of France. The memorial extends under a vegetated promenade of 7,000 m2, with an exhibition area evoking the entreponts of the negrier ships, where 2,000 engraved glass plates trace the history of slavery, especially that linked to Nantes in the 18th century.

The idea of such a memorial emerged in the 1980s with the creation of local associations such as Nantes 85 or Le Triangle d'Ebène, which campaigned for the recognition of the past. In 1992, the exhibition The Rings of Memory at the Château des Ducs de Bretagne marked a turning point. After years of reflection and controversy, including the vandalism of a commemorative statue in 1998, the municipality launched a major project in 2000. Designed by artist Krzysztof Wodiczko and architect Julian Bonder, the memorial replaces the former square René-Siegfried and is inaugurated in the presence of figures such as Jean-Marc Ayrault, Christiane Taubira and Lilian Thuram.

The memorial is part of a collective memory approach, recalling Nantes' central role in the transatlantic trade. Its symbolic location, close to the Victor Schœlcher Bridge (a tribute to the abolitionist), and its access by tram make it both historic and accessible. The glass plates, created in collaboration with Emmanuel Barrois, offer an immersion in the individual and collective narratives of slavery, while honoring the struggles for its abolition.

Prior to its implementation, the project generated debate, including on the place of this memory in public space. The destruction of the 1998 statue and the initial hesitation of the town hall in the 1980s illustrate the tensions surrounding this past. Finally, the memorial embodies an official recognition, transforming a place full of history into a space for reflection and tribute. Its inauguration coincides with a desire for pedagogy and symbolic reparation, in the presence of international personalities such as the former Beninese president Nicéphore Soglo.

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