February 2012 – Le Manoir Alexandra

Dance Dance

Carnival began immediately on the square. I realized that I could smile and even laugh in the midst of my misfortune. I laughed like crazy for the first time that night: they were dancing the rabòday around me while the drums and the conch shells went wild. The man carrying me seemed to be dancing as well. My stiff limbs could not take up the rhythms.

Hadriana In All My Dreams | René Dépestre

When are we going to Wake up?

-[…] Ce matin-là, la nouvelle se répandit comme un séisme!

-Encore une histoire de zombie! Ces temps-ci les bouquins sur vos pays en sont pleins. Il paraît que c’est cyclique

Hadriana dans Tous Mes Rêves (1987), René Dépestre

Light and Shadow in Le Manoir Alexandra

Some pictures like the one in the bottom-left are still mind-boggling to me, as I pursue this thesis.

La Joconde & Golden Ratio

A la fin de 1946, à mon arrivée à Paris, je me précipitai, haletant, au musée du Louvre, vers la célèbre toile de Leonardo, comme au premier rendez-vous pris loin de Jacmel avec Nana Siloé. J’en fus profondément décú. La Joconde était bien le chef-d’oeuvre d’un peintre génial, mais, comparée à la jeune fille de mon souvenir, elle semblait plutôt ricaner, sans aucun feu intérieur.

Hadriana dans Tous mes Rêves | René Dépestre

Haitian Chancellor Laurent Lamothe at the Louvre Museum during an official visit of the exhibition of Le Serment des Ancêtres:, property of the Musée National d’Haiti.

Spiral stairs at the Louvre museum in Paris, France:

Spiral stairs at l’Habitation Leclerc in Port-au-Prince, Haïti:

Anghelen drawing of iron-laced spiral staircases in Jacmel:

Old Pergola in Jacmel’s Place d’Armes

Bringing the pergola back to Place d’Armes as the entry-way to an underground museum

Hotel Florita

Some pictures for now, a story of multiple exchanges, coming soon. …

Fourmillement

“Tu marches vers une mort illustre sans être tâchée par la maladie ni par l’épée”– Sophocle (choeur d’Antigone) | cité dans Hadriana dans tous mes Rêves

-Un baiser pour toi, Nana!

J’aurais voulu le lui rendre. Il était trop tard: j’étais en train de mourir. Ça faisait un instant qu’un malaise effarant s’était abattu sur moi. J’étais parcourue d’une sensation aiguë de fourmillement comme si on me piquait à ‘aiguille des pieds à la tête.

Hadriana Dans tous Mes Rêves | René Dépestre

In Progress; Main Concern…. I would like to propose a scheme where half of the plaza (right triangle) has more greenery… however… how do I propose more greenery when the roots of the trees might not allow me to occupy the underground? I want to use the underground of the plaza to make allusion to light/darkness again and also to make allusion to the ‘hidden treasure’ that was believed to have been the reason (warning/ rumor ) why the government ordered the redesign of the Place d’Armes. All those stories are important to this design process. The place d’Armes was established as soon as the French settled in “Yaquimo” (old name for Jacmel) so it is also important for me to keep that history alive, perhaps by retracing the lines of the plaza on the ceiling underground (more ‘mood/atmospheric’ drawings to come soon!)…. I would also like to receive any feedback on this issue! Please feel free to share… Thank you!

Link the Museum space to the underground level of the surrounding civic buildings? (I wonder if those buildings even have an underground level… ) But that would be a great way to provide additional exit-ways.