Where the Tirailleurs’ Stories Meet: Gespräch mit Samia Chabani (Ancrages, Marseille)

Where the Tirailleurs' Stories Meet
Talk with Samia Chabani (Ancrages, Marseille)
Moderated by Paz Guevara and Qu Chang

This panel presents the work of Ancrages. With its own site-specific method and practice, the art space in Marseille promotes an engagement with the history of the Tirailleurs and the collective and individual voices demanding reparations. Ancrages was founded in 2000 and is committed to honoring the cultures and memories of migrant communities that have shaped Marseille throughout its history. As a major Mediterranean port and strategic transit point during both world wars, Marseille was a central arena for the movements and experiences of the Tirailleurs.

The discussion will explore how Ancrages addresses the lived realities and historical erasure of the Tirailleurs through contemporary, collective forms of commemoration that promote a pluralistic and inclusive memory. Through critical tours of the city, workshops, documentary practices and civic engagement, Ancrages questions the whitewashing of history and reaffirms the association's motto: "C'est par le récit que nous existons et que nous nous désignons au monde" ("It is through storytelling that we exist and make ourselves known to the world"). This conviction is in line with a thought expressed by Frantz Fanon in The Wretched of the Earth (1961): "Each generation must discover its mission in relative darkness and either fulfill it or betray it."

Location: Sylvia Wynter Foyer

In English