Stele: Le cri, l’écrit - Jardin du Luxembourg

Le cri, l’écrit (The Scream, the Writing) is a sculpture of almost four meters high, composed of three bronze rings welded together to form a chain. Created by Fabrice Hyber, it symbolises slavery and its abolition. The sculpture has two faces: a rounded one painted in a dark color; the other flat and covered with red and green veins on a white background. The latter includes words on the theme of slavery embossed on its surface. A plaque near the work explains its symbolism: the lower ring symbolizes the roots, the middle one the still present possibility of slavery, the top open, its abolition. On its other side are written several dates marking the abolition and the commemoration of slavery in France, as well as an excerpt from the “Cahier d'un retour au pays natal” by Aimé Césaire (Notebook of a return to the homeland). This work is the result of a public request announced by the President of the Republic during the first day of the commemoration of the abolition of the slave trade and slavery in France. It was inaugurated by MM. Jacques Chirac and Nicolas Sarkozy, outgoing and newly elected Presidents of the Republic, on the 10th of May 2007.