Registration details can be found in the Journal Officiel.
Chants de canne was created in 2005 by Eric Germany, a 33 year old Martiniquais, and Patrick Kancel, a 29 year old Guadeloupean artist. The association aims to promote the creole culture of the Caribbean and Indian Ocean.
Patrick Kancel describes his association as follows: 'Chants de canne has an educational role. It sets out to fight against collective amnesia by fulfilling a duty to remember by linking a truncated creole history to that of Africa, for example by retracing the path of the slave ship. The promotion of creole culture, especially that of the overseas departments, is the founding principle of the association. This culture includes the language and lifestyle that goes with the creole tradition. We also want to promote original creole artists born and living in France. Creole culture comes from a métis (mixed) society and we want to transmit the message that intercultural relations are no longer imposed today, but accepted and assumed. Eric Germany, one of the founders of the association, used to say that "in reality, creole should not exist". If there had been no slavery, there would be no creole people either. We hope to gather together as many people (creole or not) who are sensitive to this culture. It requires looking at the history and the current situation, and then to develop a way of communicating and sharing for us and for future generations.'
The objectives of the association Chants de Canne are as follows:
- To promote the traditional cultures of the overseas departments through the organisation of cultural events, the production of communication tools and the support of initiatives related to the promotion of 'creolity'
- To draw from musicological, cultural and sociolinguistic research
- To position its approach within a will to accomplish a duty to remember that is linked to the problems of the slave trade, slavery and colonisation.