On February 25, the association “Nou a Yo” invited the public to Place de la Victoire in Pointe-à-Pitre for a tribute to two personalities of Guadeloupean culture: Aimée Adeline better known as Man Adeline and Marcel Mavounzy. Apart from Philippe Blaze and his band, none of the participants were present…
Remember that Aimée Adeline is considered as the one who relaunched carnival in 1949 which had almost disappeared during the Second World War, particularly because of the representative of the Vichy Government in Guadeloupe, Governor Constant Sorin. With her dance troupe “La Brisquante”, Man Adeline made gwoka travel to several countries… As for Marcel Mavounzy, in 1953 he became the first Guadeloupean music producer and in 1963, because he had dared to make a gwoka record, he had been unmolested by the authorities…
In this, they are indeed two pillars of Guadeloupean culture.
On the poster sent by email which had also been displayed under the Place de la Victoire kiosk for several days to announce the event, there were some names in the artistic field who were to participate in this tribute: Philippe Laurent (a visual artist who was to perform a fresco around the plaque affixed in honor of the tanbouyé Marcel Lollia “Vélo”), Philippe Blaze and his band “Jodla”; “La Brisquante” (the dance troupe formed by Madame Adeline) and Rony Théophile; Marcel Mavounzy’s name was not on it…
Everything seemed ready to make this event a success as was “Cimémoriel” (see our article from November 5, 2018) or Marcel Lollia’s birthday in the presence of his son Patrick Lollia (see our article from December 11, 2019).
Ghost participants
But this tribute to Aimée Adeline and Robert Mavounzy failed catastrophically for the organization: the “Nou a Yo” association and its General Delegate Patrick Nirini.
If Aimée Adeline’s son and granddaughter had responded to the invitation, if Philippe Blaze and his band “Jodla” offered very good music, if a few people had made the trip despite the overcast sky, Philippe Laurent, Rony Théophile, the members of La Brisquante as well as those of the Mavounzy family were glaring by their absence …
After waiting in vain for their arrival, Patrick Nérini had to cancel the event.
After this failure, several questions need to be asked : did the people on the poster gave their consent to participate in this tribute? Organizing this cultural event on a “Mardi Gras” was it a good idea knowing that on this day thousands of Guadeloupeans are going to Basse-Terre for the big parade, others are watching it on television, still others are preparing to parade with the “skin groups” in the evening in Pointe-à-Pitre? Did Patrick Nérini show himself to be too pretentious by wanting to fight against carnival which is an “institution” in the Guadeloupean archipelago? Or are there other “hidden” reasons that could explain this failure?
The WhatsApp group “Plas La Viktwa”
These questions were asked to Patrick Nérini who claims he committed no fault in the organization. “All these people belong the WhatsApp group “Plas La Viktwa”, I don’t know why they didn’t come this afternoon”, he said. Knowing that the internet avoids face-to-face meetings and gives a certain freedom of action, we may wonder how these people became members of this WhatsApp group “Plas La Viktwa”? Were they integrated without their consent and faced with a fait accompli?
To these questions, Patrick Nérini answered : “all these people knew about the tribute of this afternoon, they’re not children, in addition I was on the phone with the Mavounzys this morning (.. .)”.
In order to certify the good preparation of this tribute, he even sent us a letter from the mayor of Pointe-à-Pitre, Josiane Gatibelza, concerning the provision of the kiosk for the creation of this fresco and the installation a solar plate for its lighting and a copy of the insurance contract covering the organizer’s civil liability in case of damage during the event.
Are the pillars fragile?
So, are there “dark hands” that tried to stop Patrick Nérini who, in recent years, organized several cultural events? To this question, he replied: “If that is the case, they only strengthen my determination”.
For her part, even if she was disappointed, Mrs. Adeline’s granddaughter was very confident and expressed the wish to pay tribute to her illustrious grandmother on another day and by requesting public funds, if necessary…
The audience, although small compared to what Aimée Adeline and Marcel Mavounzy represent in Guadeloupean culture, was also very disappointed. Some tourists even said: “really? Pillars of culture and no participant to pay tribute to them?!!”.
One thing is certain : this Tuesday, February 25, the Guadeloupean culture did not shine…
