The Pontarlier Museum honours Toussaint Louverture, who died in 1803 at Fort de Joux.

2023 marks the 220 years since the death of Toussaint Louverture. A figure of resistance and creator of abolition, this former slave allowed the colony of Santo Domingo (now Haiti) to become the first black republic in the world. It was in Burgundy-Franche-Comté that this man of courage died in 1803 in the Fort de Joux, in the Doubs. On this occasion, the Pontarlier Museum is showcasing it as part of the “Black and Fort, a multimedia constellation” exhibition.

A figure of has itbowllay of slavery

Born a slave in 1743 near the French Cape, he was freed in 1776. He quickly rose through the ranks of society: in 1789 he was educated, enriched, and even owned a few slaves.

He joined the Santo Domingo uprising in 1791 and in a few years became the leader of an army of former slaves, whose role was decisive in the Franco-British War. Toussaint then joined the French troops when the commissioner of the Republic Sonthonax decided the general freedom in the island, and provoked the vote by the convention of the decree of abolition of slavery in the French territories, in 1794. General Toussaint Louverture proclaimed himself governor general of Santo Domingo in 1801.

First Consul Bonaparte, seeing the colony escape his control, demanded his submission by a military expedition. Toussaint was treacherously taken prisoner in 1802 and transferred to Fort de Joux, in the Doubs.

 

The Fort of Joux, un place memory

When he arrived at the castle in 1802, Toussaint Louverture was already old. He suffered from war wounds and respiratory illness. Toussaint Louverture is bound to secrecy: he cannot receive visits and has no right to go out. After 7 months in detention, he died on 7 April 1803. 

The imprisonment and death of Toussaint Louverture at the Château de Joux, quickly positioned the site as a high place of memory of the struggle for the abolition of slavery. Listed as a historical monument since 1996, it preserves the memory of this exceptional prisoner: a stele was erected in 1954 at the foot of the castle, dedicated to the memory of the general.

 

Black and Fort, a constellateion multimedia»

The Pontarlier Museum, in connection with the Fort de Joux, offers visitors the opportunity to walk in the footsteps of Toussaint Louverture through this exhibition by contemporary artist Claire Angelini. Conceived as an open work, it retraces a few moments of the general’s journey. By combining photographic archives and states of contemporary places of the fort, she highlights a new map of the island of Haiti, broken into five photographic fragments.

This exhibition is also an opportunity to highlight the evolution of emancipation ideas in the history of cinema by going back to the film sketch on Toussaint Louverture by Sergueï Eisenstein.

A figure of resistance and an advocate of abolition, Toussaint Louverture is being honoured this year by the Slavery Memorial Foundation as part of a digital commemoration. Follow her with #ChannelPatrimoin