Biography of Aimé Césaire, poet, writer, and politician
Aimé Césaire (1913–2008) was a Martinican writer, poet, and politician. He co-founded the Négritude movement alongside Léopold Sédar Senghor and Léon-Gontran Damas, denouncing colonialism and advocating for Black identity. His major work, Cahier d’un retour au pays natal (1939), expresses revolt against oppression. Serving as deputy of Martinique (1945–1993) and mayor of Fort-de-France (1945–2001), he worked toward the island’s departmentalization. His Discourse on Colonialism (1950) remains a powerful critique of imperialism. His literary and political engagement left a lasting mark on history. He is honored at the Panthéon in Paris. In 1934, he was a resident at the Maison des Provinces de France at the Cité internationale universitaire de Paris.
The man of culture must be an inventor of souls.
A poem-chair
“I adopted the chair, this familiar object, a few decades ago, at a time when I wanted to create art on a human scale in public spaces, while everywhere else people opted for the monumental: it is an object shaped like the body and serves the body. It is difficult to feel exclusive ownership of an object so universally shareable. It is mine when I occupy it, but if I leave it, someone else can claim it as their chair.” Michel Goulet, artist-sculptor
The project Prendre position
Prendre position is a sculpture-installation project of 47 chair-poems to mark the 100th anniversary of the Cité internationale universitaire de Paris. They were installed in a flowered meadow created especially for the occasion by the campus estate service.
This artistic installation was conceived by the Quebecois artist-sculptor Michel Goulet, in collaboration with François Massut, founding director of the collective Poésie is not dead.
Each house on the campus is represented by a chair, thanks to a donation from the Maison des étudiants canadiens and the support of the Labrenne group. Each of the 47 chairs is a unique work.
History and architecture of the house
The Maison des Provinces de France was designed by Armand Guéritte, chief architect of the Château de Versailles. Despite the pavilion’s large number of rooms, he managed to avoid the “barracks effect” by creating an elegant and imposing brick building.
