{"id":15716,"date":"2025-12-19T11:38:51","date_gmt":"2025-12-19T07:38:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.portail-esclavage-reunion.fr\/?p=15716"},"modified":"2025-12-19T11:38:52","modified_gmt":"2025-12-19T07:38:52","slug":"commentary-on-the-memorial-work-la-porte-du-retour-the-return-door-on-the-island-of-goree-senegal","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.portail-esclavage-reunion.fr\/en\/commentary-on-the-memorial-work-la-porte-du-retour-the-return-door-on-the-island-of-goree-senegal\/","title":{"rendered":"Commentary on the memorial work <em>La Porte du Retour<\/em> (the Return Door) on the island of Gor\u00e9e (Senegal)"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">In 2012, during an artistic residency on the island of Gor\u00e9e, visual artist Migline Paroumanou created a commemorative installation entitled <em>The Return Door<\/em>.<\/h2>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure data-wp-context=\"{&quot;imageId&quot;:&quot;69f8ed27f3d9f&quot;}\" data-wp-interactive=\"core\/image\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-lightbox-container\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"969\" height=\"1278\" data-wp-class--hide=\"state.isContentHidden\" data-wp-class--show=\"state.isContentVisible\" data-wp-init=\"callbacks.setButtonStyles\" data-wp-on-async--click=\"actions.showLightbox\" data-wp-on-async--load=\"callbacks.setButtonStyles\" data-wp-on-async-window--resize=\"callbacks.setButtonStyles\" src=\"https:\/\/www.portail-esclavage-reunion.fr\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/La-Porte-du-Retour-1.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-15559\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.portail-esclavage-reunion.fr\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/La-Porte-du-Retour-1.jpg 969w, https:\/\/www.portail-esclavage-reunion.fr\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/La-Porte-du-Retour-1-227x300.jpg 227w, https:\/\/www.portail-esclavage-reunion.fr\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/La-Porte-du-Retour-1-776x1024.jpg 776w, https:\/\/www.portail-esclavage-reunion.fr\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/La-Porte-du-Retour-1-768x1013.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 767px) 89vw, (max-width: 1000px) 54vw, (max-width: 1071px) 543px, 580px\" \/><button\n\t\t\tclass=\"lightbox-trigger\"\n\t\t\ttype=\"button\"\n\t\t\taria-haspopup=\"dialog\"\n\t\t\taria-label=\"Enlarge\"\n\t\t\tdata-wp-init=\"callbacks.initTriggerButton\"\n\t\t\tdata-wp-on-async--click=\"actions.showLightbox\"\n\t\t\tdata-wp-style--right=\"state.imageButtonRight\"\n\t\t\tdata-wp-style--top=\"state.imageButtonTop\"\n\t\t>\n\t\t\t<svg xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" width=\"12\" height=\"12\" fill=\"none\" viewBox=\"0 0 12 12\">\n\t\t\t\t<path fill=\"#fff\" d=\"M2 0a2 2 0 0 0-2 2v2h1.5V2a.5.5 0 0 1 .5-.5h2V0H2Zm2 10.5H2a.5.5 0 0 1-.5-.5V8H0v2a2 2 0 0 0 2 2h2v-1.5ZM8 12v-1.5h2a.5.5 0 0 0 .5-.5V8H12v2a2 2 0 0 1-2 2H8Zm2-12a2 2 0 0 1 2 2v2h-1.5V2a.5.5 0 0 0-.5-.5H8V0h2Z\" \/>\n\t\t\t<\/svg>\n\t\t<\/button><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">La Porte du Retour (Ile de Gor\u00e9e &#8211; S\u00e9n\u00e9gal)<br>Photographie Migline Paroumanou. Tous droits r\u00e9serv\u00e9s<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n<p>This white door facing the ocean was conceived as a symbolic response to the Door of the \u201cVoyage of No Return.\u201d It embodied the possibility of return and the restored dignity to the women, men and children snatched away from their lands.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The artist hoped it would become a symbol of the return of the souls too long in exile: a glimmer of hope, a space for inner reconciliation and healing for those Afro-descendants, a place where the past comes back to soothe memories and make possible personal reconstruction.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Created using modest means and ephemeral materials, the work remained in place far longer than anticipated. Marked by time and the elements, it now needs to be rebuilt.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Through her encounters on the island, the artist became aware of the depth of the inhabitants\u2019 attachment to The Return Door. Its symbolic power and the place it occupied in their daily lives strengthened her determination to rebuild it, giving it a lasting and definitive presence in the landscape of Gor\u00e9e.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Alexandre Bouti\u00e9\u2019s documentary, presented on the occasion of the 8th edition of Gran 20 D\u00e9sanm (celebration of 20th December), is an invitation to follow this symbolic journey.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"La Porte du Retour - Migline Paroumanou\" width=\"525\" height=\"295\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/why9yxl-bxk?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>In 2012, during an artistic residency on the island of Gor\u00e9e, visual artist Migline Paroumanou created a commemorative installation entitled The Return Door. This white door facing the ocean was conceived as a symbolic response to the Door of the \u201cVoyage of No Return.\u201d It embodied the possibility of return and the restored dignity to &hellip; <\/p>\n<p class=\"link-more\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.portail-esclavage-reunion.fr\/en\/commentary-on-the-memorial-work-la-porte-du-retour-the-return-door-on-the-island-of-goree-senegal\/\" class=\"more-link\">Continue reading<span class=\"screen-reader-text\"> &#8220;Commentary on the memorial work <em>La Porte du Retour<\/em> (the Return Door) on the island of Gor\u00e9e (Senegal)&#8221;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":15551,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-15716","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.portail-esclavage-reunion.fr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15716","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.portail-esclavage-reunion.fr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.portail-esclavage-reunion.fr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.portail-esclavage-reunion.fr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.portail-esclavage-reunion.fr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=15716"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.portail-esclavage-reunion.fr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15716\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":15717,"href":"https:\/\/www.portail-esclavage-reunion.fr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15716\/revisions\/15717"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.portail-esclavage-reunion.fr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/15551"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.portail-esclavage-reunion.fr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=15716"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.portail-esclavage-reunion.fr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=15716"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.portail-esclavage-reunion.fr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=15716"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}