Cameroonian Fashion Designer Is Featured on Canal Boat Cruise

The tourist bureau of Seine Saint-Denis, a French administrative department that lies just north of Paris, is actively promoting the numerous artists, musicians, and designers that live and work there. Last Saturday, it focused on two exceptionally creative designers who work with textiles - Andreéa Talpeanu and Lamyne M. - during a fun-filled boat cruise on the Canal Saint-Denis and the Canal de l'Ourcq.

Embarking for Fashion Cruise on Canal Saint-Denis
© Discover Paris!
While the boat cruised slowly along the canals, attendees were able to enjoy the scenery and learn about the history and architecture of the area thanks to commentary provided by photographer, architect, and historian Patrick Bezzolato.

Full House
© Discover Paris!

Patrick Bezzolato
© Discover Paris!
Andreéa Talpeanu is an artist of Romanian origin who creates sculpture from textiles. She performed in a thought-provoking one-woman show during which she seized and ripped items of clothing that she had distributed to the audience. Her goal was to raise awareness of the poor quality of many fabrics that are manufactured today and the waste that the use of these fabrics engenders.

Andreéa Talpeanu
© Discover Paris!
Lamyne M. and his fashions were the main attraction of the event. Lamyne hails from Cameroon, where he began his training as a tailor at the age of 13. Like Ms. Talpeanu, he is particularly mindful of the origin and quality of the fabrics that he uses to create his designs. He constructs fine garments with remnants recuperated from bolts of cloth used by design houses such as Yves Saint Laurent and Smalto to construct the finest garments. He also experiments with new, environmentally-friendly materials—such as fabrics made from cactus fiber. His design house is called Wonu An, which means "Be yourself" in Fula (a language of West Africa).

Wonu An Designs Worn Presented the Cruise
© Discover Paris!
Lamyne specializes in men's fashions, though he designs for women as well. All of his garments are hand-sewn by craftsmen in workshops in Morocco and Cameroon. During his presentation, he proudly announced that hip-hop recording artist Kanye West has purchased his designs.

Lamyne M.
© Discover Paris!
Lamyne is collaborating on a fascinating project with Professor Maya Thebault and students from La Source, a vocational high school in the town of Nogent that trains textile professionals. Together, they are to crafting "Giant Robes" three meters (9.8 feet) tall that are based on the designs of gowns worn by French queens and princesses of medieval times. The recumbent statues of these women are found at the royal necropolis of the Saint-Denis Basilica.

The students have been making careful drawings of the gowns in which the women are dressed. They have selected Holland Wax print fabrics, typical of those used for contemporary African fashions, to create the robes and accompanying accessories.

Professor Maya Thebault and Students Displaying Drawings of Giant Robes
© Discover Paris!

Mock-up of Giant Robe
© Discover Paris!

Photo of Accessory for Giant Robe
© Discover Paris!
The giant dresses will be shown in an exceptional exposition at Saint-Denis Basilica in 2015.

Instead of selecting professional models to present his fashions during the cruise, Lamyne chose everyday people from the town of Saint-Denis.

He also invited the audience to participate in the show. Two persons volunteered. This young woman...

Volunteer Model from Audience
© Discover Paris!
...and me!

Monique Modeling a Wonu An Blazer
© Discover Paris!
Lamyne's workshop is located at 9, rue Moreau in Saint-Denis.

Lamyne Takes a Bow
© Discover Paris!
For more information about Saint-Denis tourism, visit http://www.tourisme93.com (site in French).


************

Entrée to Black Paris!™ is a Discover Paris! blog.

If you like this posting, share it with your friends by using one of the social media links below!

Great Black Music at Cité de la Musique

Great Black Music - video billboard
© Discover Paris!
Tom and I were happy to receive an invitation to the vernissage of the Great Black Music exposition that debuted at the Cité de la Musique on March 11, 2014. We went to this private inauguration the night before, thinking that we'd be able to wander around the exposition at our leisure. So many people showed up that the museum staff could only allow a limited number of people to enter at one time, which made for a long wait outside the exhibit and little space to move around once we got inside. It made us wonder what would happen on opening day!

Entry to exposition
© Discover Paris!
After purchasing your entry ticket, you must first go to the desk where audio guides (in French and in English) are distributed. Without one, you may as well not enter the exposition because most of what you'll find there required access to recorded narrative and music.

Adjacent to the desk is a room with several posts, each of which has a flat top on which a short video about a black music legend is projected. Some of the persons featured include Miriam Makeba, Harry Belafonte, James Brown, Nina Simone, and Michael Jackson.

There are no barriers around the posts and they can be approached from any angle. This design was frustrating for us because with the number of people in the room, it was difficult to be able to stand in front of the post to watch the video of our choice. We often had to watch it from an angle, or even upside down. There were so many people in the room that the WiFi signals became disrupted and some posts were not operational. We were able to return to the room later to successfully view several videos that we could not see when we arrived.

From this area, we entered a room with several large video screens that extended around the room like a mural. Two or three clips about music from different regions of Africa are projected onto each screen. One could easily spend an hour in this room alone!

Mama Africa room
Image courtesy of Cité de la Musique
Next is a room that displays videos depicting voodoo, santería, candomblé, and other rituals, as well as the types of music associated with them. Gospel music was explored in this room as well but we did not stay there long enough to see how it was portrayed.

Sacred Rites and Rituals room
Image courtesy of Cité de la Musique
The adjacent room contains an illustrated timeline that begins with the construction of the ancient pyramids of Egypt and ends in 2011. The viewer is invited to listen to music that influenced, shaped, or was inspired by the particular historic events mentioned along the timeline.

Pyramid
The Modern Jazz Quartet
Image courtesy of Cité de la Musique
We thought that we had seen everything at this point but one of the museum staff cheerfully indicated that there was more to explore downstairs. We walked down the stairs to find ourselves in a room lined by pre- and post-Katrina photos of musicians from New Orleans. We walked through a space where you could sketch images on a white board to enter a room containing several individual video screens, each of which showed two or three clips of contemporary black artists from around the world. Zouk, reggae, funk, blues, rap, and more were featured on these screens.

And there was still more! The last exhibition room contains three semi-open areas where you can practice disco, salsa, and hip-hop dancing! Each comes equipped with a video lesson that teaches you the basic moves and a camera that broadcasts your image as you practice. When you feel ready, you press a red button beneath the screen to dance to the music.

Tom in Boogie Wonderland
© Discover Paris!
The most interesting and unexpected events of the evening occurred on this floor. First, we saw saxophonist Archie Shepp being interviewed by the press and were able to get him to pose for us once his discussion with the journalist had ended.

Archie Shepp
© Discover Paris!
Then we saw Minister of Justice Christiane Taubira stroll into the hip-hop area with her entourage and were able to snap a few photos of her enjoying the tagging wall that was set up in this area! She graciously posed with me for a photograph.

Justice Minister Christiane Taubira spotted at the tagging wall
© Discover Paris!

Minister Taubira enjoying tagging
© Discover Paris!

Monique and Justice Minister Christiane Taubira
© Discover Paris!
The exposition is provocative, educational, and extensive - be prepared to return to the Cité several times if you want to appreciate it fully! It runs through August 24, 2014.

Cité de la Musique
221, avenue Jean Jaurès
75019 Paris
Telephone: 01 44 84 44 84
Métro: Porte de Pantin (Metro line 5; Tram line 3)

************

Entrée to Black Paris!™ is a Discover Paris! blog.

If you like this posting, share it with your friends by using one of the social media links below!

Buffalo Soldiers Have Their Day in Paris

Last Saturday, I had the pleasure of attending the American Library's event "History of the African-American Military Experience." Captain Paul J. Matthews, founder of the Buffalo Soldiers National Museum in Houston, TX, was the speaker.

Captain Paul J. Matthews
© Discover Paris!

Buffalo Soldiers National Museum - title slide of presentation
© Discover Paris!
Captain Matthews founded the museum in 2001 as a means of preserving, promoting, and perpetuating the legacy of the Buffalo Soldiers and the African-American men and women who have served in the U.S. military after them. He has been collecting military uniforms, weapons, documents, and other memorabilia for 30 years and continues to search for relics to augment the museum's impressive collection. He told us that the museum presents the African-American military experience from 1770 - 2000, from Crispus Attucks to Colin Powell.

Screenshot of Captain Matthews during video presentation
on the Buffalo Soldiers Museum
© Discover Paris!
The name "Buffalo Soldiers" comes from the Cheyenne Indian warriors who first encountered these proud, black men in blue uniforms. They found that these soldiers resembled the buffalo because of their ferocious fighting spirit and their naturally curly hair and dubbed them "Wild Buffalo."

The group that gathered to hear Captain Matthews' talk filled the library conference room to capacity and was spellbound throughout the entire presentation. We were especially surprised to learn that we could become spiritual descendants of the Buffalo Soldiers and were happy to be inducted into this "club" on the spot! There was a lively question and answer period following the presentation and Captain Matthews made the acquaintance of a couple of attendees who are well versed in African-American history and in the black history of the City of Houston.

Awaiting the arrival of the last attendees
© Discover Paris!

Watching the presentation
© Discover Paris!

Chuck Armstead and Captain Matthews
© Discover Paris!
Captain Matthews was joined by his wife, Bobbie, and their son, Desmond, at the presentation.

Desmond Matthews, Cheryl Ann Bolden, and Barbara Matthews
© Discover Paris!
The family had the opportunity to do plenty of sightseeing with Discover Paris! during their stay - they enjoyed a private, four-hour chauffeured tour of the city and a private, guided Entrée to Black Paris walking tour on and around the Champs Elysées (The Grandest of Avenues) prior to the presentation on Saturday.

Monique, Desmond, Paul, and Bobbie at the Tuileries Garden
© Discover Paris!

Starting the walk
© Discover Paris!
As a native Houstonian, I am pleased to have been the one to bring Captain Matthews and the American Library together for this event! Many thanks to Pauline Lemasson, External Relations Manager for the library, for having coordinated the presentation.

Pauline Lemasson, Captain Paul J. Matthews, and Monique Y. Wells
© Discover Paris!
Buffalo Soldiers National Museum
3816 Caroline
Houston, TX 77004
Telephone: 713-942-8920
Internet: http://buffalosoldiermuseum.com

American Library in Paris
10 Rue du Général Camou
75007 Paris
Telephone: 01 53 59 12 60
Metro: Ecole Militaire (Line 8), RER Pont de l'Alma (Line C)
Internet: http://americanlibraryinparis.org/‎

************

Entrée to Black Paris!™ is a Discover Paris! blog.

If you like this posting, share it with your friends by using one of the social media links below!

France's Overseas Departments Well Represented at Paris' Annual Agricultural Fair

Over 700,000 people visited the 51st Salon International d'Agriculture (International Agricultural Fair or Show) in Paris this year. This hugely popular event features the finest farm animals, dogs and cats, produce, flower and plants, and other agricultural products from France, its overseas departments and territories, and other countries of the world.

The show occupied six of the seven pavilions at the Parc de Versailles. The entire second floor of Pavilion 7 was devoted to France's regions and overseas departments and territories and there was no shortage of black business owners and agricultural professionals in this part of the show.

My husband Tom represented Discover Paris! at the fair and decided to spend his time exploring the regions with which he was least familiar - the Overseas Departments. He gives the following report:

France has five overseas departments, and I found all of them there: Martinique, Guadeloupe, French Guiana, Reunion Island, and Mayotte. I also found New Caledonia, a French overseas territory.

One of the first persons I met was Janine Salomon who had flown in from Martinique to display her beautiful flowers. I purchased a bouquet and took them home to present to my wife, Monique, in advance of her birthday. Madame Salomon has a flower shop in the town of Ducos in Martinique called Panier des Iles.

Janine Salomon of Panier des Iles
© Discover Paris!
Nearby was a stand called Tropicales Fleurs, attended by Daniel Ambroise from Guadeloupe. He looked quite dapper the way he was dressed, so I asked if I could take his photo.

Daniel Ambroise and his tropical flowers
© Discover Paris!
At a stand touting the benefits of bananas from Guadeloupe and Martinique, I met Anne-Sophie and Joan. They are both from Guadeloupe and live in Paris. Note the image of a banana to the right of Joan—it’s sporting a beret! Yes, Guadeloupe and Martinique are part of France, just as Hawaii is part of the U.S.

Sophie and Joan
© Discover Paris!
I met five lovely ladies at two different stands that represented French Guiana, a French overseas department located on the north Atlantic coast of South America. All five women hail from Guiana and live in Paris.

Florence and Christ-Laur
© Discover Paris!

Aurelia, Paoline, and Gwen
© Discover Paris!
Marie-Hélène, from New Caledonia, represented that French territory, which is located in the southwest Pacific Ocean east of Australia. She is currently a student in the town of Limoges in central France.

Marie-Hélène
© Discover Paris!
Naoilou Yahaya is manager of fruit promotion at the Chamber of Agriculture in Mayotte, a French overseas department located in the Indian Ocean between the African continent and Madagascar.

Naoilou Yahaya
© Discover Paris!
I walked over to the Reunion Island stand where I met several young men from that far-away land, located east of Madagascar in the Indian Ocean. The three men in the photograph were there to give information about the plant extracts (essential oils) that were on display.

Guillaume, Dany, and Yannis
© Discover Paris!
And over at the cooking stand, Thierry Elie, president of Les Toques Blanches de Martinique, and Babette de Rozières, popular television chef and author of several cookbooks, were engaged in animated conversation about the dishes that Chef Elie and his staff were preparing. Elie hails from Martinique and Babette, who moved to Paris at the age of 17, from Guadeloupe.

Thierry Elie, President of the Toques Blanches in Martinique,
chats with Chef and TV personality Babette de Rozières of Guadeloupe
© Discover Paris!
Later, I caught Chef Elie and his staff as they were posing for a photograph. I didn’t get a chance to taste the food that they were preparing, though, because I wanted to keep moving from stand to stand.

Thierry Elie and His Staff
© Discover Paris!
My most memorable experience was at La Bonne Crêpe stand where Chef Janick Ancete whipped up a rum and banana crêpe for me. The crêpe is a traditional pancake from Brittany, but here at La Bonne Crêpe Chef Janick gives a Martinican twist by making them with banana flour. He uses Clement rum from Martinique on his rum-flavored crêpes. Delicious! In fact, so delicious that I decided to order a second crêpe, this time made with Elot chocolate (a locally-produced chocolate). Delicious again!

Chef Janick making Martinican crêpes
© Discover Paris!
Nearby, I purchased a bottle of Darboussier – Rhum Vieux – Hors d’Ages from Raymond. Hors d’ages is a blend of very old rums that have been aged in oak casks.

Raymond and Darboussier rum
© Discover Paris!
I left the agricultural fair with good memories of the people I met and the products that I tasted there. I look forward to returning next year!

************

Entrée to Black Paris!™ is a Discover Paris! blog.

If you like this posting, share it with your friends by using one of the social media links below!