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CENTRE   GUADELOUPEEN   DE  _cc781905-5cde-3194-bb3b -136bad5cf58d_LA   CULTURE  _cc781905-badEN INDIAN-95dcf58

    Laying of the first stone(Saturday, June 30, 2012)

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The Guadeloupe Center for

indian culture 

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is open to the public on Wednesdays and Saturdays from 

10:00 a.m.   at 12:00 p.m.

on request for GROUPS

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 Prize (Winner) of theArchitecture  Guadeloupe 2020
(Click)

Guided tour:
 

-  The Statue of Mahatma GANDHI(One of the architects of Indian independence, Apostle of Non-violence)

-  The Mandala( fresco, a circle inside which a world is organized and radiates. a precious tool
    therapy in the service of concentration and self-knowledge)

-   The Rickshaw(A non-polluting means of transport in India)
- The Peacock, the Elephant (Emblem of India) 

- The Garden of Plants Native to India

Exhibitions:
 

- Indian immigration to Guadeloupe from 1848 to the present day(30 boards)Click

-  Indian musical instruments

-  Indian clothes on mannequins

-  Library (local Indo-Guadeloupean literature, the Caribbean, India) 
 

-A presentation on Indian immigration to Guadeloupe
 

Theme days on request, with (Snack, Meals, Artistic services, Yoga....)

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HISTORY OF THE CENTER

The Guadeloupian Cultural Association of Friends of India was created in 1971 to develop,  promote and above all preserve and safeguard Indian culture in our Department.

To ensure the mission it has set itself, the Association organizes various events in various places on the island.

Work meetings, the reception of personalities, legal and natural persons,   wishing to meet the Association, the preparatory meetings for the various events are generally held at the administrators', schools, or any another place made available to us.

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The seat of the Association is domiciled with the current president

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At the end of each event, the Association's assets (paintings, musical instruments, kitchen equipment, books, films (CDs, DVDs, etc.) are scattered thanks to their good will among the various administrators.

  The Association's dance school, which has been in operation since 1991, has to date trained around 300 young Guadeloupeans of ALL ORIGINS.

These courses are generally provided in schools that agree to provide us with rooms for a modest contribution (fortunately). The same is true for YOGA and cooking classes...

 

To date, there is no representative place where visitors, researchers, students, BREF, all those who are interested in Indian culture, can be welcomed with dignity, with a presentation of this cultural aspect being an integral part of Guadeloupean culture.

It is therefore manifestly urgent that the Association have an adequate structure

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It is with this in mind  that in 1989, the  CA of the time set itself as one of the objectives of the Association:

"  The construction of premises for the operation and events of the Association"

Following requests sent to the various local authorities in the Department, the Commune of Petit-Canal has made this 3,000 m2 plot of land available to us since 1999.

  It is with great emotion that the CA and the members of the Association expressed their satisfaction with this pleasant surprise.

Thus, a reflection committee made up of our administrators and friends was set up to develop this project.

 

Very quickly, he was selected:

"Not the construction of a room as initially planned, but "a Cultural Center, on these 3,000 m2, bringing together all the contributions of Indian culture (music, dance, cooking, yoga, plants, etc.) IN BRIEF a whole Indian cultural environment. The land is certainly an important step, but carrying out such a project requires large financial resources. Naturally we took our pilgrim's staff to knock on all the doors.

 

The Guadeloupe Region has shown great interest in our project, but has informed us that its assistance can only be provided if the project owner is a public entity.

This is how the municipality of Petit-Canal, to our immense satisfaction, agreed to carry out this project as OWNER.

 

In the name of Indian culture, we would like to express our sincere thanks to the Mayor,  .

However, we would like to address our thanks to Marc JALET Architect and Freddy SITCHARN Engineer who accompanied us very early on by being part of the reflection committee on a voluntary basis.

 

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CREATE A GUADELOUPEAN CENTER OF INDIAN CULTURE 

 

A NECESSITY   :
 

  This strong component of an ancient civilization has adapted to new living conditions and has enriched Guadeloupe culture through various contributions; and itself, borrowed a lot from the populations present, while abandoning certain specific practices (social, cultural, religious or other)

 

   FOR    WHO?

 

First and foremost for all Guadeloupeans. The better knowledge of the Indian culture by the Indians as by the other components of the company is a cement of the company. By knowing each other better (the Indians), and by knowing ourselves better (the Indians and the others), the better we will consolidate the bases of our Guadeloupean society.

Then to the rest of the world in all its diversity. The most numerous (Europeans) will find there, through exhibitions in the museum, and other events,  a place to better discover  the cultural contribution of the Indian component in Guadeloupean society. Even the population of the Caribbean islands, whose history is close to ours, will certainly make it a center of interest.

          _cc781905-5cde-3194 -bb3b-136bad5cf58d_      WHY?

Today, Guadeloupe's population of Indian origin can be estimated at between 50,000 and 60,000, or just under 15% of the total population.

For several years, Indian culture has aroused keen interest in Guadeloupean society. Cultural events attract large crowds, Associations multiply; study, cultural and leisure trips  follow one another; the visits of friends from Trinidad, from the Indian Embassy in France, from India and elsewhere are repeated. The number of participants in dance, music, yoga, art and culture workshops is increasing day by day.

 

The Guadeloupian Cultural Association of Friends of India, a true pioneer, began this work more than 40 years  (created on April 25, 1971)

In 1989, the new Board of Directors, under the impetus of its new Chairman, launched this project which finally saw the light of day.

This is why it is a stakeholder alongside the Municipality of Petit-Canal, to ensure the operation of the Cultural Center.

          _cc781905-5cde-3194 -bb3b-136bad5cf58d_           _cc781905 -5cde-3194-bb3b-136bad5cf58d_     HOW?

Promote Indian languages
(Tamil and Hindi)
 

To meet growing demand, the Association will relocate its Indian language training workshops, which it has been developing for more than 10 years, to various locations (schools in Sainte-Anne, Saint-François, Moule, Port -Louis, private premises…).

Basic use:

 

A permanent address, a place of meeting and work, a place of exhibition of the Heritage of the Association (musical instruments, books and documentation, etc.), on paper and computer media, currently distributed among the administrators.

Exhibition's venue,
documentation and research

 

The Center must be a place of resources (a database), for everything concerning the history of Guadeloupe. It will therefore be necessary to collect all the productions which have the Indians of Guadeloupe as their subject (articles, professional or amateur films, slide photographs, CD-ROMs, etc.). A testimonial recording operation will be initiated.

 

  The center should allow everyone to find information on the internet related to India and its culture, but also and especially on Guadeloupe and the Indians of Guadeloupe.

 

  The library will have a broader mission. Its background should include works of all kinds (novels, poems, tales, comics, theses, memoirs, which have for political, geopolitical, cultural economic subject, etc.)

 

  The center must become a reference for anyone who plans to do work on the Indians of Guadeloupe.

The training also concerns the youngest. The discovery classes  will be aimed at primary school students. The latter will be accommodated in day school for a period of one week. They will be able to work at the centre, as in their school, on a theme that will have been previously determined and studied with the school community.

Develop the Dance and Music workshop

Garden of plants originating from India:

 

A permanent garden bringing together all the plants native to India existing on our territory with their uses and therapeutic virtues, will be open to visitors in the center instead of the plant exhibitions currently organized by the Association in the most diverse places. .

Learning Indian Gastronomy :

 

Apart from colombo, which remains a very representative dish of Guadeloupe cuisine, the Association initiates our compatriots to the training of Indian and Indo-Guadeloupean gastronomy.


 A place of culture:

It will be the safest way to develop different programs. It can be theatrical creations, reading of works (poetry or novels), recreational or other performances, chances of giving to budding artists or at the beginning of the expression  of their talent.

Dissemination thus resides in the holding of conferences on the history, culture and art of Guadeloupe or India. Dissemination also means hosting exhibitions of paintings, photos and sculptures related to Guadeloupe culture.

Introduction to Yoga:

 

In order to meet the increasingly growing demands of users of this art; the Association will relocate its initiation workshop to the various Yoga techniques that it has been developing for more than 5 years, always in classrooms… (Abymes, Petit-Canal).

In summary :

The Guadeloupe Center for Indian Culture should be a place of reference for the historical evolution of the Indian component of our population in all its aspects (music, dance, language, yoga, arts, gastronomy, flora, sciences, etc.), with the competition of all Associations interested in Indian culture.

 

The first stone of this Center was laid on Saturday, June 30, 2012,

23 years after launching the first steps,
under the chairmanship of:

Mr. Florent MITEL, the Mayor of Petit-Canal,
under the Direction  of: 

Mr. Eliézère SITCHARN,  President of the "Friends of India" Association and its Board of Directors

along with,

Mr. Frédy SITCHARN (Engineer from the design office in charge of the construction)

Mr. Marc JALET  (Architect)

in the presence of personalities:

-  The Sub-Prefect of Pointe à Pitre (the representative of the French State),

- Mrs. Gabrielle LOUIS-CARABIN the Deputy Mayor of the City of Moule,

- Deputy Mayors and Municipal Councilors of the Cities of:
Pointe à Pointe à Pitre,  Morne a l'Eau, Petit-Canal and Saint-Claude,

-  by Mr. Marcelin CHINGANthe representative of the Islands of Guadeloupe,

- Presidents and Representatives of Indian Culture Associations and others,

- and around a thousand members and supporters.

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