The Schœlcher museum is located in the town of Pointe-à-Pitre, in Guadeloupe.
Inaugurated in 1887, the establishment was renovated in 1998 on the occasion of the 150th anniversary of the Abolition of slavery, then expanded in 2016. With a new museography, it reopened its doors in 2022 under the name "Musarth" (Museum of Art and History).
It is housed in a colonial style building typical of the end of the 19th century built for this purpose in 1883, in the old district of the city, Victor Schœlcher (1804-1893) having then donated his collection to the department sculptures (from the Roman or Egyptian period) but also modern paintings and objects (porcelain). This first collection was quickly supplemented by other works that the journalist and politician behind the law definitively abolishing slavery had deposited at the Louvre Museum in Paris.
The collections were subsequently enriched again via deposits from national institutions: the Sèvres porcelain factory transferred several works and objects and the Louvre museum sent a large collection of prints as well as a large number of plaster casts of emblematic sculptures from Antiquity and the Renaissance of which Schœlcher had expressly requested the reproduction. Finally, still before 1900, other parts of the politician's personal collection were exhibited: these included objects relating to popular arts and traditions from the different countries and regions he had traveled (Mexico, Caribbean, Egypt, Senegal…).
Over the decades, donations or acquisitions of works of art, objects and documents essentially linked to the history of slavery and its abolitions have been added. Recently, works belonging to the Quai Branly-Jacques Chirac museum were finally deposited.
Open Tuesday to Friday. Free admission. Information on 05 90 820 804.
