The Unfinished Freedom

If you pause for a moment in the middle of this small square, you’ll notice a work of art so understated you could almost walk past without seeing it. But if you’ve spotted the square’s name, Victor Schœlcher, you already have a clue to its meaning. For those who don’t, Schœlcher was a 19th-century French politician behind the 1848 decree that abolished slavery in the French colonies. The piece before you, La Liberté inachevée (The Unfinished Freedom), was created by sculptor Gilles Roussi as a tribute to that legacy. Look closely at each of its faces and you’ll see engraved QR codes linking to texts by various authors, all reflecting on the themes of freedom and slavery. The south face features a powerful excerpt from Aimé Césaire, the celebrated Martinican poet and statesman. The east face points to a text by Albert Camus, the writer and thinker of revolt whose work relentlessly questions justice and the human condition. The west side quotes Pierre Choderlos de Laclos, best known for Les Liaisons dangereuses but also for his progressive ideas on the eve of the French Revolution. The north face connects to the city’s website, where the featured text can be changed over time. For Roussi, himself the great-grandson of an enslaved person and the nephew of Aimé Césaire, this history is deeply personal. Made from black marble and raw slate, his sculpture is intentionally unfinished. Because freedom is never fully won, it’s something that must be built, defended, and reimagined, again and again.