On Thursday, January 19th 2023, we (3eme and 4eme of the International Section) took the metro and went to the seventh district in Paris, right next to the Eiffel Tour, to the musée du Quai Branly.
The exhibition we saw was called ‘Black Indians’ and it was related to what we were working on in English, which was New Orleans and Louisiana.
We put our bags in a locker and met the guide. We all got earpieces that were connected to a microphone she had which meant we could hear her even if there were to be a crowd. There was a crowd.
As we entered the first room we were amazed by a giant costume made of bright pink feathers. We learnt that this was a chief’s costume worn during the famous Mardi Gras carnival.
The guide told us about the history of NOLA (New Orleans, Louisiana) and the slave trade. We were all shocked to hear how slaves were transported through the Atlantic Ocean and how they were treated once they arrived in America. The exhibition in itself had a lot to look at : paintings, pictures, models (of boats mainly), weapons, etc.
The exhibition lasted approximately an hour and we (Giovanni Suleymen and I) all found it very interesting and we were happy to have learnt so much.
At the end of the exhibition, as kind of a bonus, was a huge room filled with Mardi Gras costumes. All with extravagant cuts, amazing colors and some even were scary or made us laugh.
Overall a very fun experience and we would recommend this exhibition to anyone interested in NOLA’s history, or not, and you’ll learn to appreciate it !

Charlie
Giovanni
Suleymen