L’artocarpe is the scientific name of the Bread Fruit tree (artocarpus), a symbolic way of re-using a name little known for a very common tree which is better known by its vernacular creole name of “fwiyapin” (Bred Fruit). The presence of the tree next to the building has led to a logo acknowledging its presence as a green circle overshadowing the venue, since the tree is at time spreading over the street and the house.

Bread fruit trees have historical bearing: their fruits were eaten by running slaves escaping boundage. Today, the trees continue to feed poor families and artists who are struggling with the high costs of living on an island under the growing influence of French monopoly and liberal economy.

L’Artocarpe offers art residencies, workshops, conferences, exhibitions and many other art-related activities with educational content or professional expertise. All events are set up in view of creating a space to allow challenging artworks to be produced and theoretical ideas to emerge.






Please Download our written project (French only)

Art residencies are to be at the core of the many activities managed by L’Artocarpe.


To date, there is no residency space in Guadeloupe where two artists from different world can meet, exchange and work. The rare residency spaces available can only allocate one artist at a time, are often in isolated areas and run sporadically.

Artists invited in residence remain for a period of time under the same roof. A private room and a studio space are allocated to them so they can work on their own practice separately or together if they wish to. Experimentation, exploring new disciplines are highly encouraged while artists are in residency since they have no obligation of finalising their time with an exhibition at the end of their stay to avoid putting pressure on them.
Artists are however required to give a conference in relation to their work and open their studio at the end of their time to the general public to offer them a better understanding of what contemporary art is.

The aim of this new residency space is to create more opportunities for peer artists from different worlds (ideally a artist from the Caribbean in residence with an artist from outside of the Caribbean), to meet, work and feedback each others’ work constructively while the work is being produced. Through this rich exchange, it is anticipated that a better knowledge of each others’ world will develop and through the residents, a better understanding of each other’s art culture will emerge. For art in the Caribbean, and in Guadeloupe specifically, suffers from the lack of interest from the French national art scene and even, due to language barrier, from the rest of the Caribbean region. Furthermore, little if any references of French Caribbean (Guadeloupean and Martiniquean) artists are known from Western art schools, including French schools, or Western art marketplaces, despite the strong intellectual and academic references that are internationally known: Franz Fanon, Edouard Glissant, Aimé Césaire, Patrick Chamoiseau and Maryse Condé being the main names that come to mind when referring to Martinique and Guadeloupe.

Through these art residencies, a dynamic platform for producing art is taking place which the assistance of professional feedback, as in the recent case of the Portfolio Review event led by three international art professionals: US-based curator Claire Tancons (Guadeloupe, US); Paris-based art critique and Photography expert André Rouillé, director fo Paris-art.com, Trinidadian artist Mario Lewis, director of the Galvanize Project.

We too go abroad on art residency. That was the case in Senegal, Africa, where two members from L'Artocarpe went to spend a month during the Fesman. In July 2012, L'Artocarpe is partly financing the residence of artist member François Piquet in Santo Domingo.

Please download our Activity Report (2009 -2013) - French only