We are thrilled to highlight the recent publications of Klara Boyer-Rossol, which have all been published in France in 2024.
The exhibition catalog Visages d'Ancêtres (Faces of Ancestors), comprises work by Boyer-Rossol on Eugène de Froberville's private archives of his study of a collection of busts. Boyer-Rossol was able to identify all the individuals represented and retraced their life trajectories. This book, in particular, has been a success in France with a second print run in the works. Her research will be exhibited at the Musée de l'Esclavage Intercontinental (ISM) in 2025.
Similarly, the book Histoire des archives privées Huet de Froberville1, co-edited by Boyer-Rossol, is based on Froberville's private archives to reconstruct the history of Eugène de Froberville's busts collection and the history of the East African ex-captives. This collection, passed down through generations of de Frobervilles for almost two centuries, is an exceptional testimony to the history of former African captives in the Mascarene Islands. The book comprises handwritten notes, drawings, maps and collections of objects, which have never been published before.
Based on visual representations (paintings, tapestries, sculptures, etc.), the book Esclavages. Représentations visuelles et cultures matérielles2 examines the conditions under which slaves were deported and lived (their dietary practices, social relations, habitats) in Brazil, the West Indies, West Africa and the Indian Ocean. The work aims to rethink violent relationships and interactions in these spaces, survival practices but also the capacity for invention and creation, such as the processes of creolization and cultural syncretism. It is co-edited by Ana Lucia Araujo and Myriam Cottias and is part of UNESCO's Enslaved Route program.
Lastly, Les esclavages en Afrique. Passé(s), présent(s) et héritages3 is a culmination of the work of a vast network of researchers who met in Nairobi at the international conference “Slavery in Africa: History, Legacy and Present”. It aims to find answers to the questions "What is the historical relationship between external and internal slave trade in Africa?", "Have there been different systems and situations of servitude in different African societies?", "What was the experience of the enslaved?", "At the interface between past and present, what has been their place in society?", "What specific claims do their descendants make today? Is there a memory or memories of slavery in Africa?". The book is co-edited by Marie-Pierre Ballarin.
We congratulate Klara Boyer-Rossol on these significant contributions to the field and look forward to seeing where her research goes next.