What is tembe art?
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When the African slaves called ‘marroons’ escaped the Dutch plantations in Surinam in South America, they found shelter in the forests nearby and in French Guyana where they recreated communities. Around 1860, these ‘bushinenge’ started to develop a specific form of art made up of geometric patterns. Geneviève Wiels, curator of the exhibition "Marronnage, l’art de briser ses chaînes ", at the Maison de l’Amérique latine in Paris, explained to RFI what this art, known as tembe art, is.