Jean-Marie Tjibaou, a charismatic leader of the pro-independence movement assassinated twenty years ago by a fanatic, has gradually become a legendary hero of Caledonia. Born in 1936 in Tiendanite, near Hineghène, Jean-Marie early experienced the wrongdoing originating from the indigénat code, at the same time growing to cherish the importance of his own Kanak culture. He studied sociology in Paris and became a Catholic priest, yet he abandoned the vocation upon his return to Caledonia. Jean-Marie was involved in politics (he was the mayor of Hineghène and in 1977 became a member of the party Union Calédonienne, calling for independence from France) and in culture promotion (in 1975 he organized the festival Melanesia 2000 assembling various Melanesian artists). He was the first president of FLNKS (Front de Libération Nationale Kanak et Socialiste), the most radical independence movement. In 1988, in a historic act Tjibaou signed the Matignon Accords that were to bring long awaited peace to the territory in social and political turmoil. However, on May 4, 1989, together with yet another political figure, Yeiwene Yeiwene, Jean-Marie Tjibaou was assassinated by a fellow Kanak. Nine years later the representative Centre Culturel Tjibaou was inaugurated in Nouméa, under the presidency of the widow after J.-M. Tjibaou, Mrs. Marie Claude Tjibaou. On May 8, 2009 many people gathered at the Centre Tjibaou to commemorate the leader twenty years after his assassination. Below I am posting some photos from the event.
Centre Culturel Tjibaou,
design by Renzo Piano (the author of the Centre Pompidou in Paris)
The wife of Yeiwene Yeiwene and his clan from Tadin, Maré
Marie Claude Tjibaou
Performance by the group Big Nambas from Vanuatu
Performance by the group Wakone from Maré
With a Wakone dancer
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