
From 9 to 11 August 2010 was held in Rarotonga in the tenth International
Congress of the Pacific Arts Association, whose theme was "Pacific Art in the
21st century: Museums, New Global Communities and Future Trends". Alongside
Michelle Hippolite, Acting Chief Executive of the Museum of New Zealand Te Papa
Tongarewa in charge of opening speech in English, I was invited as a referent
French to pronounce my introductory speech in French. To understand the 150
delegates mostly English, an English translation has been given. Several
listeners asked me to communicate this text, I decided to put online
Du 9 au 11 août 2010 s'est tenu à Rarotonga le Xe congrès international de la
Pacific Arts Association dont le thème portait sur "Pacific Art in the 21st
century : Museums, New Global Communities and Future Trends". Aux côtés de
Michelle Hippolite, acting Chief Executive of Museum of New Zealand Te Papa
Tongarewa chargée du discours d'ouverture en langue anglaise, j'ai été invité,
en tant que référent francophone à prononcer mon discours d'introduction en
langue française. Pour la bonne compréhension des 150 congressistes en majorité
anglophone, une traduction anglaise en a été donnée. Plusieurs des auditeurs
m'ayant demandé de leur communiquer ce texte, j'ai décidé de le mettre en
ligne.

ABOUT SPIRITS, ABOUT WORKS AND ABOUT MEN
(La version en langue française est disponible sur le lien : Des esprits, des
oeuvres et des hommes
When our friend Michael Gunn invited me to deliver this introductory speech, he explained me that I had been chosen, along with my other colleague speakers, because of our commitment to Culture. This assessment disconcerted me. Not because it is false, but because of it, I once again asked myself what drives some of us to dedicate our lives to the development of arts and culture of the society in which we decided to live, so much that we could be taken for sweet dreamers, utopians out of real time or, at worst, activists defenders of lost causes by the eyes of the Establishment.

Curcuma,
rega, Curcuma longa.
