Nantes wrestles with its slave-trade legacy amid memory debates and decolonial demands

The historic port of Nantes, once France’s principal hub for the slave trade, is at the centre of a growing debate over how to remember its past. Since the early 1990s, the city’s socialist administration, then led by Jean-Marc Ayrault, has supported projects such as a pioneering exhibition on the slave trade and permanent museum spaces within the château des ducs de Bretagne. Recent additions include the Anneaux installations by artists Daniel Buren and Patrick Bouchain on the Quai des Antilles. However, contemporary decolonial movements, including supporters of La France insoumise, are pressing for more extensive acknowledgment and educational signage, highlighting tensions between official memory initiatives and activist demands.