Guadeloupe Ports Caraïbes was awarded the European Sea Ports Organisation (ESPO) Award 2017 in recognition of its engagement with the city or wider community, through involvement in art or culture.
The ESPO Award was handed out by the Chair of the Committee on Transport and Tourism of the European Parliament, MEP Karima Delli, during a ceremony at “La Tentation” in Brussels.
Looking back at the selection process in this 9th edition of the ESPO Award, the Chairman of the Jury, Pat Cox, said: “This year’s ESPO entries stretched from the monumental to the modest. The cultural and artistic engagement and commitment of Guadalupe Port Caraïbes in linking the port to its host community illustrated the power of a big heart to transcend modest means. It has proved to be a popular winner of the ESPO award 2017.”
The theme of this year’s ESPO Award was ‘Art and Cultural involvement of the port’. Guadeloupe Ports Caraïbes won the 2017 Award for its project, Port’Art, which is intended to appeal to a grassroots audience and address day-to-day objects and topics. The Port’Art initiative has been built and developed in line with the situation and challenges faced by the Region and includes several aspects:
Providing the general public with access to local port heritage
- Supporting local artistic creativity
- Sponsoring initiatives with a maritime and heritage appeal
- Supporting cultural initiatives that address the preservation of tropical biodiversity
- Raising awareness of local port culture
- By giving residents the opportunity to visit historic buildings or by turning port facilities into art and cultural venues, we encourage people to come and get to know their port and gain a full sense of ownership of it in a different way.
Viviane François-Julien, Manager of the Communication and International Relations at Guadeloupe Ports Caraïbes, cited F. Nietzsche: “No winner believes in coincidence" and continued by stating that winning this Award has been the result of a fruitful collaboration with my team and especially Axelle Bangou; backed by the renewed trust placed in our work by the successive presidents Mr Kalil and Mr Salaun.”
The ESPO Award 2017 saw 13 projects from ports from all over Europe compete for the prize. Guadeloupe Ports Caraïbes beat shortlisted projects from the ports of Antwerp, Brest, Oslo and Venice.
