We change the theme today, we visited the Stella Matutina museum.
This former sugar factory was shut down in the 1970s for profitability reasons lack of fresh water (the process of processing sugar cane is very water-consuming). A museum was created in 1991 and deeply rehabilitated in 2011 based on a scientific and cultural project. A rather huge budget has been devoted to this project which offers tourists but also and especially to Reunionese information on the history of sugar cane cultivation on the island and more broadly on the history of the island, its population, slavery, its abolition, miscegenation, …
For the engineer I was, the industrial side obviously has a special interest. Of course, we would rather visit a site in production, at least the historical museum of a site in activity: these machines that have not turned for more than 40 years, these dry gears that have not seen any fat since decades give a rather frozen image and it is sad to see a dead industry. However, the story that is told to visitors is articulated around the development of the island and it is important to show the children of the island (they were many to visit today) how lived their parents and grandparents, of where they come from, how did this very particular blend of Reunion come about.
Side photos today I retained some images of the machines for their graphic side and for the imagination that they wake up in me and can be with some readers. I finally added an artistic wink to conclude this series: the sculptor (whose name I did not note: it will be necessary to search) reused elements of old machines to create a rather successful object.
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