“What if we took a decision?”
Encourages the Rouen town hall on its website
.
Since Monday, December 6 and until Wednesday evening, the inhabitants of the prefecture of Seine-Maritime are invited to vote online on the future development of the Town Hall square.
Should the equestrian statue of Napoleon 1st, in restoration for over a year, return to its pedestal, or should it be moved and replaced by a female figure?
To read also "Matheritage" against heritage: in Rouen, the town hall feminizes the public space by forced march
In July 2020, the majestic statue of Napoleon, which had sat in front of the Town Hall since 1865, was deposited for restoration.
Two months later, the mayor PS Nicolas Mayer-Rossignol, who strives to
"restore equality in the public space"
, proposed on Twitter to replace it with a female figure.
"Personally"
, he
"would find it great"
that
"Rouen is the first city in France"
to honor the lawyer and feminist activist Gisèle Halimi.
"Shared vegetable garden
",
"scent trail"
or
"insect hotel"?
“Today, only 5% of street names are female, and almost no emblematic street, place, very visible place has a female name in Rouen (apart from rue Jeanne d'Arc)
, deplores the town hall.
This "invisibilization" of half of humanity is not trivial and echoes the inequalities that remain between women and men "
.
The City therefore launched a
“citizen consultation”
. In recent weeks, the inhabitants of Rouen have been able to participate in four conferences as well as two cultural visits on the statuary history of Rouen.
"A micro-sidewalk has been created on the square and in the city center for passers-by
," specifies the town hall. Finally, three workshops enabled a panel of twenty citizens to work on the “
renaturation
” project of the Town Hall square: the Rouen residents will thus be able to choose to install a
“shared vegetable garden”
on the forecourt
, a
"scent trail"
, or even
"an insect hotel"
...
While many historians have castigated a "disastrous idea"
,
an online petition has gathered more than 21,000 signatures against the replacement of the statue. "
Let them not make us the joke to say that it is not a question of debunking Napoleon !,
exclaims Jonas Haddad, president of the Republicans of Seine-Maritime.
Moving your statue to an island
- that's one of the proposals, Editor's note -
that means making one of the greatest characters in the history of France invisible. It is also playing the game of extremes, by validating the theses of those who say that our country is being scuttled, that it is in a culture of repentance ”
.
To read also In Rouen, students fight against the unbolting of the statue of Napoleon
City councilor in charge of heritage and matrimony, Elizabeth Labaye is also a history professor.
“There is no spirit of 'cancel culture'
, she defends herself.
But our museums are full of statues which were in public space at one time ... We need female figures who bring together: we have already found some fifty inspiring women from Rouen, both artists and sportswomen and resistance fighters. "
"Proof that it is planned that the statue will return to Rouen"
, the assistant will go
"Thursday to the foundry where it is restored, to choose the patina"
:
"We do not put 200,000 euros in the restoration of a statue for then unbolt it!
, she argues.
In any case, we will not give it to Eric Ciotti or to other cities which are already asking for it ”
.
The results will be made public early next week, on December 13 or 14.
“The City will respect the vote of the inhabitants, whatever the outcome of the vote
, promises Elizabeth Labaye.
We are already very happy to have changed the debate on the invisibilization of women, not only in Rouen but throughout France ”
.