II.3.5. LA GOUTTE D'OR, A NEIGHBORHOOD OF UNHAILED ENERGIES

AFRICAN IMMIGRANTS COME FROM THE WHOLE PARIS REGION

FOR IMPORTS, MUSIC, COIFFEURS, TAILORS AND MEMORIES OF HOME.*

* "La Goutte d'or" or "the drop of gold" recalls the vineyards before industrialisation.

Adapted from a Google map

They ignore European arts...

These African checker players pay no attention to the European art behind them.

...and create their own.  

Musicians march along the railroad tracks that made the area one of the earliest immigrant destinations.

African design that has gained national recognition

Hair styles that have been adopted world-wide.

These pages explore that inventivity.

Map on the door of the Echomusée

In brief

• The traditional setting

• Unexpected arts

• A couturier for Kenzo and Paco Rabanne

• First steps in an unknown land

• The "Look," a sociable art

• Textiles, tailors and roots

• Gentrification with brakes

• The neighborhood keeps its soul

• "The emerging design hub of Paris"  

• Suddenly visible Blacks

• Tomorrow's destination? 

• A neighborhood Gertrude Stein would have appreciated

*    *    *

Next,
II.2.5.a.,

The traditional setting