GAUGUIN CULTURAL CENTRE AND CULTURAL SPACE BREL

Right in the centre of Atuona, next to Tohua Pepeu and the tourism committee, this cultural centre retraces in a first building the life of Paul Gauguin in general (and Victor Segalen to a lesser extent), and evokes in a second building the life and work of Jacques Brel. On Gauguin's side, several paintings, letters, photographs, and various souvenirs are exhibited around several themes, including "Gauguin and Segalen in search of Polynesian memory", "Death, Nightmare and Tupapau", "The House of Pleasure". Most of the works on display are reproductions - the originals are in the museums of the major capitals. They were painted by the artist couple Claude and Viera Farina, more recently relayed by the painter Marc Touret. At the end of the visit, you will discover a replica of the Maison du Jouir so dear to the painter. On Brel's side, a sort of hangar has been set up to collect a few objects illustrating the singer's life, and his red plane "Jojo" proudly sits in the middle of sentences taken from songs, photos, and other souvenirs. An opportunity to stroll through the memory of his work, and to understand why the artist enjoyed living here so much. The visit of the ensemble, which remains rather modest, does not take too much time. It is in any case a must for any traveller visiting Hiva Oa. The cultural centre also sells books, lithographs and other videos. For the nostalgic...