For the first time in the Caribbean region, major works from prestigious collections are brought together, including those from the musée du quai Branly – Jacques Chirac, alongside pieces from German, American, French, Caribbean, and Vatican museums. The exhibition path is punctuated by contemporary artworks, creating a dynamic dialogue between ancestral heritage and present-day creation.

The exhibition offers an immersion into the history, life, and art of the Taínos and the Kalinagos, the first Indigenous societies encountered by Europeans at the end of the 15th century. Too often reduced to clichés, these peoples had rich and complex cultures that remain largely unknown to the general public. Settled respectively in the Greater and Lesser Antilles, the Taínos and Kalinagos are the heirs of several millennia of exchanges and migrations within the Caribbean. Skilled seafarers and ingenious gardeners, they formed structured societies connected to a vast network stretching from the South American continent to Cuba. As the first victims of European conquest, they were largely decimated. However, their presence endures today, particularly in Dominica, Saint Vincent, and Puerto Rico, and their legacy continues to deeply influence contemporary Creole cultures.