In front of the Bois-d’Aulne college, the day after the assassination of Samuel Paty, in Conflans-Sainte-Honorine on October 17, 2020. – Michel Euler / AP / SIPA
Leave “a trace for future generations” so as not to forget the assassination of Samuel Paty in front of his college in Bois-d’Aulne on October 16, this is Claude Quenault’s wish. For this, the former mayor of Conflans-Sainte-Honorine from 1977 to 1994, the city where the attack took place, used his influence to erect a tribute statue representing the professor of history and geography, reported The Parisian Wednesday.
The teacher’s relatives gave their agreement and the school board of directors voted for the establishment of this work. It should be inaugurated on the first anniversary of the professor’s death by beheading. According to The Parisian, the bronze statue will represent the bust of Samuel Paty. It could be placed on the pediment of the college, just above the main entrance.
“It seemed so natural to me,” says Claude Quenault. To kill a professor is to kill society. To directly attack the youth of this country, it is improbable ”. On her initiative, the French sculptor Nacéra Kainou was chosen to make the bust. A graduate of the Besançon School of Fine Arts in the Doubs and of The Art Student’s League of New York in the United States, she has been practicing in Paris for twenty years. In her studio, she works on the human figure in general, the portrait in particular.
A “political work against this horror”
In addition to the message that the work must convey, the artist wishes to involve those close to Samuel Paty in its conception because, as Claude Quenault specifies, “the family must recognize itself in the portrait”. “I gladly open my workshop to his relatives. It is extremely painful for them, I am aware of it. I begin to mentalize his image, to imbue myself with his personality. Making this work is also a way for me to deliver a political discourse against this horror, especially in relation to my origins. I was born in France and proud to be French ”, explains to Parisian, Nacéra Kainou.
The completion of the work should take five to six months. The Versailles academic inspectorate oversees the project, under the supervision of the Minister of National Education.