This work of art is dedicated to the thousands of men from former French occidental territories who came to take part in the war in which the Europeans were engaged.  It is close to the Caverne du Dragon (The Dragon’s Cave) on one of the slopes of the Chemin des Dames where, during 1917, hundreds of African soldiers from the ‘Senegalese’ Infantrymen fell.

This sculpture, entitled Constellation de la Douleur (the Constellation of Suffering), commissioned by the Conseil Général of Aisne as part of the 90th Anniversary commemorating the battles of the Chemin des Dames, is the work of Christian Lapie.  It consists of nine statues in charred untreated wood pointing up to the sky.

This sculpture was inaugurated on 22nd September 2007 by Yves Daudigny, President of the Conseil Général of Aisne, Stéphane Fratacci, the Prefect of Aisne and Colonel Nian Papa Momar, military  to the Senegalese Embassy.  The ceremony also included music by the saxophonist Manu Dibango.

[see file: les tirailleurs “sénégalais” en 1917 – the Senegalese Infantrymen in 1917]