Rééquilibrage? A Geo-Semiotic Analysis of Noumea’s Main City Square as Case Study

The notions of rééquilibrage and destin commun are central to the Matignon and Noumea Accords, which aimed to achieve self-determination for New Caledonia. The preamble of the Noumea accord recognizes that colonization stripped the Kanak peoples of their languages, culture and identity. As a result, various programs were launched to reinstate their memory and cultural patrimony. These were predominantly established in the Province Nord, while in the Province Sud material representations of Kanak languages and culture remained sparse. This study centres on the geosemiotics of the main city square in Noumea—the Place des Cocotiers—by examining the way in which the various communities are represented in the square and how it has evolved over time as a kind of urban palimpsest. Through the concepts of centripetal and centrifugal forces, this article focusses particularly on the tension between representations of French colonial power and the visibility of the Kanak first nation people and their identity in the built landscape. It concludes by considering the recently erected statue of Jean-Marie Tjibaou and Jacques Lafleur in the light of self-determination and the goals of rééquilibrage and destin commun.