An exhibition of the 7 families game in Saint-Barth

This Saturday, April 19 at 4pm, the Collectivité's culture department will be inaugurating an exhibition at the Wall House territorial museum, dedicated to the 7 families game specially created for Saint-Barthélemy. The card game was designed by the Culture Commission in collaboration with artist Guillaume Blanchard. The same artist who imagined and designed the Arawak statue now enthroned at the center of the Tourmente traffic circle.
Over the past week, the graphic designer and illustrator has been meeting the island's schoolchildren, accompanied by Bettina Cointre, President of the Culture Commission. To present the game, of course, but also and above all to run drawing workshops. As at the Sainte-Marie de Colombier school, in the CM2 "Bora Bora" class, where the fifteen pupils immediately fell in love with the game. "I like the details," says one pupil. Her classmate adds: "The drawings are very beautiful and realistic, and you learn things at the same time. "But will playing the 7 Families Saint-Barth game at home be fun? "It's not going to be fun, it's going to be extremely fun," says one child. And when one of the pupils says he already has the game at home, his classmates turn sharply to him. "I've got to have one too, it's compulsory," says one little girl. No doubt her parents were pestered that very evening for this new acquisition.
When I was approached by the Collectivité, like other graphic designers, I proposed the characters and subjects, each time with a short explanation," explains Guillaume Blanchard. I drew inspiration from my local life, but I also imagined characters that were a bit fun, so that they would appeal to children. I wanted the game to be happy and childlike, and I wanted each card to tell a little story. "The artist saw the immediate success of the card game when she met schoolchildren. It's great to see children marvelling at the drawings," he smiles. Some of them recognize animals, and sometimes even think they recognize people from the island. "This is undoubtedly a result of the winks the author makes here and there in the game.