Photo expo showcasing Seychelles opens in China |02 June 2012

Last year’s visit to Seychelles by the 12 photographers was initiated by the Seychelles embassy in Beijing with the support of the National Arts Council and the Seychelles Tourism Board (STB).

The exhibition of their works was inaugurated earlier this week by Seychelles ambassador in China, Philippe Le Gall.

This exhibition on Seychelles in the eyes of Shanxi photographers attracted hundreds of guests including the vice-president of Shanxi Province’s Political Consultative Committee, Zhou Ran, the vice-chairman of Shanxi Provincial Development and Reform Commission, Cheng Reye and the director of the Information Office of the People’s Government of the Province, Guo Yu Fu.

A selection of 100 big size photographs of Mahe, Praslin and La Digue was introduced to the audience by Wang Yue, vice-chairman of China Photographers Association and chairman of Shanxi Photographers Association, that counts more than 10,000 members.

Mr Wang, who led the group of photographers to Seychelles last October, is also the initiator of the reputed Pingyao International Photography Festival, China’s 1st photographic event.

In his address, Mr Le Gall congratulated the photographers for their ability to capture the breathtaking beauty of the archipelago and find ways and means to express the truly multi-cultural dimension of the Seychellois society.

The embassy agreed to assist Shanxi photographers in developing this expo project into 2012-2013 programmes of activities involving other provinces and photographers from all around China, to consolidate the promotion of Seychelles on China’s booming outbound tourism market.

It will also be added to the list of events marking 150 years of Chinese presence in Seychelles.
Mr Le Gall also discussed with officials the possibility of initiating economic exchanges between Seychelles and Shanxi province.

This expo will be on display in Shanghai and Beijing in the coming months, and this being the first collective exhibition on Seychelles in China, by Chinese photographers, the possibility of taking it to Victoria in the near future is also under consideration.

Contributed