Seychellois artists to take part in international exhibition |13 November 2019
The two artists in the company of Ms Labrosse and PS Kalebi (Photo: Anel Robert)
Two artists – George Camille and Zoe Chang Seng – left Seychelles yesterday to represent Seychelles at the Asian, African and Mediterranean International Art Exhibition (AAMA) which will be held in China in the coming week.
The air tickets of the two artists’ participation in the exhibition have been sponsored by the National Arts Culture Fund (NACF) within the department of culture.
The artists were presented with their travel documents in a short ceremony on Monday attended by the principal secretary for culture Cecile Kalebi and the director of the NACF, Sybil Labrosse.
The ceremony took place at the department of culture at Maison Esplanade.
Mr Camille and Ms Chang Seng have also been invited to participate in the 2nd Overseas International Imported Commodity Expo and Qingtian International Exhibitions which will be held from November 14-20, 2019 in Qingtian, China.
This is the second year running that Seychellois artists have been invited to participate at the AAMA. Charles Dodo participated in the exhibition in November last year.
Both Mr Camille and Ms Chang Seng submitted their work to the organisation responsible for the exhibition and were ultimately selected.
Since 2007, the AAMA has been successfully held in Mauritius, Malaysia, the French Cultural Centre in Indonesia, the Bali Art Gallery, Thailand, Prince of Songkla University Art Museum and various places in China. Invited artists from the original 4 countries has expanded to nearly 80 artists from 25 countries, representing the art of each country's culture and nation. The exhibition is now becoming an annual Artists Arts Festival.
“Having Seychellois artists invited for a second year running to this prestigious event is a step in the right direction for the art sector and having the support of the culture department is vital to maintain the relationship with the organisers,” said Ms Kalebi.
In 2018, the Chinese organiser, Luo Qi, visited Seychelles as part of his tour of the Indian Ocean islands. During his visit he had a chance to meet several high profile artists as well as the press. He was impressed by the dynamism, energy and evolution of the Seychelles art scene and was happy to invite Seychelles to officially be part of the annual event.
“It is within our mandate to help artists and at the same time garner some international exposure for our arts. The expo will also give the artists a chance to network with other international artists and gain some exposure for their works,” said Ms Kalebi.
On his part, Mr Camille noted that for the past six years, Seychelles arts has had a big impact on the international scene. He noted that exhibitions like this is a way to expose Seychellois art as most foreign artists do not know were Seychelles is.
Ms Chang Seng remarked that this exhibition will be a way for her to network with other artists and experience western art as it is not something she sees every day.
Both artists will be showcasing two pieces of work each as well as taking part in a mural with other participating artists.
Christophe Zialor