The year 2022 took with it several of our local musical icons, namely Peter Jules, David Scholastique, Ken Marie and Danny ‘Rwa Daniel’ Dufresne.
Well-known artist, musician and music producer Jules passed away on July 19 at the Seychelles Hospital following an illness, while renowned musician, lead guitarist and keyboardist Ken Marie dies in August aged 70.
A loyal of son of Africa, through his commitment in promoting the continent’s local cultural influence and heritage, Danny Nicholas Dufrene, affectionately known as ‘Rwa Daniel’ suddenly left us on a Sunday morning in August.
The most recent demise is that of singer and musician David Scholastique who passed away in November, following an illness.
Ryan Chetty keeps the top Seychelles Biennale of Contemporary Art 2022 prize home
Local artist Ryan Chetty was the grand winner of the Seychelles Biennale of Contemporary Art 2022 held between July 31 and August 28.
Other than Chetty, Juliette Zelime aka Jadez won the best emerging artist and Barry Gertrude won the Personal Artistic Development prize, while Mauritian artist Kavinash Thomoo won the National Arts and Crafts Council award.
Held under the theme ‘Lost and Found’, the biennale saw the participation of 44 artists from 19 different countries including Seychelles.
The opening ceremony was held at the Seychelles Chinese Cultural Centre, commonly known as the Pagoda at Benezet Street and was attended by President Wavel Ramkalawan, First Lady Linda Ramkalawan, Vice-President Ahmed Afif and his wife Stella, the secretary general for the Seychelles National Institute of Culture, Heritage and the Arts, David Andre, the executive director of the National Arts and Crafts Council (NACC) Jimmy Savy, artists from different parts of the world, ministers and members of the diplomatic corps.
Justin Reddy holds first solo exhibition in 40 years
After a 40-year wait, family, friends and colleagues of artist Justin Reddy were able to feast their eyes on a collection of his best pieces – from drawings to collage and paintings.
The artist held his book launch and vernissage, aptly named ‘Reddymade’, after his surname, at the Eden Art Space Gallery on Saturday evening in the presence of two dozen guests.
It was an emotional Justin Reddy who thanked everyone who had played a key role in his life to get him to where he is today, including his teachers at Seychelles College, namely Peter Pierre-Louis and Christine Harter, whom he said were his “devoted catalysts teachers”.
George Camille and international artist Sumo open collaborative exhibition
Art lovers and enthusiasts in Seychelles had the opportunity to view and purchase some exquisite and unique art pieces from a contemporary and collaborative art exhibition by Seychelles’ own George Camille, and renowned street and contemporary artist, Sumo, from Luxembourg.
Hosted at the George Camille Gallery (Kaz Zanana), the ANSANM / ZESUMMEN exhibition showcased over 30 original pieces of the most recent artworks created by the two artists either collaboratively or independently, a long-standing idea initiated by the Honorary Consul of the Seychelles in Luxembourg Butz Welter, with the support of the Seychelles Art Foundation.
Aptly named ‘ANSANM’ or ‘ZESUMMEN’, meaning ‘TOGETHER’ in Creole and Luxembourgish, the exhibition refers to the union of two distinct and artistic endeavours pushing the boundaries of their artwork into new aesthetic realms.
Being the most renowned and representational artist figures in their respective countries, George and Sumo tapped into the trend for art crossover, creating interactive and conversational art pieces with their symbolic features.
This pioneering ‘art crossover’ programme was conducted during Sumo’s stay in Seychelles over three weeks, also his first-time visit to the island nation.
Mr Camille noted that the collaboration is one which has been beneficial to both of them, and will be, similarly to his past collaborations, redefining and influential for his future works.
Students help in giving Port Victoria facelift ahead of cruise season
As Port Victoria geared up to welcome cruise ships in October, students from various schools helped the Seychelles Ports Authority (SPA) in giving Port Victoria a facelift.
Over the course of five days, secondary school students added a splash of colour and a dose of creative flair to the once bare walls, in the form of murals.
“We decided to organise this activity since our cruise season is set to open soon, and we have created a walkway whereby we want disembarking passengers, those not in vehicles, and even port-users to use this walkway. As it is a new feature, we decided to invite school students to add some colour to the walkway and make it more attractive,” said the SPA director for business Vincent Didon.
Statue pays tribute to our ‘moutya’
A statue was unveiled on December 15 in the yard of the National Museum of History in commemoration of one year since our ‘moutya’ was listed as an intangible cultural heritage by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (Unesco) on December 15, 2021.
The statue, dubbed ‘Leko Moutya’, depicts a male person singing while beating a ‘moutya’ drum and flanked by two other ‘moutya’ drums.
The statue, sculpted by popular artist Steve Marie, was unveiled by the secretary general of the Seychelles National Institute for Culture, Heritage and the Arts (Snicha), David Andre, in the presence of Vice-President Ahmed Afif.
Also present were the chief of the Seychelles Defence Forces, Brigadier Michael Rosette; the permanent secretary of Snicha, Cecile Kalebi; the ambassador for culture, Patrick Victor; members of the diplomatic corps; staff of Snicha, other guests and the designer of the statue, Mr Marie.
In his opening remarks, Mr Andre said while Unesco has listed ‘moutya’ on its intangible cultural heritage list, we have to work to ensure that it remains alive and vibrant so that it will continue to remain on the list.
He noted that since it has been inscribed by Unesco, a lot of work has been done during this year to further promote our cultural heritage locally and internationally.
He said that being recognised on the world platform, for our cultural heritage achievements, has been a cause for reflection but also a cause for celebrations more of which will feature in the future.
Mr Andre thanked all the artists, individuals and groups in the community for the continued work to promote and to proudly and vibrantly celebrate ‘moutya’.
He added that we, as Seychellois citizens, have a role to play to ensure that the cultural heritage, passed on to us by our ancestors, remains alive in all corners of the country.
The statue is also in remembrance of the past and the current ‘moutya’ drummers and ‘moutya’ singers whose contributions have resulted in our ‘moutya’ being recognised by Unesco.
The names of 21 among them have been engraved on the statue.
During the ceremony, Vice-President Afif and Mr Andre were both presented with a ‘moutya’ drum. The guests were also entertained with a ‘moutya’ dance performed by some students from the Anse Boileau and Ile Perseverance secondary schools who participated in a ‘moutya’ workshop earlier this year.
The ‘Leko Moutya’ statue joins national monument statues of Queen Victoria (our former Queen in the 1830s) and Pierre Poivre (our French administrator in the 1770s), in the yard of the National Museum of History which faces the clock tower, our national monument of over a hundred years.
The 21 ‘moutya’ pioneers engraved on the ‘Leko Moutya’ statue are Olive Niole, Andreix Rosalie, Bernard Dufresne, Channel Kilindo, Brian Matombe, Norville Ernesta, Elvis Seraphine, Barnet Bertin, Joachim Franchette and Derick Andrew (drummer/singers) and Georges Hollanda, Robert-Lai-Lam, Rodolphin Franchette, David Camille, Anthony Niole, Marcel Julie, Philip Revera, Jean Baptist Katern, Alix Melanie, Hendrise Marie (drummers). Lucie Franchette is the only female engraved on the statue as a ‘moutya’ singer.
Source: Seychelles Nation
