(Seychelles News Agency) - Fifteen artists in Seychelles are exhibiting their latest work in an exhibition at the Eden Art Space gallery at Eden Plaza, located on the man-made Eden Island.

Dubbed 'Art in Seychelles Now', the exhibition is being organised by Arterial Network Seychelles, which aims at supporting and developing art in Seychelles.

The curator of the exhibition, Zsaklin Miklos, told SNA that the network has tried to showcase artworks recently created and that have not been exhibited before.

“We try to open our doors to everybody who creates here in Seychelles. It is convenient for people who create here and would like to have a certain possibility to exhibit their work. It also provides artists with the chance to mingle,” said Miklos.

Art pieces range from photographs, abstract paintings, and portrait-paintings among others. The exhibits are on sale and the price is between $59 (SCR800) to $3,672 (SCR50,000) and interested persons have until May 10 to visit the exhibition. 

Art pieces range from photographs, abstract paintings, and portrait-paintings. (Salifa Karapetyan) Photo License: CC-BY

Talking about his work in the exhibition, Pierre Joseph said that it was inspired by the link of France and Seychelles, a 115-island archipelago in the western Indian Ocean, during the French revolution.

“I like the idea that there were French citizens who were sent to Seychelles for various reasons during the French revolution. I took a part of this story and created a person, who in this case, I imagined her as the step-daughter of Napoleon Bonaparte who would have been killed had she stayed in France,” said Joseph.

He explained that most of his works derive from historical facts. Once he has gathered the needed materials from reading diaries or letter from famous people, he creates the image of his fictional character.

“I look for someone who will represent this character and try to convince the person to pose for me. The minute that I capture the photo, I start creating so many things around it. I am the only one who knows that the story does not exist. I make photocopies of things, age the papers and make the installation that you see today,” said Joseph.

Joseph creates fictional characters for his paintings based on historical facts. (Salifa Karapetyan) Photo License: CC-BY

In his fictional story, Joseph said that the subject of his art was sent to Ile de France, from there to Mauritius and later to Seychelles. When she got to Seychelles, she was part of the slaves and people who came to establish the first settlement. Turning 21, she noticed that there is something different about her, as people who came with her would treat her differently.

A viewer at the opening of the exhibition on April 12, Stephano Ciaionni, said that the initiative of Arterial Network Seychelles is a good one.

“I hope that more people would come to see such an exhibition, it is important for Seychelles, for the local artists and people living in Seychelles. It is something different and the artists represented today and their works are really good,” said Ciaionni.

The network focuses on organising a local group exhibition every third month and then there are solo exhibitions for local artists and international artists as well.