‘Affordable’ art works on show |20 December 2014

The National Arts Gallery is hosting what is being called an Affordable Arterial Fair in which all the different art forms – paintings, prints, sculptures and photographs – are on display for sale.

Put together by artists of the Arterial Network, the fair will go on until the end of the year.
The works of young, emerging artists hang alongside some of the household names and it is a great opportunity for members of the public to buy different art pieces at affordable prices and offer them as Christmas gifts.

The fair was officially opened last week during an event which also saw the launch of the newly constituted Seychelles Art Project Foundation (SAPF).

Among its aims the association plans to bring together local artists and work with them so they can be encouraged to take part in the world ‘s biggest arts event, the Venice Arts Biennale, to take place next year.

At present the association comprises eight members including its chairperson Georges Camille but all artists are being invited to join and present their works which will later be assessed by a curator.

The chairperson of the association said it is an important and prestigious event and taking part in the Venice Biennale is a way to portray an artist’s reputation and uphold a country’s name.

Welcoming the initiative, the principal secretary for culture Benjamine Rose said with artists from everywhere in the world taking part, the biennale provides Seychellois artists the largest international platform to be seen and known and to showcase their work.

During the event Rene Rietmeyer, an international arts curator from the Netherlands who established the Global Arts Affairs Foundation in New York some 12 years ago, made a presentation on the Venice Arts Biennale.

His foundation is now based in Venice, Italy where it makes available big palazzos and host big international exhibitions.  

He is here to help local artists to the most prominent contemporary art event of the world often described as the Olympics of the arts.

“Taking part in the Venice Arts Biennale is considered as the most important thing to achieve in an artist’s career but it is also considered a necessity to be present there,” he said.

“The biennale will be an opportunity for arts in Seychelles to grow and be taken more seriously,” Ms Rose pointed out.