Seychellois sculptor takes art lovers for a deepdive into the ocean |23 August 2022

Joseph Norah

From octopus to crabs, seahorse to ray and turtles, art lovers can feast their eyes on a selection of sculptures in an exhibition at Kenwyn House by Seychellois artist Joseph Norah.

The side show exhibition is part of this year’s Seychelles Biennale for Contemporary Arts 2022, and is being held under the theme ‘Treasure of the Ocean’.

A fitting theme as the 53-year-old sculptor said he wanted to highlight his love for nature, which started at a young age.

“The first sculpture was created in 2021 and the idea came from the blue economy concept and the constant talk about climate change. I am not an economist or biologist, nor even a conservationist or scientist, but rather an artist who found his own way of paying tribute by commemorating the magnificent ocean living species,” he said.

Norah’s career spans nearly four decades. Coming from a poor family, he explained that everything started when he tried to rebuild broken discarded toys so that he could get something to play with. This later turned into a passion for building and creating various objects for his personal use.

Officially his career began at the age of sixteen when he took up his first employment with the ‘Makouti’ studio, making jewelry out of tortoise shells.

However with the ban on tortoise shells in 1994, Joseph enrolled on a number of courses offered by local government agencies to support the large number of local artisans who found themselves without a trade as a result of the ban.

That is when he migrated to working silver and gold, wood, and bone carving for the celebrated artist Tonga Bill and even in a course for dental technicians offered by the German company Planus.

It was his desire to acquire further knowledge and to pursue self-development that led him to famous sculptor Tom Bowers, where he learned to work with bronze between 2012 and 2016 while readying himself for his own business.

To date, the artist uses the bronze medium to produce his artwork.

His work has also taken him onto the international scene where he has worked in countries like Denmark, Mauritius, and the United Kingdom. There he perfected his artistry by working for renowned companies, namely Troll beads jeweller in Denmark, and UK’s prestigious bronze foundry, Bronze Age.

The sculptor imports his material from abroad, but said he uses “a secret recipe” for his finishing.

He produces the pieces on demand and most of his clients are foreigners.

“My pieces are expensive because of the material I work with. The big pieces like the crab and octopus take about a month to produce because it is a masterpiece and has a lot of details, so I must ensure there are no mistakes on it,” said Norah.

Although he would not divulge how much each piece costs, he said the prices vary and will depend on the size of the piece and type of material used.

One of Norah’s works can go up to R200,000.00

The artist, who hails from Sorento, Glacis, said his wish is to pass on what he has learned to other Seychellois who would like to learn this type of sculpting but one of his challenges is to find his own space for his workshop. He is presently renting his workshop.

“I would love the local authorities that look after artists’ wellbeing to see what I am doing as well and assist in any way they can. Because if they do and meet me half-way then I will be able to give back to the community,” said the artist.

While he loves his art, the artist is disappointed that to date, bronze sculptures displayed in public places, are not those made by local sculptors.

“I do hope that one day they will approach us and ask us to create something for our country,” he added.

However, the artist said he has many things to be proud of, including taking part in this year’s biennale, and working with a number of great British artists and members of the Royal Art Society on a number of world landmarks such Martin Luther King, 7 soldiers, the Queen and others.

Norah said he wants to grow his business and his dream is to build his own foundry.

“Not everyone can do this, you must really love the work. You should not focus on the money only, cause then you will go into mass production and lose sight of the artistry. You must have passion and you need to be patient.”

Norah’s ‘Treasure of the Ocean’ collection can be viewed at Kenwyn House until the end of the month during working hours.

The accompanying photos show some of Norah’s works on display at Kenwyn House.

Patsy Canaya

Photos by Kurtrine Albert