International Day for Monuments and Sites |18 April 2023
Kenwyn House: An incredible piece of historical and cultural heritage
April 18, World Heritage Day, also known as the International Day for Monuments and Sites, was first celebrated in 1983, and since then, it has become an important event for promoting awareness about cultural heritage.
Declared an international observance by Unesco in 1982, the main aim of World Heritage Day is promoting the importance of cultural heritage and raising awareness about the need to preserve historical sites and monuments across the globe. The day provides an opportunity to highlight the value of cultural heritage and the need to protect it from damage or destruction due to natural disasters, human activities, or urbanisation.
On this occasion, let us take a look at one of our own incredible pieces of historical and cultural heritage.
Kenwyn House
Sitting proud in the heart of Victoria, Kenwyn House is a National Monument and a mesmerising piece of historical architecture.
Built in 1855, the house’s original tenant was the Chief Medical Examiner of the settlement at the time, Dr James Henry Brooks. Brooks became a local hero when he rescued a 42-year-old Italian priest, who was buried under the mud and debris from the great avalanche in October 1862 – to date the worst natural disaster in Seychelles history – claiming 75 lives.
Brooks left Seychelles in 1879, having sold the house a year prior to the Eastern Telegraphic Company (today known as Cable and Wireless Seychelles) to house their chief engineers, while they were laying the cables and setting up global communications for Seychelles. It is said that the house got its name from a village in Cornwall, which happened to be the place from which the underwater telegraph cables were being provided. Towards the end of the 20th Century, Cable and Wireless used the house as a residence for their general managers.
In 1984, as per the National Monuments Act, Kenwyn House was declared a National Monument – granting it protected status.
In the years that followed, the house laid unoccupied and the years of wear and tear and being weather-beaten finally took a toll. By the end of the 1990s, the house had fallen into a state of disrepair.
It was in 2004 that Flawless Ltd, a South African company based in Seychelles, first undertook the task of restoring Kenwyn House. Sadly, upon the end of their lease, the house once again sat silent, unoccupied and within a few short years, was once again in desperate need of renovations.
In 2018, Gran Kaz acquired the lease on this monument and with the help of Laxmanbhai and Co., embarked on the exciting journey of restoring this beautiful building, so exemplary of the French colonial style of the time – which for us has become synonymous with traditional Creole architecture – to its former glory.
Making use of local timber mainly bwa nwar and bwa-d-nat, the entire building was renovated, save for the ceiling beams, rafters and struts, floorboards and the main entrance doors. These did not require replacing, as having been constructed with casuarina wood, they have withstood the ravages of time and termites.
A passion for art, and for preserving and promoting our traditions and culture, were the driving force behind our decision to renovate this incredibly beautiful and history rich National Monument that is the Kenwyn House, and to turn it into a public art and culture gallery.
Kenwyn House now stands open to visitors as a public art gallery, showcasing some of the most extraordinary works of local Seychellois artists. By giving this building back to the community in the form of a gallery we are not only helping to promote and encourage local artists in the Seychelles, but also further enriching the art scene in the capital.
The Kenwyn House Gallery operates as a purely non-profit entity. This means that not only is it free for the artists to display their work, and free entry for visitors, but it also means that we do not sell any of the artworks on site. Rather we allow the artists full ownership of sales. The gallery rotates artists on a quarterly basis, ensuring that the art exhibited is always fresh and exciting. Many big names on the local art scene have already been featured in the Kenwyn House Gallery, alongside up and coming new faces.
Gran Kaz would like to help further cultivate the arts in Seychelles, both in the sense of enticing young people to be more involved in this field, but also to encourage so-called amateur artists to continue to develop their skill and passion. We hope to achieve this through the Kenwyn House Gallery Arts and Literature Awards.
Kenwyn House Gallery also boasts the first ever Coco de Mer Wall in Seychelles – presenting the unofficial emblem of the Seychelles in all its forms, shapes and sizes. The Coco de Mer, which is the largest nut in the world, and endemic to the Seychelles, is a rare plant that gained protected status in 1995.
Set up in collaboration with the Seychelles Islands Foundation (SIF), the wall is dedicated to providing information about this most intriguing plant and raising awareness about the work undertaken by the SIF for its protection and propagation. The wish is that the Coco de Mer wall will become a landmark in its own right, a perfect place to take a ‘Seychelles selfie’ – a unique keepsake for visitors.
Since its opening in October 2018, the Gallery has made quite an impression on all who have visited – artists and art lovers, tourists and locals alike. While this in itself is a great achievement for us, greater still is the knowledge that we opened the doors of this house to the public once more. We believe that such splendour should be accessible to all – and this is evidenced by the fact that all who visit remain in awe of this remarkable National Monument.
Contributed
