New gallery opens at Domaine de Val des Pres |27 February 2023
Since Saturday, art lovers and visitors in general can view and buy artworks at a new gallery on Mahé, following the opening of the Val des Pres gallery at Domaine de Val Des Pres.
The official opening of the gallery, the first under the Creative Seychelles Agency umbrella, in collaboration with the Seychelles National Heritage Resource Council, was held in a short ceremony last Friday afternoon, which also saw the opening of the gift shop, Patchouli, which has been revamped to provide more high-end art related souvenirs.
The gallery is located under the ‘Grannkaz’, formerly known as ‘Pomme Canelle’.
When addressing the guests, the council’s executive director, Benjamine Rose, said the combined project “provides opportunities to valorize, appreciate and value our artistic and cultural assets through innovative, creative products and services”.
She added the opening of the gallery shows government’s commitment to “not only protect and preserve our artistic and cultural assets but also to promote sustainable cultural tourism”.
For his part, the chief executive of Creative Seychelles Agency, Emmanuel D’Offay, said Domaine de Val des Pres attracts a hundred or more visitors daily during peak season and the plan was to work alongside the council to develop the venue.The Val des Pres gallery is a commercial gallery so the art works are for sale.
“The aim is to provide visitors with a gallery where they can buy affordable artwork because this is a low end gallery. We are not selling artwork above R25,000,” said Mr D’Offay.
He said this will complement ‘Mize Koko’, which will open its doors in August.
According to curator, Karyn Zialor, 27 artists are presently displaying their works and it had taken a month to prepare the gallery for the opening.
“I try to balance the paintings out so that we can have all the artists here, and then if they give us more work some will be displayed in the main GrannKaz,” explained Ms Zialor.
The artists can display their work for free and proceeds of any sale will be given to them within thirty days. Ms Zialor has urged artists to make the most of the gallery.
“We always ask for more galleries in Seychelles and now we are starting to build them up so there is a need for artists to keep producing, which should be a positive thing and we encourage Seychellois to visit more galleries and buy more local arts as most of the artworks are going overseas,” said Ms Zialor.
One of the artists displaying two of his paintings is Robert Alexis, who has urged his colleagues to seize this new opportunity to display, market and sell their artwork.
“We have been asking for such a gallery for our artwork for a while now. We were previously exhibiting our work at the National Library, which is presently closed so we did not have a proper place so I welcome this initiative by Creative Seychelles Agency,” said Mr Alexis.
Colbert Nourrice, whose gallery is nearby, said this new gallery “brings more competition in the region and give visitors more options”.
The gallery also provides a corridor dedicated to students from the Seychelles Institute of Art and Design to exhibit and sell their work, a move which has been welcomed by the school’s director, Christine Chetty-Payet, who said it was another opportunity for the students, who are presently displaying and selling their artworks in other galleries in the country, where according to the director they have a good market.
She said this allows them to earn a little revenue, as part of the proceeds go towards the school and the rest are theirs.
“Sometimes the students, although they are at school, do not know what will happen to them after, so this is a start that will provide them with an opening, and opportunities especially if they want to go commercial,” she said.
The gallery is open daily and it was first open to the public last Saturday during the Domaine Bazaar.
Our selection of photos show some of the artworks on display in the Val des Pres gallery.
Patsy Canaya
