First-ever virtual exhibition for Africa Day |26 May 2023
Berthilda Walters
The Seychelles National Institute for Culture, Heritage and the Arts is holding a virtual exhibition today, May 26, as part of activities to celebrate Africa Day.
This will be the first virtual exhibition ever to be hosted by the institute and the principal heritage officer, Berthilda Walters, said they are looking forward to launch the exhibition on their website in a form of a slide-show.
Mrs Walters said that they have taken this new initiative to move into the technological era by going online but also to make it accessible to a wider audience as this allows them to see the exhibition any time by just visiting the website instead of physically going to a location.
“The objective is to promote different traditional elements in Seychelles which was inherited from Africa. We want more people to witness the exhibition because when we do physical ones only invited persons get to really see it and it is only really relevant on the day of the launch, but with virtual exhibition we target a wider audience and the exhibition stays up longer,” she said.
It will be a photographic exhibition with short captions explaining the image.There will also be a document which would have more information on all the submissions.
Mrs Walters said this will serve as a research document for the institute itself, and can also be accessed by anyone interested in going in depth into the exhibition.
The exhibition will showcase history, language, food, clothing, dances and other aspects of the Seychelles-Africa culture.
According to Mrs Walters the entries form part of the National Inventory of Intangible Cultural Heritage of the 2003 convention. “We have selected those which we believe are showing an element of our African culture. There are also a few other photos which we have adapted to fit into the criteria,” she said.
Mrs Walters also said she hopes to receive some feedback after the launch which could help them improve on their next exhibition.
Diane Larame