Seychellois Nigel Henri first artist from Africa selected to exhibit at Museum ZundorferWehrturm |15 June 2019

“It took me 20 years to get here”

Renowned local artist Nigel Henri is currently in the city of Cologne in Germany, leading a delegation of 23 people, where his artwork from over the past year will be exhibited at the Museum ZundorferWehrturm, as from tomorrow, June 16 until July 14.

While the majority of his paintings will be on sale to members of the public, the Museum will keep six of Henri’s paintings to be displayed as part of its permanent collection.

Known in Seychelles for his paintings that depict Creole culture and island life, Henri was selected to exhibit ‘the colours of Seychelles’ in three ways: the sea, the people and our heritage.

While the sea is Henri’s specialty, the collection being exhibited also shows the beauty of the Seychelles islands in other ways, including the vibrancy of the market on a Saturday morning and the colours of our local fruits and vegetables.

“It took me 20 years to get here. I have consistently been applying and it has not been easy. I had to send them my artwork every year and they have constantly been following my work. This is a big accomplishment in my career,” says Henri.

He takes the opportunity to thank the people who have believed in him including the President’s Office, Ministry of Culture, Hilton Seychelles Labriz Resort & Spa, Trois Frères Distillery – especially Mr D’Offay, Anielle Jerry – a collector of his work, Delplace Restaurant through Daniel Belle, and Francis Savy from Zil Air.

Five years ago, Henri was informed by the museum that the theme of his work would be ‘Underwater’ after having studied his artwork and deciding that this is the area in which he excels.

Henri explains that so many artists want their work to be exhibited at the Museum ZundorferWehrturm.

“The Germans associate art with heritage and artists from around the world and this particular museum has a very difficult criteria to meet,” he says.

According to Henri, the museum is mainly interested with artists over 50 years of age and with experience. They look at the artist’s curriculum vitae to see how many biennales they have attended and won, how much international exposure they have, how much of their artwork has been collected by museums and art galleries, which icons they have created that are nationally known in their countries, and their contributions to their country.

“This exhibition at Museum ZundorferWehrturm is like the Olympics for an artist. I have been part of six biennales and this is a plus. All these criteria are very important and an artist needs all this baggage in order to be selected,” says Henri.

“It is an honour for me to be selected to participate in this exhibition after all these years. This is for Seychelles and not just for me. It is not about Nigel Henri, it is about my country. It will help with marketing of Seychelles as a tourist destination, and as we know, the German market is very good here.”

“My artwork will be permanently displayed at this museum where many will visit, and my hope is that this will inspire younger artists in Seychelles.”

The accompanying photos show samples of Henri’s work being exhibited at the Museum ZundorferWehrturm in Cologne, Germany.