Alain St.Ange, the Seychelles Minister responsible for Tourism and Culture, said as he toured the “True Colours” Arts Exhibition at the Arts Gallery of the National Cultural Centre that the School of Visual Arts needed to be congratulated for staging an excellent exhibition that brings to life on canvas the diversity that makes Seychelles the tourism destination with a difference. Minister St.Ange, who was being accompanied by his PS for Culture, Benjamine Rose, said that the different exhibits showed the eye for detail by the island’s artists. “Yes our artists have talent, but more importantly they have all been able to bring out sights and colors we too often take for granted. The exhibition is worth a visit by all who admire Seychellois art,” said Minister St.Ange.
It was PS Benjamine Rose who had the pleasure and honor to speak at the official opening of the exhibition. PS Rose said: “I am very pleased to be here today to have the opportunity to say a few words about this exhibition entitled โTrue Colours.โ The Ministry of Tourism and Culture, the Department of Culture, supports such initiatives and will continue to work with the School of Visual Arts to help promote and showcase the skills of not just the students, but the teachers as well. This venue was especially put in place to be used as a platform for all artists to exhibit and display their artwork, and today, we are happy to see that artists, through the National Arts Council are making good use of this space.
โAs a Ministry, we remain committed to continue exploring different avenues to ensure the continuity of this cultural and artistic revival that has started in Seychelles. We urge artists to remain united and focused, as it is only as a united group which will enable you to move forward and enjoy the harvest of your labor.
โStanding before me today are some talented artists, teachers, and friends who are still giving their best. These wonderful people are my friends where I had the chance to be involved with them at the then College of the Arts in the late 1990s where I first started my career as a fashion instructor. Iโve witnessed the passion and devotion that the staff of the School of Visual Arts invested in their works. They are not just good artists but good mentors for their students; they have the ability not just to teach a subject but to impact the love for arts to these students. Deep inside I am an artist, too, and I will never stop being an artist at heart, because I believe art has a great power. No matter what form of art is being manifested, either a painting, a film, a sculpture, or a play, it allows expression of feelings and communications; it connects people through an invisible force and brings out the happiness in each one of us.
โArt is a great leveler; it can draw outsiders into an artistic world and give them the chance to experience a more holistic world. Art ties people together and is the best medium of sincere expressions. If we look around us, โTrue Colours,โ the title of this exhibition speaks for itself. These wonderful works we are seeing today tell a story, it may not be a conscious story, it may be an imaginary story, it may be a wonderful manifestation of love, but there will be something in each artwork which reveals to us a glimpse of information about the artist.
โOn this note, I would like to thank all my friends, all the artists for sharing a little bit of themselves with us, and I have the greatest pleasure of declaring this exhibition open.โ