EDEN ART SPACE 2018 – RECENT DEVELOPMENTS AND UPCOMING EVENTS
Pop in for a coffee and a browse of the latest Affordable
Art show, which runs into the new year. By the way, the main reason for writing
this is that now we have to purchase a coffee machine, something which
is long overdue.
There are other recent purchases which we are happy to tell
you about;
·
A 65” television monitor and DVD player. We will
use this to showcase the short films featuring Seychelles artists (see below)
as well as promote other gallery events.
·
Shelving units for the office area. This sounds
boring – actually it IS quite boring – but necessary to efficiently store
books, equipment, art works, crisps, booze and – soon – coffee.
·
A new colour printer (A4) for administrative
stuff.
We recently collaborated with the National Arts Council for the Seychelles Art Festival across a number of activities:
·
We participated in the recent cultural policy
workshops.
·
We co-ran the current visual art show
·
We organised a number of events (artists working in the gallery, artists' talks, movie screenings etc) to celebrate the NAC Arts
Festival.
This collaboration is likely to continue with a fresh focus
on next year's Seychelles Biennale. Scheduled for November, this event will
probably see the main Biennale exhibitions staged on Eden Island, with free bus
transfers from Victoria to enable easy access for art lovers. This is because
the National Gallery will be closed for renovations for the foreseeable future.
Our gallery is a primary alternative for exhibitions by artists working in
Seychelles as well as their international peers.
Our next major show at the Eden Art Space Gallery
Will be a solo exhibition by GabrieleSchnitzenbaumer, who visits and works in Seychelles every year and has been doing so for decades. The exhibition will mark the artist's 80th birthday. We have seen some of the work and can confirm that this show will give residents and visitors the opportunity to see truly stunning 2D and 3D pieces. This second international artist show (the first was Laura Jacobs earlier this year) will have a serious impact on the cultural landscape in Seychelles; something to really look forward to. |
| Gabriele Schnitzenbaumer |
Later in 2019 we will host a solo exhibition by Praslin artist Sheila Markham, another wonderful prospect. Later still we will proudly exhibit work by Jude Ally and Birgitt Lübkemann, alongside ongoing group shows.
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| Sheila Markham |
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| Jude Ally |
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| Birgitt Lübkemann |
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| Birgitt Lübkemann |
MORE ABOUT THE GALLERY....
WHAT WE SHOW AND WHY
People often ask about the gallery's exhibitions policy.
Many artists are unclear regarding the criteria for exhibiting – in fact even
members of the Steering Committee are sometimes baffled by this tricky subject.
This is why we have devised a clear and simply set of policy guidelines, which
can be summarised as follows:
Q. What kind of work should the gallery exhibit?
A. To a point, any, however the over-riding issue for the
selection of work is, and will always remain, one of quality. The conceptual
values, technical skill and integrity of the artist will always be at the top
of our list of considerations.
Q. Who decides which work gets to be shown?
A. We have a gallery sub committee chaired by Christine
Harter so she and her colleagues have a great deal of influence on the
selection of work, however all Steering Committee members have inputs into this
issue.
Q. What gives anyone the right to judge the work of another
artist?
A. A good question – and one which we have grappled with and
find problematic, however in common with all private and public galleries
someone has to take responsibility for making decisions on quality and to shirk
this would be unprofessional. We are always happy to debate issues of
acceptability with artists and we do not claim to be the final 'experts' on
matters of aesthetics – just the people who are charged with making such
decisions.
Q. What about craft?
A. We will exhibit work that would be classified as 'craft'
as long as it meets the criteria described above. In the end, as with 'fine'
art, it's all about quality.
Q. OK, I'm an artist and I think that my work is good enough
to place in the Eden Art Space – what now?
A. You're welcome to contact either MM or MG to arrange to
bring your work to the gallery. Their contact details can be found at the end
of this newsletter.
MCB 'BIG DRAW' EVENT
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| Big Draw 2017 |
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| Big Draw 2017 |
If you are a secondary school art teacher and would like
your students to be involved please contact Martin Kennedy, Arterial Chairman,
directly on 2518640.
CAN THE CULTURE FUND HELP YOU?
The funds available for arts organisations is capped at a higher level and Arterial will be working on something once the festive season is behind us.
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| Andy Warhol |
ARTERIAL AND THE Alliance française
We will be working with Emily Motu the new and fabulous Directrice of
the Alliance Française Seychelles on a number of projects during the next two
years.
Ms Motu attended our last Steering Committee meeting and together we agreed to prioritise the following:
Ms Motu attended our last Steering Committee meeting and together we agreed to prioritise the following:
1.
International exhibitions of Seychellois artists
across the Indian Ocean Francophone region (and possibly beyond...)
2.
Francophone film makers running workshops in
film and cinema/AV in Seychelles.*
3.
Ditto for photographers, of which we have more
than a few very good ones in the Seychelles.
4.
Residencies in schools and SIAD
5.
Possible access to the French Institute in Mauritius project: 2020, which would
provide access to artworks made by prominent 20th century artists
which are then exhibited in 'conversation' format with works by local artists.
Picasso showing next to Marc Luc in Seychelles? It could happen!
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| Eden Boats - By Marc Luc |
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| Dora Maar Seated - Pablo Picasso |
· Interestingly enough the development of cinema and film/AV creativity is one of the priorities for Africa wide cultural planning identified at the African Union Cultural Plan of Action discussed at the recent conference on Mahe.
ZURICH 2019
Arterial has been invited to co-organise (with Seychelles’ honorary consul general in Switzerland, Dr Otto
C. Meier-Boeschenstein) an exhibition of Seychelles art in Zurich,
Switzerland. This event will consolidate, extend and update the presentation of
Seychelles work first shown in Zurich in 2009.
Artists reading this are invited to get in touch with
Arterial and express their interest in participating in the Zurich show. It is
hoped that a number of artists will be sponsored to travel to Switzerland for
the opening. The criteria for selection includes artists whose work exemplifies
aspects of Seychelles culture, history, tradition and aspiration.
So – if you are keen to participate, please don't just sit
back and do nothing about it – get in touch HERE and we'll take things forwards.
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| Gallerie Le Sud 2009 opening Seychelles exhibition. |
EAT, DRINK AND BE MERRY
Anyone can throw a party at this time of the year but it
takes Arterial courage to throw one at the end of January, when everyone's
broke and facing a new year. So all members are warmly invited to attend a
members' social event at the Eden Art Space Gallery on Friday 1st February. 2019.
Wine and snacks will be provided as well as a short film
treat and possibly some live music.
We will also be continuing with a 'movie night' programme in
2019, showing 'art films' in the gallery for members. More details on this to
follow.
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| Actor Nick Nolte playing the part of celebrated abstract painter named Lionel Dobie in Martin Scorsese's New York Stories |
THE BBC VISITS EDEN ART SPACE
A film crew and presenter Jason Dunford from the BBC World 'SmartMoney' show came to the gallery during the arts festival and interviewed Martin
Kennedy along with Isham Rath, who was in gallery participating in the short residence programme run as part of the Seychelles Arts Festival in association with the NAC.
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| BBC World - Smart Money, Filming at Eden Art Space Gallery. |
AND FINALLY.....
Feel free to get involved with Arterial Network. We can help artists in
a number of ways, from direct assistance with printing limited edition works up
to enormous sizes, to providing accurate and helpful advice on pensions.
As with all ANS-related matters, your first step towards enlightenment
is to email Michelle Griffiths, ANS Operations Manager on arterialseychelles@gmail.com or contact us thru our Facebook page HERE
AND FINALLY FINALLY....
As a group of creative workers artists are notoriously inept at making
provision for the future. We tend to exist from one sale to the next, or
subsidise our creative work with a part time or teaching job. Arterial has been
working with Seychelles Pension Fund in order to encourage independent artists
to join the SPF scheme if they have not already done so.
This is not a trick to discover your tax status by the way, but rather to help you make sensible and ultimately beneficial decisions about your future finances. ANS is happy to provide printed guidance at the Eden Art Space – just pop in and collect the information you need. We can also arrange for you to receive confidential advice on your pension status.
This is not a trick to discover your tax status by the way, but rather to help you make sensible and ultimately beneficial decisions about your future finances. ANS is happy to provide printed guidance at the Eden Art Space – just pop in and collect the information you need. We can also arrange for you to receive confidential advice on your pension status.
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