SEYCHELLES BIENNALE 2022

SEYCHELLES BIENNALE

LOST AND FOUND
Byenal Sesel 2022 / Seychelles Biennale of Contemporary Art 2022 / Biennale de l’Art Contemporain des Seychelles 2022
From 31 July until 28 August 2022

The Seychelles Biennale of Contemporary Art 2022 is an initiative of the National Arts and Crafts Council of Seychelles (NACC). The committee is made up of the chief executive of the NACC Jimmy Savy, curator Martin Kennedy, co-curator Vivienne Croisée and head of jury,  Seychellois artist and winner of the 2017 biennale Georges Camille.

This third Byenal Sesel catalogue is the final record of the Biennale narrative, which began in 2019 and continued through the ‘Lockdown’ edition, published in 2020, to finally achieve full realisation at six venues on Mahe and Praslin in August 2022. Together, these three publications serve as a comprehensive archive of both virtual and physical manifestations of the ‘Lost and Found’ theme, which served as a ‘trigger’ for concepts and development during the period 2019 – 2022.

During this time many artists modified their original ideas, indeed some chose to throw out their initial plans and – in the light of the pandemic experience – start afresh. These were not only acceptable deviations from concepts originally posted pre-COVID-19, they were welcomed, encouraged and endorsed by the curators. The new collection of works exhibited in August 2022 reflects the experiences of the pandemic and, we believe, has made the final Biennale a stronger exhibition.