CHENNAI: A melting pot of diverse cultures, art from Reunion Island is spiced with influences from those who have made this speck of an island in the Indian Ocean their home. The island’s rich and vibrant culture speaks for itself through the works of her artistes displayed at Apparao Gallery.
The expo titled, The Reunion Island: Earth Offshore, bears witness to a culture built on the island’s mixed origins of Indian, African, Malagasy and European cultures.
Presented by Bonjour India, the gallery showcases the work of seven artistes. Stefan Barniche, a graduate from Paris Fine Arts School displayed a collage of his photographs.
“It’s about the balance between chaos and order. I want to be both an artisan and artist,” Stefan says.
The works also include videography by few artistes. Yohann who lives and works between Paris and Le Tampon, points out his video presentation of a lady who is seen with her eyes closed listening to a speech. Yohann explains that the voice is that of the lady’s. “I spoke to the lady and recorded her experiences, her difficulties in life and about the island and after a few days I visited her again and played the same tape to which she listened with her eyes closed,” says Yohann.
Jack Beng-Thi’s works are a bit difficult to understand at first sight. As the lady explains, “I’ve sketched the invisible.
There is always something behind our imagination and we can’t see those invisible things and I tried to sketch those lines.” “The exhibition invites us to discover the artiste’s creative imagination through their works, enhanced by their sense of utopia, humour and caricature. The expo raises questions concerning multiple identities,” says Francine Meoule, curator. The expo will be on till February 4.