Black and White

Last Friday, we went to a painting exhibition by two artists, one we'd heard of, one we hadn't. Exhibitions are extremely rare in Mayotte, as are any forms of what is pompously described as "culture". No theatre or drama representations, no cinema, very little art of any sort. I didn't go to that many exhibitions in France as it was, but here, there are so few that it's worth getting out of the house to see what's going on.

Baba M'Baye is an abstract painter from Senegal who now lives and works in Mayotte. His work was very colourful, with bold shapes, interesting to look at. He seemed young and spoke clearly when it was his turn to give a speech. A friend of ours, called Emilie, knew him already and took us round the exhibition, pointing out all the "wonderful things" he had done.

  

Marcel Séjour is a French painter who has done several jobs over the years and is now an English teacher. He paints two different ways : either in colour, sometimes in his workshop, sometimes underwater with a solid easel and an oxygen bottle, or in black and white with small touches of colour. He said in his speech that painting that way helps to bring out the "rustic" side of Mayotte without making it seem sordid, and these paintings actually do resemble what's around us most of the time... he's just taken the rubbish out. He's in his fifties, a gravelly smoker's voice, certainly seemed nice enough.

 

Baba M'Baye and Marcel Séjour

Comments

[Severine]

Merci, Philippe, de m'avoir envoyé le lien du blog. Je me suis régalée des histoires! J'aime beaucoup ces peintures en contraste noir-blanc et couleur.

À bientôt! Par mail :-)