• John Wirtz and Marie-Thérèse Choppy win Life Achievement awards
John Wirtz and Marie-Thérèse Choppy were presented with the Life Achievement Award on Saturday by President Danny Faure.
This was during the Seychelles Arts Awards (SAA) which took place at the International Conference Centre Seychelles (ICCS).
The award ceremony hosted by the National Arts Council (NAC) has been relaunched after it was last held 11 years ago. It is now expected to take place every two years.
Its aim is to reward artists who have excelled in their particular field.
Mr Wirtz stated that such an award is a symbol of what he has contributed to the local art industry in Seychelles.
“I am pleased to have been rewarded with such an amazing award, which proves that I contributed significantly to the local music industry in Seychelles. Throughout my career I was able to bring joy, and make people smile,” he said.
On her side, a very emotional Mrs Choppy added that arts can change the world.
“I was not expecting such an award, but I am truly honoured to have been selected for the life achievement award. Such platform will give encouragement to other artists to produce better work and provide good work to the community,” she said.
During the ceremony where all artists came together under one roof, other talented musicians, entertainers were also rewarded.
Those rewarded are: Daniella Rose (dance category); Santasha Hoareau (fashion category); Raymond Clarisse (filming and audio visual); Maggie Faure Vidot (literature); Jean-Marc Volcy (music); Eddy Thelemaque (music production); Urny Mathiot (photography); Joseph Sinon (theatre); Leon Radegonde (visual arts).
There was also an award for a young promising artist and this went to
Isham Rath, who has dedicated the award to all young artists from Seychelles from all fields of art.
“Such award will give inspiration to other youths to achieve their dreams, with hard work and motivation everything is possible in life,” he said.
Two other artists rewarded for their hard work on that night are Brian Matombé for traditional music which is dedicated to all artists involved in traditional music, and Jerry Freminot who was rewarded for tradition, which is dedicated to all artists involved in tradition and craftsmanship arts.
There were also prizes for artists who took part in the 2017 Biennale.
The grand prize went to George Camille, the award for most innovative artist went to Danielle Dodin, prominent local artist award went to Francesca Chang-Him, and prominent international artist award went to Aarpirp Zaverie from India.
The selection committee for such award were Speaker Patrick Pillay, John Pool (Etienne), the principal secretary for culture Cecile Kalebi, Patrick Hoareau, Barbara Coopoosamy, Gabriel Essack, Lindy Servina and MNA Charles de Commarmond.
The accompanying photos show some of the award winners. It is to be noted that some of them were not present and their awards were collected by a representative.
Source : Seychelles NATION