A rendezvous between French and PNG cultures
By SAMSON KENDEMAN
AN exhibition showing different trends of PNG contemporary art portraying French art from the 19th to early 20th centuries opened at Waigani yesterday.
Titled “Inspire/Inspired: French Artists inspire Papua New Guinean Artists, the exhibit showcases 20 pieces of art work by PNG artists based on the work of French artists.
The PNG artists chose artwork they found inspiring and created a new one reflecting their own emotions, style and culture. In doing so, they assumed that cultural exchanges benefit everyone.
The exhibition at the Melanesian Institute of Arts and Communication (MIAC) was officially opened by French Ambassador to PNG, Patrick Boursin who described the collection as an excellent innovative idea.
“It is a good example of cultural dialogue interpretation by arts from PNG of masterpieces from French Art, result is really amazing and interesting which shows talent of PNG artists”, he said.
The PNG artists selected the French art work for different reasons, either it was a technical challenge or the theme was appealing or because the colours or the style reflected their own preoccupations.
Their reactions and interpretations of French masterpieces were as diverse as artist personalities. Nevertheless, one can distinguish four main trends: a “Melanesianization” of the original painting, a stylistic encounter, an iconographic inspiration and a poetic inspiration.
The amazing transformation of Degas “Etoile” by Tom Deko is amazing. While the original painting was depicting a ballet dancer practicing back stage (MusČe d’Orsay, Paris), Tom Deko delineate a vigorous female dancer from Milne Bay flying in an abstract setting.
Oscar Towa chose an “icon” of French portraits of the 19th century, the famous portrait of Madame Moitessier by Ingres (National Gallery, London).
Mr Towa proposed two successive versions; the first remained quite faithful to the representation of a lavish aristocrat of the mid 19th century. Madame Moitessier sits in a fascinating gown adorned with multicoloured flowers and intricate trimmings and embroidery.
In paying such attention to details, the French painter was willing to draw for eternity a social portrait in which the character of the person was not so much a matter of psychology than a matter of social symbols.
In the second and final version, the astonishing silk gown is retained but the jewellery is replaced by shell adornments reflecting pride and power in Simbu society.
A very moving interpretation of Delacroix “La LibertČ guidant le peuple” (MusČe du Louvre, Paris) representing a mix of allegory and historical event of the second French Revolution (July 1830) was made by Bunesito Thaross.
The original painting depicts Liberty, incarnated by a beautiful half naked woman, leading the population of Paris to its liberation from humiliation after the unfair and intransigent regime set up by King Charles X.
MIAC director Daniel Waswas, said the show is particularly about PNG artists using their own images to be similar to the French Old Masters.
The show is being organized by the French Alliance together with MIAC and will run for a month.
Those who interested to see can to Art Gallery, (former Faculty of Creative Arts), at the University of PNG.
Alliance francaise director, Nicholas Garnier, said the Inspire/Inspired is the result of a program developed by the Alliance franĮaise de Port Moresby to encourage cultural ties between France and PNG.
Since the program was launched in 2004, the Alliance franĮaise de Port Moresby organized 14 exhibitions dedicated to PNG artists. These occasions have fostered good relations between the Alliance franĮaise and a number of PNG artists.
“During our partnership with artists, we noticed that many of them were eager to be informed of what was happening in visual arts outside PNG and the Pacific. We then discovered that PNG was lacking documentation concerning contemporary creative arts”, Mr. Garnier said.
Thanks to the dedication and the generosity of many important French cultural institutions, we have built a documentation centre well furnished in terms of contemporary art, he said.
His private and public donors include the MusČe National du Moyen-Age, the university Le Frenois, The Ecole Nationale supČrieure des Beaux-Arts de Paris, the Ecole Nationale SupČrieure des Arts des Paris-Cergy, the MusČe de l’Hospice Saint-Roch (Issoudun), the MusČe Cantini (Marseilles), the MusČe des arts africains, amČrindiens et OcČaniens (Marseilles), the MusČe du Quai Branly, the RČunion des MusČes Nationaux, the MusČe National du Ch‚teau de Versailles, the MusČes de la ville de Paris, the MusČe national de Malmaison.
Starting from a collection of a dozen art books in 2003, over 300 art books are now available. The collection covers over 2000 years of French art with a particular highlight on modern art and the 20th century avant-gardes.
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