New institute to protect culture in Seychelles to launch Saturday

The new institute will emphasise preservation, promotion and cultural development, creativity and innovation. (Seychelles Nation)

(Seychelles News Agency) - A new institute to ensure stability, continuity and permanence in the development and management of the culture sector in Seychelles will be launched on Saturday as part of activities to mark the Creole Festival.

The National Assembly approved a bill creating the Seychelles National Institute for Culture, Heritage and the Arts earlier this week.

In presenting the bill, Vice President Ahmed Afif said that "the new structure marks another step in our efforts to ensure that culture is managed differently where Seychellois citizens take responsibility for their culture."

"The new institute will emphasise preservation, promotion and cultural development, creativity and innovation. Its principal objective is for us to make it our duty to become guardian of our heritage," said the Vice President.

The Institute will be an independent body and like all such institutions will fall under the President of Seychelles, Wavel Ramkalawan. The launch of the Institute on Saturday will be part of the activities being organised as part of the 36th edition of the Seychelles Creole Festival.

"It will be managed by a secretary general who will represent the cultural sector at the highest level in government and will be appointed by the President from proposals made by representatives of different sectors in the cultural sector," said Afif.

The Vice President said that the institute presents an opportunity to energise the Seychelles' cultural sector and create an environment for artists to create their own opportunities.  

He added that with the new institute there will be changes in other bodies dealing with culture, heritage and the arts in Seychelles, an archipelago in the western Indian Ocean.

The Seychelles Heritage Foundation will become the National Council for the Management of National Heritage and will be responsible for the preservation and protection and development of cultural heritage including the management of all monuments.

Another change will be in the National Arts Council which will extend its mandate to cover artisanal and hence renamed the National Arts and Artisanal Council. The Seychelles Conservatory of Performing Arts will fall under the new council.

The Creative Industries and National Events Agency (CINEA) will become Creative Seychelles and its mandate will be to develop the cultural creative industry which Afif said is one that brings the most revenue in many countries.

The International Creole Institute will now become the Seychelles Creole Academy and its main function will be to continuously work to develop, promote and safeguard our Creole language.

"The Creole culture has an important place in the lives of Seychellois to keep the unity among us with all our diversity, our origin, beliefs education and other difference. We must be conscious of our fragility in the face of external pressures and make it our duty as Seychellois, all of us together preserve our cultural identity that make us proud as Creole people," said Afif.