Club Med and Creative Seychelles Agency agree to showcase artists' work

The agreement was signed by the executive director of the Creative Seychelles Agency, Emmanuel D'Offay (right) and Youssef Tobrouki, the resort's general manager. (Creative Seychelles Agency) 

The Creative Seychelles Agency, a state-owned entity promoting the arts, has signed an agreement with Club Med resort Seychelles to provide an additional platform to showcase Seychellois artists' work.

The agreement was signed at the Agency's headquarters at the International Conference Centre in Victoria on Thursday morning.

The executive director of the Creative Seychelles Agency, Emmanuel D'Offay, told reporters that "this will help develop a link where Seychellois artists benefit, we get training from Club Med and they bring the Creole culture to Club Med."

Under the agreement, Seychellois artists will be able to take part in Club Med activities as of January 2023.

Youssef Tobrouki, the resort's general manager said, "It was important for us to explain our establishment's concept which is very different from others. The local culture is what we are giving our clients – which is what our clients are looking for."

He added that a large majority of Club Med clients are from the European market and they want to learn and discover the Seychelles culture. While the resort has events planned for its clients there is one day in the week that is specifically set aside to celebrate the local culture.

With the agreement, Seychellois artists will now audition to ensure that they conform to the establishment's criteria.

Club Med Seychelles, a 5-star luxury eco-resort that offers visitors a unique concept of a village experience, opened its doors in Seychelles in April 2021. The establishment has a packed entertainment calendar for its clients, which ranges from watching the sunset with a DJ playing music in the background to live bands.

Tobrouki said that "through the talks with CSA Club Med has already outlined its needs and will put all the mechanisms in place to get the ball rolling. The initial feedback we will get from artists who come to Club Med as well as their clients will help improve the programme."

A local music group, Relations Band, is already working with the tourism establishment.

"With this agreement, there will be a structure as to how we can employ the artists for our various events," said Tobrouki.

D'Offay said that the agreement with Club Med is the first step and the Agency aims to do the same with the other hotels found in the country.

"We want Seychellois musicians to be able to perform in hotels and also ensure that the establishments pay their copyright dues," he explained.

He added that the next step in the agreement with the tourism establishment is for Club Med to start paying royalties to Seychelles Authors and Composers Society (SACS).

The SACS is a non-state internationally recognised organisation responsible for collecting copyright fees for its 135 members.

"We want the country to benefit as well as the artists from a cultural perspective and that musicians are better able to take part in events hotels hold and gain more visibility for their work," he added.

Meanwhile, as the agreement is part of CSA initiative to continually market Seychelles artists overseas, as of next week an expert will be training the first group on how to draft their biographies.

"This way when anyone contacts us looking for artists in specific disciplines, we will have their information available," said D'Offay.