Members of the public are invited to view a new collection of clothing, jewellery and handbags at the Carrefour des Arts.

The works, set under the brand name of Kaju, are the creations of young Seychellois Juliette Zelime.

Kaju is a brand created by Miss Zelime, who has also adopted the artist name of Jadez – a combination of her first name and surname, and jade which is a precious stone.

The brand’s motto is Living it the island way while the logo is a combination of elements from Seychelles and from China where she has spent five years studying.

Kaju was officially launched on Wednesday at the Carrefour des Arts by the Minister for Social Development and Culture Bernard Shamlaye.

Those present included principal secretary for culture Raymonde Onezime, chief executive of the National Arts Council (Nac) Benjamine Rose, family and friends.

The exhibition aims to communicate visually the traditional, cultural and environmental values of Seychelles.

Aspects of the Creole tradition are being exhibited in forms such as the Lalanp, Zedmo and Jodiac collections.

Miss Zelime has dedicated the Jodiac collection to the Seychellois children and aims to portray cultural and environmental values.

The Lalanp collection is dedicated to Seychelles’ traditional history, which Miss Zelime said she hopes it will shine just like the lamps used to light up our grandparents’ darkest nights.

“For the Zedmo collection, I wanted to revive zedmo and give it its real value in a modern way,” she said.

Addressing those present, Mr Shamlaye said Seychellois artists and designers have the talent, can work hard and can produce top quality services and products. Therefore they must be supported and encouraged.

“We hope Kaju will be one of the several brands that will ensure the kind of creative and aesthetic products that small business entrepreneurs will put on the market to enhance the image of Seychelles, as well as the culture and identity of our people,” he said.

“It is important to ensure that whatever we produce is not only of high marketable quality, but also respects and abides by the terms of our legislation on copyright.”

Mr Shamlaye called on the local business community to ensure that the products or services they are promoting, fully respect the intellectual property rights of other artists, and abide by the copyright laws of Seychelles.

The Ministry of Social Development and Culture in collaboration with the Nac have undertaken a mapping exercise to determine the state of small creative business operations by artists, designers and craft persons.

This is to prepare for the development of a Creative Industry Policy with the help of United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (Unesco). The Seychelles Heritage Foundation, Small Enterprise Promotion Agency and other partners.
He said Kaju is an initiative by a young designer to engage in this new development of our creative industries that will promote new artistic creations.

Miss Zelime said it took her one year to work on the project and the idea came after seeing the need for such products locally.

“We need to promote and preserve our culture and as an artist I have seen that it is important to include such aspects in our work,” she said.

The exhibition will remain open until March 5, 2012 and her collections will be on sale in a souvenir shop at the Natural History Museum.

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