Madagascar Exhibition

The Guernsey Overseas Aid & Development Commission is partnering with Art for Guernsey to provide an exhibition on the impact of the Commission’s work in Madagascar. The exhibition will be open to the public from Wednesday 5th June to Saturday 13 th July on the upper floor of the Art for Guernsey Gallery in Mansell Street.

The mixed media exhibition will include displays of artisan Malagasy marquetry and needlework, alongside information on Commission-funded projects undertaken in Madagascar by UK-registered charities, including SEED Madagascar, Feedback Madagascar and The Adsum Foundation. The exhibition seeks to raise awareness of the work of the Commission in general and the importance of supporting sustainable development in the developing world. In particular, visitors to the exhibition will be able to better understand the focused projects being undertaken on the ground to support disadvantaged communities in Madagascar.

Madagascar is the 177th least developed country out of 193 on the United Nation’s Human Development Index, making it one of the poorest countries in the world. Its geographical position makes it the fourth most vulnerable country in the world to climate change, recurrently hit by droughts and cyclones that are having increasingly alarming effects on its already high levels of poverty. With 74% of the population working in agriculture (Madagascar is the world’s largest producer of vanilla), as well as a large population subsistence farming, the regular devastation of crops resulting from these events is one of the principal reasons that 71% of the Madagascan population lives below the poverty line.

Upon meeting local resident Madvi Harchad, who was born in Madagascar, the Commission gratefully accepted her very kind offer to visit some of the Commission’s funded projects when she was next visiting Madagascar. During a week’s self-funded journey over rough terrain Madvi visited and documented visits to a number of rural primary schools. The video and photos collected form part of the exhibition and provide a powerful first-hand lens through which to experience the beauty of Madagascar and the essential work being undertaken to support local communities.

During its time in the gallery, the exhibition will be visited by groups of primary schoolchildren who will be encouraged to take part in needlework and collage activities, creating pictures of Guernsey which will then be shared with schoolchildren in Madagascar, strengthening the islands’ connection and teaching them about compassion and being world citizens.

The exhibition also aligns with Art for Guernsey’s African Guernsey Community Project, which will be running for four weeks on the ground floor of the gallery. That exhibition will display photographic portraits by Aaron Yeandle, which celebrate the island’s African community and honour the rich diversity it has brought to our island.

Deputy Chris Blin, President of the Overseas Aid and Development Commission, commented: “It is wonderful that Art for Guernsey and the Overseas Aid & Development Commission have taken this opportunity to work together on such a worthwhile project. Meeting Madvi was auspicious timing and I’d like to thank her for her generosity in dedicating a week of her Madagascar trip to visiting our projects at no cost to the Commission. The media she shared and her collection of artwork has formed the basis of the exhibition. Her visit also reminds us of how important the work of the Commission is, showing that the projects we fund have tangible benefits for real people. The traditional artwork included in the exhibition is symbolic of the rich culture that, in aiding sustainable development of the island, can be preserved for future generations of Malagasy people. I hope islanders find the time to come and view the exhibition, as it is thanks to the Guernsey public that we have the opportunity to help those less fortunate than ourselves. Thank you also to Art for Guernsey for their facilitation and expert curation of this powerful exhibition.”

Jock Pettitt, Curation Director at Art for Guernsey, said: “We have been in dialogue about the opportunity to reflect on the aid provided by the Guernsey public through the Commission for several years, keen to shine a light on the work undertaken globally and having opportunity to do so with a focus on projects in Madagascar, to provide aid in water, schools and other invaluable projects. Meeting a Guernsey resident, Madvi Harchad, who comes from Madagascar gave us the opportunity to see her return to her home country and experience the projects first hand, which only heightened our appreciation of the value of the work undertaken. We also discovered the creativity of the artisan producers in these same communities and thought this would be a wonderful way to connect with the human side of the stories, using art to connect communities, as we have done repeatedly through our history at Art for Guernsey.

“We have been seeking the best platform to showcase Madvi’s findings and reports, to shine a light on the funding providing by the Commission, and the work of the charities who are delivering projects on the ground, and with the African Guernsey Community Project exhibiting in the main gallery space, the timing couldn’t be better, with the welcome extended to the African community in Guernsey complimented by the support the Guernsey community is providing on the ground in Africa.”