A general presentation of the preparations underway for the Dubai World Expo 2020, which will take place from October 20, 2020 to April 10, 2021, was held this Tuesday, November 28, at Monte Carlo Bay. The theme of Dubai World Expo 2020 is “Connecting minds, building the future.”
The Monaco State Company Inter Expo (MIE) is inviting all institutional entities in the Principality to take part in this international event which will bring together more than 180 countries and provide an important showcase for Monaco.
Albert Croesi, Managing Director of MIE and General Commissioner of the Monaco Pavilion for the Exhibition, explained: “It is Monaco in 360 degrees that we wish to highlight, and all Monegasque entities are invited to take part in the event.”
He said it’s important to develop the Pavilion project in order to provide it with a structure adapted to the needs of the exhibitors from the principality. “Monaco’s objective for this new Expo is to present to the 25 million visitors expected by the organisers, all the attractions of the Principality, still unknown in this part of the world.”
At the end of this first preparatory meeting, the President of MIE and the Order of Architects of the Principality signed a working agreement, the first partnership in the principality for Dubai World Expo 2020.
A cheque for €100,000 was presented to the Prince Albert II of Monaco Foundation by Michaël Desjardins, the organiser of Summer Dreams, at the Prince’s Palace on November 21, as the result of a fund-raising evening held earlier this year.
This year saw the Serbian violin virtuoso Nemanja Radulovic, winner of the 2014 Victoires de la Musique competition, delighting all lovers of music and the Arts with his “Double Sens” ensemble, performing in the presence of HSH Prince Albert on July 18.
The evening concert and the dinner prepared by Monaco’s Michelin-starred organic chef, Paolo Sari, were held in support of a project run jointly the Prince Albert II of Monaco Foundation and one of its long-standing partners, BirdLife International, aimed at the protection of penguins, with 10 out of 18 penguin species currently at risk of extinction.
BirdLife International, world leader in bird protection, was formed in 1922 and currently has a global network of 122 partners, non-governmental environmental organisations established in 120 countries.
Summer Dream evening events started in 2011, with the aim of bringing together, for an evening, talented personalities who sympathise with the environmental causes that the Foundation defends.
Ardmore’s Fée Halsted, Karen Shine, Catherine Berning and Roger Shine at Monaco Yacht Club. Photo: Monaco Life
For the first time in Monaco, an exhibit of South African Ardmore Ceramic Art, with more than 250 pieces for sale, is taking place at the private dining room at the Yacht Club.
With the support of Roger Shine, Lady Tina Green and Daniela Boutsen, the must-see show runs from Tuesday, November 28, until Thursday, November 30, and offers Monaco residents a chance to pick up an exquisite piece of hand-painted art – just in time for Christmas.
The selection, with its enchanting reflection of African playfulness, includes small salt and pepper cellars, large vases‚ teapots‚ trays‚ candle holders‚ butter dishes, jewellery boxes and textiles that range in price from €70 to €6,000.
A portion of the sale will be donated to the Princess Charlene of Monaco Foundation. “Over the years, I’ve bought several Ardmore pieces,” said Roger Shine, who was instrumental in bringing Ardmore to Monaco. “And since the Prince is married to Princess Charlene, who is South African and has art from Ardmore‚ I suggested an exhibition and the idea of raising money in support of the Foundation.”
Open daily from 11 am to 8 pm, visitors will also have the opportunity to meet Ardmore Ceramic founder, Fée Halsted, and her daughter Catherine Berning, who runs Ardmore Design. The family duo is as colourful and authentic as the pieces they produce, but more significantly, they are sharing the history of their country one piece of ceramic, or scarf (Ardmore has an exclusive collaboration with Hermès) at a time.
“Where I grew up in Bulawayo, Zimbabwe, there was beautiful African flora and fauna. It was so rich,” Ms Halsted told Monaco Life. “And there were all these creatures, like the pangolin, that people had never heard of, so I also became very passionate about the wildlife.”
Ms Halsted explained that Ardmore’s artists are rural people. As boys, they never had stuffed toys to play with but looking after their father’s cattle all day, working with clay became natural to them and they are skillful at sculpting.
“They would model little oxen or little farm animals in clay, but they didn’t have access to the technology to create colour. Yet you see their love for colour when you look at South African bead work, which they got from Arab traders, and masks.”
For Ms Halsted, who created Ardmore Ceramics in 1985, all this “incredible creativity” is wasted in Africa because in schools, young people are taught Math and English instead of creativity.
“I know one painter who couldn’t get paint, so he took torches to plastic waste bags to make oil colours for his paintings, the most incredible oil paintings you’ve ever seen, which shows the creativity is instinctive but they can’t afford it.”
Ardmore artists with Fée
The Ardmore School teaches future ceramists about sculpting, painting, glazing and art history. The creative process involves four stages and four people are therefore involved; it is not one artist who completes a piece from start to finish. Graduates are rewarded with a certificate.
By teaching them a skill and encouraging their imagination based on nature, Zulu folklore and tradition, Ardmore Ceramics has given South Africans a chance to be entrepreneurs and be in control of their own destiny. The Ardmore artists are paid for the work they produce.
“They have the responsibility to manage the money they’ve earned. It’s not a handout. Now people can afford cars, or a taxi service so another man earns from this. Maybe a school develops. It’s about contributing back to society.”
Ardmore also does community work in prisons. “We go there and we actually teach them ceramic skills, to preoccupy them with creativity,” explained Ms Halsted, who has a degree in Fine Arts from Natal University in Pietermaritzburg, plus a two-year postgraduate course in ceramics. “So they have a future and once they come out of prison they don’t have to be on the street.”
Ardmore’s decorative storytelling designs “celebrates life” said Ms Halsted. “I’ve seen firsthand that people’s lives are tough and hard in South Africa, where they’ve been ill with HIV and AIDS. Since 2010, we haven’t had anyone die from AIDS but I’ve lost about 40 artists from the disease – talented people who didn’t have to die.
“However, through that, South Africans embellish a fantasy world, one that has transported them out of a tough life into one of beauty.”
Described by one observer as “the most extreme form of decorative pottery I’ve even seen,” Ms Halsted hopes that Ardmore Ceramics, of which each piece is individually hand-signed by the artist, will “transport you to another culture”.
Indeed it will. As you will discover this week at the Yacht Club.
The Ardmore Ceramic Art exhibition in support of the Princess Charlene Foundation is open to the public. It runs from Tuesday, November 28, until Thursday, November 30, 11 am to 8 pm, at the Yacht Club’s private dining room. Article first published November 28, 2017.
Monaco celebrates Saint Cecilia, patron Saint of musicians
Monaco’s musicians were welcomed in Monaco City Hall to celebrate the Feast of Saint Cecilia, which is celebrated in the Principality on the Sunday following National Day, November 19. A mass in the Cathedral preceded a procession through Monaco Ville of the Principality’s musicians.
It was during the fifth century that the popularity of Saint Cecilia began to develop in Rome, when her name appears in the prayers of the Mass. According to Don Lanciarez, a parish priest of Monaco in the eighteenth century, the Saint was the “patroness of musicians” in Monaco, but there is no documented evidence of a particular cult around the Saint.
A certain solemnity to the Feast was given in Monaco when the priest-composer Louis-Lazare Perruchot created the Choir of the Cathedral in 1930, and Sainte Cecilia remains the Patron Saint for the Principality’s musicians and musicians.
A statuette commemorating the Saint by the artist Zagone sits at the corner of rue Emile de Loth and the Church.
The Minister of State received 30 students from eight selected countries on Monday, November 27, to work on issues related to the digital development of the Principality and propose innovative solutions. The partnership links the association Matrice and the Government, with the support of entrepreneur Xavier Niel.
The Principality wanted to set up this partnership with the ambition of bringing together students from different backgrounds to think about ways to design and develop a Smart City in Monaco. The first period, a 15-day immersion period, is intended for them to get to know the country, where they will put themselves “in the shoes of a tourist”.
Serge Telle said he believes that “digital is a key issue for the Principality and represents a unique opportunity to develop according to the values of the Sovereign Prince, such as sustainable development, and an opportunity also to position Monaco as an innovative player in sectors that are dear to him, especially tourism.”
The Minister added that the programme aims to gradually develop a significant amount of digital potential and to make Monaco an exemplary state in the field.
Martice is an association École 42, a training program without courses and without teachers whose objective is to transmit the spirit of entrepreneurship and innovation to the students, so that they bring ingenious and new answers to the various problems of the society in the digital age.
HSH Prince Albert II has announced the participation of World Champions Katerina Stefanidi and Mutaz Essa Barshim for the next edition of Herculis EBS, which will take place on July 20, 2018.
The announcement was made during a cocktail organised to celebrate the success of the 2017 edition, the scene of the last victory of Usain Bolt.
Both athletes said they were excited to be the first athletes announced for Herculis EBS 2018. Katerina Stefanidi commented: “I can’t wait to be back in Monaco to compete in 2018, I grew up watching this meet and it was a dream of mine to be on the track at Stade Louis II since I first began jumping.”
Mutaz Barshim added: “I’m happy to be back to meeting Herculis EBS. I Love this place, as there is always good weather, spectators are really supportive, and the meeting is well organised. Next year I plan on something remarkable, at least the meeting record.”
Katerina Stefanidi was crowned World Champion of Pole Vault in London with a National Record (and world lead) of 4.91m, and completed her unbeaten streak this past summer by winning the IAAF Diamond League at the Memorial Van Damme in Brussels. She is now the holder of all major outdoor titles (Olympic Champion in Rio and European Champion in Amsterdam in 2016).
Mutaz Essa Barshim was also undefeated this summer, including a victorious jump at the IAAF World Championships in August and the IAAF Diamond League title in Weltklasse Zurich. Barshim owns the current high jump world lead with 2.40m, jumped during Birmingham Muller Grand Prix, and most important the current Diamond League record with a jump of 2.43m (second best performer of all-time).
