As part of a whistle-stop American tour, Prince Albert II visited the nation’s capital of Washington DC to take in two exhibitions: one revolving around his mother and the other a photographic exhibition put on by the US branch of the Prince Albert II Foundation.
Early on his trip this month, Prince Albert was invited to attend a photo exhibit at the Hall of States put on by the American wing of his Foundation, the Monaco Embassy in Washington D.C and the Kennedy Center, under the theme of Man – Wildlife: Crossed Destinies, Shared Territories.
Kathleen Ricker, winner of the 2021 Environmental Photography Prize for her photo Gorilla by the Water, was invited to the event and had the opportunity to speak with the prince.
Prince Albert was escorted by Denise Campbell Bauer, the Ambassador of the United States to France and Monaco, Maguy Maccario Doyle, the Ambassador of the Principality of Monaco to the United States and Canada, and Rufus Gifford, Chief of Protocol of the US Department of State.
Photo credit: Zaid Hamid / Embassy of Monaco
Afterward, the Prince was treated to another exhibition on 2nd November: Grace of Monaco, Princess in Dior, at the Hillwood Museum. The show, which was first presented in 2019 at the Christian Dior Museum in Granville, made its North American debut in this beautiful institution founded by businesswoman, philanthropist and collector Marjorie Merriweather Post.
The exhibit portrays the unique relationship forged between the Princess and the former artistic director of Dior, Marc Bohan, through clothing, accessories and photos.
Prince Albert II and Princess Charlene joined award-winning theatre, dance, and film artists in New York on Thursday for the Princess Grace Awards, where Princess Charlene also revealed the new Grace Diamond necklace to the world.
The Princess Grace Foundation USA Awards ceremony was held at the glorious 583 Park Avenue, an historic building from 1920s New York that has been recently restored.
Prince Albert II and Princess Charlene joined members of the Kelly Family, Foundation board members, Crown Patrons of the Foundation, and notable luminaries and industry leaders for the special event, honouring this year’s class of Princess Grace Award winners in theatre, dance and film.
“The Princess Grace Foundation-USA was delighted to return to an in-person celebration of our newest class of Princess Grace Award winners,” Brisa Carleton, CEO Princess Grace Foundation USA told Monaco Life. “Covid has had a devastating and long-term impact on artists and we recognise that our financial support is needed now more than ever before to ensure that these incredible emerging artists can take the first key steps of their career. There’s no doubt the artists that we had the privilege to celebrate will shape the cultural landscape in the future.”
Photo left to right: Jeanette Fantone, Katie Mathews, Jahmil Eady, Princess Charlene of Monaco and Their Serene Highness Prince Albert II of Monaco, Río Castañeda, Diana Milena Ojeda Castellanos, Hazel McKibbin and Kelechi Agwuncha. Photo by Dave Kotinsky/Getty Images for Princess Grace Foundation – USA
Princess Charlene had the honour of wearing the pink Grace Diamond for its world premier, the spectacular La Vie en Rose, created by renowned Place Vendôme designer Lorenz Bäumer.
The 1.79-carat Grace Diamond presented by Maison Mazerea in collaboration with Grace de Monaco, the first global luxury brand for good, pays tribute to Princess Grace’s legacy and also establishes Princess Charlene as a steward of the iconic jewel. The Grace Diamond is designed to capture the world’s attention and direct focus to those whose work is ultimately about leaving the world a better place.
As the first ever to wear the Grace Diamond, Princess Charlene has set a magical story of philanthropy in motion. After a year, the Grace Diamond in La Vie en Rose will be replaced by another Fancy Colour diamond and the necklace will be sold at auction, with a share of the proceeds to benefit the Foundation Awards Program.
Photo left to right: Gabriela Saker, Siena Zoë Allen, Francisco Mendoza, Dane Edidi, Princess Charlene of Monaco,Their Serene Highness Prince Albert II of Monaco, Britnie Narcisse, Abigail C. Onwunali, Shayok Misha Chowdhury and Héctor Alvarez. Photo by Dave Kotinsky/Getty Images for Princess Grace Foundation – USA
Princess Charlene and Prince Albert, vice president of the Foundation that was established by his father Prince Rainier III after the death of Princess Grace, spent the night meeting and congratulating the award winners.
“Prince Albert has been passionately committed to upholding his mother’s legacy,” said Brisa Carleton. “He gets such joy from meeting the new artists and learning about their work. It was extra special to be able to celebrate with Princess Charlene as well this year.”
The new Cala del Forte port, located in Ventimiglia and servicing the Principality, is undergoing renovations to lessen the impact on moored boaters who have reported excessive movements in port.
Cala del Forte is owned by Monaco Ports and was officially inaugurated in July 2021. After complaints from users, work began on creating an artificial reef on 19th October to lessen the effects of wind and tidal shifts on moored boats.
“The port of Cala del Forte will benefit from the protection offered by the ‘banana’ (shape of the reef), since it will make it possible to remedy the agitations of discomfort observed in the event of gusts of wind from the southwest,” says Aleco Keusseoglou, President of the Monegasque international port company (SMIP), in a press release.
Works began when the first barge full of rocks arrived on the scene, weighing some 8,000 tons. This will be the base of the reef, with the total cost coming in at about €4.7 million, which will be used to construct a coastal protector 120 metres long at a depth of seven or eight metres.
The emerged section will be four metres high with an embankment. In total, the site will require 120,000 tons of rocks and stones.
Said Keusseoglou of the materials’ origins, “Two thirds of the materials will come from quarries in the Trapani region (Sicily), and the remaining third, which will constitute the emerged part of the reef, will be made up of blocks from local quarries (Bevera), as required by landscape regulations.”
Additionally, an environmental aspect has been taken into account says the SMIP: “There will be no negative impact on the environment, because the use of any element other than the planned blocks made of inert stone material of natural origin is banned.”
The 16th edition of the Monte-Carlo Jazz Festival is featuring 11 dates with an eclectic schedule of performers ranging from 1960’s progressive rock legends Jethro Tull to Cuban Jazz with Bona/Rodriguez.
This year’s Monte-Carlo Jazz Festival is going to be one to remember! Running from 9th November to 4th December at the Opera Garnier Monte-Carlo, the line-up is sure to have something for everyone.
The event starts off with a reunion of the electric quartet of Redman, Mehldau, McBride and Blade: A Moodswing Reunion on 9th November, followed by a special Master Class conference with Alex Jaffray at the Salon Eiffel at the Hermitage Hotel on the 12th.
Then on 23rd November, classic rock stars Jethro Tull return to the stage with their quirky brand of flute-infused rock. The next night on the 24th will be Jazz and Cuba with Richard Bona and Alfredo Rodriguez featuring Michael Olivera and Gonzalo Rubalcaba, with Matt Brewer and Eric Harland playing hip-swinging, get up and dance jazz with a Latin twist.
Next up on the 27th are French jazz rockers Magma and the Monte Carlo Philharmonic Orchestra playing side by side in a show blending two worlds to great effect. Two nights later on the 29th is Jazz and Modern Music, a special event put on by the young talents from the Académie Rainier III.
Then there’s two concerts in one on the 30th with Cécile McLorin Salvant and Sullivan Fortner and Sofiane Pamart performing jazz and rhythm and blues numbers.
On 1st December, to start the month off right, there will be a Tribute to Chet Baker film screening at the Audio-Visual Institute of Let’s Get Lost by Brice Weber. The following night, on the 2nd, a concert by sultry American singer and composer Melody Gardot will hit the spot for true jazz aficionados.
On the 3rd, Richard Galliano and Anour Brahem will share the night but not the stage in a two-fer concert experience. The Anour Brahem Quartet will play their brand of instrumental music whilst Galliano will demonstrate a different approach with his New York Tango Trio.
The last night has been set aside for Chilly Gonzales. The Canadian musician, songwriter and producer comes for one night only, closing the Festival on the 4th and bringing down the house with him.
Far from the Mediterranean shores he knows best, Prince Albert II has travelled to the Indian Ocean to join a 150-team of scientists and researchers aboard the S.A. Agulhas.
The #MissionOcéanIndien2022 left Cape Agulhas, the African continent’s most southern point and where the Atlantic Ocean officially meets the Indian Ocean, on Monday 3rd October. Its first stop was Mauritius seven days later before heading to the French overseas territory of La Réunion. The Monaco Explorations expedition will soon reach Mahé, the largest island in the Seychelles archipelago, before sailing back to Mauritius. In total, the mission will cover 7,300 nautical miles – or 13,500km – in two months.
Most recently, the team aboard spent a week in the Aldabra atoll and it was here that Prince Albert II met with Jean-François Ferrari, a Seychellois minister for fishing, and Flavien Joubert, the minister for agriculture, climate change and the environment, on Monday 24th October.
Together they spoke with Doctor Frauke Fleischer-Dogley, the CEO of the Seychelles Island Foundation, to learn more about the biodiversity of the islands and to sign a proclamation to establish a cooperation of research and conservation of the region’s coral reefs between the Scientific Center of Monaco, the Oceanographic Museum of Monaco and the Seychelles Islands Foundation.
“What strikes me today is that expertise and research in the maritime field have never really been priorities,” said Prince Albert. “The ocean remains largely unknown. Yet it holds so many treasures. A better knowledge of them is essential to ensure the protection of our planet.”
Prince Albert II at the helm
On Tuesday 25th October, Prince Albert II joined the S.A. Agulhas and its crew, getting a personal tour of the vessel and its highly developed laboratories from Captain Knowledge Bengu. Ever keen to get involved, the Prince took the helm of an ROV, a remotely operated underwater vehicle, that had been deployed to a depth of 700 metres – a record-breaking depth for this zone of the ocean.
“[The Indian Ocean mission] mobilises significant resources: one of the largest oceanographic vessels in service and an international team of around 150 people representing some 20 nationalities and a wide range of profiles: seasoned scientists, young researchers and students, artists, filmmakers and photographers, divers, communicators, and members of civil society,” says the director of Monaco Explorations, Gilles Bessero.
The flagship of the expedition is the S.A. Agulhas II, a multipurpose vessel of 134 metres that was built in Finland in 2012 and chartered by Monaco Explorations for this unique expedition. The ship is designed for navigating in ice and recently won acclaim for its role in finding Sir Ernst Shackelton’s Endurance, which sank in the Weddell Sea off Antarctica in 1915, in March of this year.
Prince Albert II tours the S.A. Agulhas II. Credit: Nicolas Mathys
“An adventure addressed to all humanity”
Prince Albert II travelled ahead of the S.A. Agulhas II on Wednesday 26th October in order to meet with the president of the Seychelles, Wavel Ramkalawan, as part of a diplomatic visit in Mahé. It was an opportunity to discuss all he had learnt on the Aldabra atoll and the wider goals of the Monaco Explorations mission.
The objectives of the expedition are to: “understand, analyse and evaluate the state and functioning of the ecosystem of the area”. It hopes to mobilise governments through diplomatic action, and help contribute to a sustainable management of maritime spaces by sharing the issues faced by the region and the knowledge gained thanks to the expedition with as many people as possible.
“The Monaco Explorations are at the confluence of most of the themes which are dear to me and which in this respect resonate particularly in me,” said Prince Albert. “It is an adventure that also echoes the most beautiful traditions of the Principality, and is addressed to all humanity.”
The S.A. Agulhas is expected to be back in Cape Town on Wednesday 30th November.
In an effort to step out of the shadow of her famous father, Ghizlan El Glaoui created a new style of art using backlight to give life to her portraits. Now, she’s taking that concept to the seas.
Born in Morocco in 1969, Ghizlan spent much of her childhood in the studio of her father – world renowned Moroccan artist Hassan El Glaoui. She was his muse, posing for portraits amidst the exotic surroundings of Morocco and France, inhaling all the history that had been set by her grandfather, the last Pasha of Marrakech, Thami El Glaoui.
Ghizlan actually credits Sir Winston Churchill for the path that she is on. The former UK prime minister had convinced her grandfather to send his son to study art in London after seeing one of the horses he had painted behind a desk. They were to become a defining feature in Hassan’s work, and he an inspiration for Ghizlan.
Today, Ghizlan El Glaoui paints portraits, mainly women, using vivid colours and metallic paints to capture the light, reminiscent of the glittering mosaics of the Byzantine Empire. She uses the ‘golden ratio’ technique, learned during her art studies at the Académie Charpentier, “the measurement you choose for perfection,” she tells me. “Leonardo da Vinci used it on the canvas before he would paint over it. I like the comfort of the mathematics behind the beauty, and I like the fact that I cannot get the proportions wrong.”
Geisha by Guizlan El Glaoui
El Glaoui also uses backlights that shine through the canvas, the remote controlled warm and cold LED light filtering through the material to create a translucent effect.
“I did that because, being the daughter of a famous artist, I needed to invent something. People were saying, ‘your father is famous, let’s see what you can do’, as if – firstly, you are a woman, and secondly, you are attempting a career when your dad is in a museum, you will always be in his shadow.”
But, says Ghizlan proudly, she established her own way, and Hassan opened the doors that allowed his daughter to do portraiture in a heavily conservative, Muslim culture.
“In that particular culture, you’re not supposed to follow your creativity and passions. It’s very difficult for a woman to shine in this masculine world and I’m proud of making sure that women shine more than men (in my art),” says Ghizlan. “It is the beauty of a woman, the soul of a woman, the multi facets of a woman which I am fascinated by.”
The addition of light behind the canvas brings another dimension to her work, a bridging of modern and classic, an inner light and aura that gives life to her portraits, exposing the subject’s strength.
Among them is Princess Grace. “My favourite models are women that have succeeded in their life,” reveals Ghizlan. “Grace Kelly succeeded in Hollywood; she became the most prestigious artist in the world. And then there was the beautiful love story with Prince Rainier and her arrival here.”
Guizlan El Glaoui’s portrait of Grace Kelly (centre) has been gifted to her son, Prince Albert II of Monaco
Ghizlan is gifting the Grace Kelly portrait to Prince Albert, and he has promised to hang it in the Palace. She has also painted another member of the Grimaldi family – Charlotte Casiraghi, daughter of Princess Caroline. But it was commissioned by Gad Elmaleh, and then the couple broke up, so that portrait of the beautiful young Charlotte hangs in Ghizlan’s art room.
“When I go to a different country, I try to adapt to that country,” she says. “So, when I went to Madrid, I painted Toreros and flamenco dancers because I wanted the people of the country to feel that I was into them, not just my own muses.”
Monaco’s Princess Charlene is next on the list, says the artist: “She has a very sculptural silhouette, and gorgeous shoulders and neck.”
Today, it is also her new concept, ‘Art to Sea’, which has gathered us here at the private salon of La Môme, overlooking the Mediterranean. Art to Sea is similar to her illuminated paintings in that her canvasses are enhanced by light, only this time the canvas is a colossal sail, and the light is the natural sun that radiates through them. Images of a giant Brigitte Bardot floating gracefully across the water sells the dream.
Art to Sea by Ghizlan El Glaoui
“A sail is the biggest canvas on the planet,” says Ghizlan, “but it’s always been on my mind that the canvas was so empty and virgin of anything. I just thought, it’s a pity because obviously the light could be the sun, the canvas could be the boat sail, and the sea is the gallery.”
It is a bold and spectacular concept that is sure to lead Ghizlan El Glaoui on another bright path. To see more of Ghizlan El Gaouri’s work, visit her website: https://www.ghizlanelglaoui.com
To hear the full interview between Monaco Life’s Cassandra Tanti and Ghizlan El Glaoui, click on the Podcast at the top of this article.
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