00:00This is the most unexpected art island in the African region.
00:06My Mauritius.
00:08It's cool.
00:10A cultural canvas where every speed, every rhythm,
00:18every flavor and all its natural beauty
00:21tells a surprising story about art.
00:25And then, during World Art Day, the island transforms,
00:30becoming a living gallery.
00:32The 2026 theme, Spice, pays homage to the island's roots.
00:38Just like Spice, Mauritius' African identity isn't a single thread.
00:44It's layered, complex, evolving.
00:48An artist, Gaël Frouger, explains that beautifully.
00:52It's something very unique because when you put Mauritius
00:55in the pool of African art, it feels totally different.
01:01It sounds different.
01:02It looks different because we have influence from France,
01:07from England, from India, from China.
01:12And it doesn't sound like what we expect from, usually from Africa.
01:17and it doesn't look like it, but yet it is strongly African,
01:21but it's mixed, it's Creole.
01:23It's this fusion that gives Mauritian art its unmistakable voice.
01:42It's slim, slim, slim, with your carnivore,
01:45unique pieces.
01:47You have black, you have Chinese, Indian, Muslim, and white.
01:51And I'm a mixture of these four.
01:55And in such a multicultural setting,
01:59it's very difficult to negotiate identity.
02:02But through collaboration, interaction, and creativity,
02:08we strive to build a strong island nation
02:12where diversity would be a force
02:16and where people of different cultures
02:18would be living together,
02:20not only among themselves, but also with nature.
02:24And in all that endeavor,
02:26art is a very essential ingredient.
02:31Mauritius isn't just beautiful.
02:33It's relevant.
02:35It expands what African creativity can look like.
02:39Beyond expectations, beyond categories.
02:43It shows that cultural power doesn't always enhance itself.
02:48Sometimes it's layered,
02:50subtle, unexpected.
02:53And just like Spice,
02:55the island's creative identity
02:57collaborates, blends,
02:59and reinvents itself.
03:02But first, a blessing.
03:05So that we get all the whole team is blessed,
03:07we're going to do a group prayer, okay?
03:21Artists from across the globe visit Mauritius
03:24not just to participate in art events,
03:27but to be captivated by it,
03:30interpreting its stories through their own lens.
03:34For me, that's what makes the island's art events
03:37so meaningful.
03:38Each country had the theme already prepared,
03:42you know,
03:42so they had to imagine Spice in their own way,
03:45and they brought their Spice up,
03:47they used in their country.
03:49It was an exploration.
03:50Spice starts with heritage.
03:53It lives in the everyday.
03:57Spice is integrated in our daily life.
04:00It is part of our history.
04:03For some, Spice is emotion.
04:05I opted for cinnamon
04:08and getting that sense of smell,
04:12that good smell of the cinnamon
04:13while working,
04:14the reaction that our body has
04:17when we sense something good.
04:19And for Jessie Gurria,
04:21spiciness is a way of talking about identity.
04:25From Beth officers,
04:27we are one of the most spiciest features on earth.
04:33By bringing their Spice to Mauritius,
04:36it's another way of sharing the culture,
04:39an opportunity for them to discover Mauritius,
04:42our culture.
04:43And once you've felt it,
04:46you will never see the island the same way again.
04:49You don't come to Mauritius to see art.
04:52You come here to experience what it means
04:56when a place lives creatively.
04:58be honest with you.
