Art, Culture and Stamps on St Helena

Does St. Helena attract artists and new age people? - This is one of the questions I have been asked since my return.

It is not something that I thought about while I was there. St. Helena is simply not that kind of place. There is no art gallery on the island, and not much evidence of any cultural life. There were once amateur dramatics, but they have been killed off, presumably by the ubiquitous videos.

This morning I noticed a headline in the Financial Times, Grim Luton takes cultural path to boost self-esteem

Not that I am suggesting that St. Helena is grim - nor even Luton come to that - but I gather that whilst ambitious plans are being made for the island after the airport, no thought has been given to its cultural life.

The FT. article goes on:

A property developer has joined forces with the town's borough council to create a "2012 Cultural Vision" document aimed at revitalising Luton's artistic and cultural life in time for the Olympic Games in London.

Apparently even the most cynical property developers are now aware of the importance of a cultural dimension to their plans.(1)

In a recent blog Michel reported on the success of an exhibition, hosted by the Museum, of the work of a British artist, Andrew Parker. Lets hope that the organisers were sufficiently encouraged to mount more exhibitions.


The stamps at the top of this posting were designed by Michel, who himself is no mean artist. Quite an achievement for a French Consul to design stamps for a British Overseas Territory - which is I think the correct designation for St. Helena.
MICHEL HAS INDICATED THAT THE STAMPS ABOVE WERE NOT DESIGNED BY HIM. HIS WEB SITE NOW CONTAINS THE TWO SETS HE HAS DESIGNED FOR ST. HELENA. My error Michel's Stamps

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(1) Financial Times, March 22/March 23 2008 p.5