Posted in News on Friday, October 25, 2019 by The Beachcomber Tours Correspondent
On Saturday the 19th of October, the Dinarobin Beachcomber unveiled "Le Chant des Lucioles" (The Song of the Fireflies), a luminous art installation by Belgian-Tunisian artist Naziha Mestaoui. The piece adds to the magic of the 5-star hotel’s gardens by artfully bringing it to life at night. The launch was attended by Gilbert Espitalier-Noël, the CEO of Beachcomber Resorts & Hotels.
Certain pieces of art are dreamlike, creating lasting memories and rekindling our capacity for wonder. Le Chant des Lucioles, unveiled by Dinarobin Beachcomber, is one of them. The work is accompanied by a second, complementary installation, "Networked trees". At dusk, these two works come alive at the foot of Le Morne mountain, between the ocean and the land.
The first piece consists of a forest of bamboo branches, at the ends of which 200 miniature wind turbines have been placed. After nightfall, each wind turbine lights up as the wind passes through it, creating a dreamlike wave of flickering lights. Like fireflies, they appear and disappear with the wind. The work also has an auditory dimension: it is dotted with wind chimes that bring the fireflies to life.
The second piece has been installed a little further down the beach. There, a cloud of threads is lit up and surrounded by lush vegetation. This three-dimensional work consists of a mass of coloured threads – carefully measured and counted out according to a system based on the number 52 – that is woven among the trees and makes the connections and networks between them visible. The number 52 is a nod to the 52 waves in the Beachcomber logo, which in turn symbolise the year 1952, when the group was founded.
Le Chant des Lucioles is the result of a call for proposals for light-based projects launched by Dinarobin Beachcomber in July this year, in collaboration with Move For Art. Because its natural setting is among the hotel’s most valuable assets, it seeks to create and promote art projects by installing them in its gardens. The aim is to adorn the hotel’s various spaces with luminous works that inspire contemplation in the viewer and are in harmony with the elegance of their setting. Dinarobin Beachcomber is therefore inviting artists to express themselves in its green spaces.
Le Chant des Lucioles was created by Naziha Mestaoui, an environmental artist and architect, who attended the launch of the installation. "My inspiration for Le Chant des Lucioles comes directly from nature: both from the Dinarobin Beachcomber’s natural setting, which is really inspiring, and from the Amazon, where I spent the summer. Every day, at dusk, I was lucky enough to witness a beautiful display of fireflies. That's what truly inspired me; the wonder that nature awakens in us is simply incredible. The firefly is a small insect gifted with light. That light echoes the brilliance of every living being. That's what I wanted to share with the Dinarobin Beachcomber’s audience," explains the artist, a pioneer in the world of digital art. She created one of her most famous works, One Heart One Tree, to mark the COP 21 summit in France in 2015.
The unveiling of these pieces is part of Beachcomber’s strategy to enrich and enhance its customer experience through artistic projects that underscore its hotels’ natural assets. "The aim is for the pieces to reflect the exceptional settings they are placed in; in the case of Dinarobin Beachcomber, the art accentuates the beauty of our gardens at night, with Le Morne Mountain in the background. This allows us to offer our guests an experience that is part of our celebration of art in every form, in line with our “The Art of Beautiful” brand positioning", states Geraldine Koenig, the Group’s Chief Officer for Operational Excellence. Dinarobin Beachcomber’s gardens will soon play host to another illuminated artwork, this time by Mauritian artist Nirmal Hurry. In November, Paradis Beachcomber Golf Resort & Spa and Trou aux Biches Beachcomber Golf Resort & Spa will also unveil artistic experiences that will contribute to their coming alive after dark.
