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Sculptor

Born in 1947 in Port Vila, Emmanuel Watt is the first Ni-Vanuatu contemporary artist. He is a sculptor on wood, mother-of-pearl and black coral.

After traveling around Europe for several years, Emmanuel Watt returned to Vanuatu in 1974. Upon his arrival, he rediscovered his country. His trips abroad made him aware of the richness and the infinite source of inspiration of the shapes created by the nature. He quickly got to work and produced and exhibited his first works in 1976. In the 1990s, he participated individually or collectively with the Nawita association in a lot of international exchanges with France, Australia in particular. , China or New Caledonia. Today, he wants his works to contribute to the general awareness around the protection of the environment. His artistic practice gives value to things that have not anymore any value today. It is also a tribute to nature, which is always creative. For Emmanuel Watt, artistic practice in Vanuatu helps to protect a strong cultural heritage. Thus "copyright" is an ancestral customary law on which artists from Vanuatu still rely today. Contemporary Oceanian artists draw from the cultural richness of their countries and that make them able to give continuity to traditional art by becoming vehicles of the Oceanian soul for tomorrow.