At the heart of the Indian Ocean, Réunion Island, Mauritius and Madagascar share close ties, shaped by their geographical proximity, insular nature, and the long-standing mobility of their populations.
From these exchanges has emerged a shared heritage, rich in unique and dynamic artistic and cultural expressions. In this context, fostering connections between cultural practitioners means affirming a coherent artistic scene rooted in a common Indian Ocean identity.
Driven by shared values and the complementarity of their activities, three organisations have joined forces around a collective initiative: MAYAZ PRO, dedicated to artistic cooperation and professional development across the region.
Conceived within the framework of the INTERREG 2021–2027 call for projects, MAYAZ PRO delivers a programme of exchanges and professional development across the Indian Ocean, made possible through European funding.
Documents d’artistes La Réunion (DDA La Réunion) is a platform dedicated to the visibility and professional support of contemporary visual artists from Réunion Island. It documents the careers of artists from the territory through a documentary archive that serves as a showcase for contemporary creation (ddalareunion.org), while also contributing to artists’ professional development through networking initiatives and commissioned critical writing.
Through these activities, DDA La Réunion supports the development, visibility and reach of the local artistic scene, both within the territory and beyond.
“Documents d’artistes” is a collective designation recognised within the contemporary art sector. DDA La Réunion is one of nine existing Documents d’artistes organisations, all united within the Réseau documents d’artistes.
Through this platform, DDA La Réunion seeks to reflect the local artistic scene as it truly is: rich, vibrant, diverse in its media and varied in its approaches.
Fondation H is a Malagasy contemporary art foundation recognised as serving the public interest. It develops programmes dedicated to supporting artists from Africa and its diasporas in their careers, facilitates public access to art, and actively contributes to the development and structuring of the artistic scene across the Indian Ocean region. In 2023, Fondation H inaugurated its new 2,200 m² venue and offers a wide-ranging programme of artist support and professional development initiatives. It is also the first artist training centre in Madagascar to be officially recognised by the Ministry of Technical Education and Vocational Training.
Move for Art Ltd is an independent Mauritian agency specialising in the arts, culture and creative events, working to develop innovative artistic projects for public and private stakeholders. Founded in 2008, it designs and produces immersive cultural experiences while supporting cities, institutions and organisations in the development of their creative and cultural strategies. A key player in the region’s cultural and creative industries, Move for Art notably conceived and produced the Porlwi Festival, a landmark event that marked a turning point for the Mauritian cultural scene. Drawing on an international network, the agency provides consultancy, curatorial services, exhibition design, cultural programming, and the production of both temporary and long-term projects in public spaces.
✽ 11–21 May 2026, The Green Village
✽ Trainers: Kim Yip Tong (artistic direction, storytelling, spatialisation), Guillaume Clarisse (animation), Frédéric Antoinette (mapping, workflow, tools and formatting)
✽ Participants: Mahefa Dimbiniaina Randrianarivelo, Ridha Andriantomanga, Gloria Vivien and Tatiana Patchama
This immersive dome-based digital creation workshop is conceived as a space for research, knowledge sharing and experimentation in the field of digital arts. Participants explore immersive environments as artistic media, as well as moving image and sound, through questions of scale, rhythm, visual storytelling, and the relationship between artistic intention and technical constraints.
Guided by Mauritian specialists in digital production, participants gain hands-on experience with dedicated software, from concept development to final production, with a focus on autonomy and professional development. The dome itself serves as a central pedagogical tool, enabling testing in real conditions throughout the workshop.
A public and professional presentation of the outcomes and experiments developed during the workshop will be organised at its conclusion.
✽ 13–18 July 2026, Fondation H
✽ Trainer: Leïla Quillacq, lecturer in aesthetics at the École Supérieure d’Art de La Réunion and independent art critic
✽ Participants: 1 participant from Mauritius, 1 participant from Réunion Island, and 11 participants from Madagascar
This five-day workshop offers an immersion into contemporary art criticism through a combination of theoretical input, exploration and practical experimentation.
Drawing on the Fondation H collection, participants are invited to develop a situated critical perspective in dialogue with contemporary issues such as ecology, gender, and decolonial approaches, particularly from perspectives rooted in the Global South.
The workshop alternates between artwork analysis, the development of editorial frameworks, and the production of texts combining different forms of writing: critical, narrative, poetic and analytical. Structured around collective discussions and editing sessions, the programme culminates in the production of finished editorial content, presented through a public event and a publication in the form of a printed and/or digital fanzine.
✽ 1 meet-up in Mauritius, September 2026
✽ 1 meet-up in Madagascar, November 2026
✽ 1 meet-up in Réunion Island, March 2027
✽ Duration: 1 week per meet-up
The meet-ups are studio-visit programmes designed for art professionals, including curators, critics, researchers, directors of cultural organisations, gallery owners and others.
Lasting one week, these programmes are designed to encourage meaningful professional exchanges and foster an in-depth understanding of artists’ practices. They are particularly suited to the island context, offering artists opportunities to engage with professionals who possess expertise in contemporary art and exhibition-making, and who may support their visibility and programming beyond the borders of their islands within an international framework.
For invited professionals, these gatherings also provide an opportunity to discover the visual arts ecosystems of the host territories through visits to contemporary art venues and meetings with the teams who lead them.
For each meet-up, three contemporary art professionals from the wider Indian Ocean region will be invited.
MAYAZ PRO is built upon close collaboration between Documents d’artistes La Réunion, Fondation H and Move for Art—three Indian Ocean organisations pooling their experience, expertise and resources to support contemporary artists and cultural professionals.
Its objective is to strengthen a dynamic regional network that fosters artistic creation, enhances artists’ visibility and encourages professional exchange.
Already active in Réunion Island, Mauritius and Madagascar, the partners are developing a shared approach aimed at consolidating their collaborations and responding to the needs of cultural practitioners across the region. Each organisation contributes its specific expertise within a framework of cooperation and knowledge sharing.
MAYAZ PRO thus contributes to the sustainable development of cultural professionals’ skills and to the emergence of a more connected, collaborative and innovative artistic ecosystem.
Visual identity © Anthony Bataille-Grimaud