On 25 June, L’Aventure du Sucre hosted a community art workshop introducing participants to the art of anthotype, led by artist Daphné Doomun. This inspiring initiative brought together women from local NGOs, including Caritas Solitude, Caritas Pamplemousses, Comité de Quartier de Cité Pamplemousses, Jeunes Créatifs Paul & Virginie, SAFIRE, and the Association de Développement de Pamplemousses, for a unique artistic experience made possible through the support of Terra Foundation.

Discovering Anthotype: A Natural and Eco-Friendly Artistic Technique

Guided by artist Daphné Doomun, Natacha, Marie-Josée, Marie-Année, Naomie, Lucie and Keteline discovered anthotype, a photographic art technique that uses natural pigments extracted from plants and other botanical ingredients.

This creative and environmentally friendly approach allowed participants to explore a new way of making art using natural colours derived from beetroot, parsley, ginger and spirulina.

Under the guidance of the artist, the participants prepared their canvases by applying these natural pigments to sheets of Canson paper. Once the paper had dried, they created their own compositions by arranging a variety of leaves and plant materials collected earlier that morning from the gardens of L’Aventure du Sucre onto the coloured surfaces.

The compositions were then placed beneath a sheet of plexiglass to keep the botanical elements firmly in contact with the paper while they were exposed to sunlight. This natural process, driven by the action of light, gradually revealed the contrast between the exposed areas and those protected by the plants, resulting in unique artworks with soft, delicate tones.

A Moment of Creativity and Artistic Expression

While the anthotype prints were developing in the sunlight, the participants continued their creative journey through a paper flower composition activity.

Inspired by designs created by Daphné Doomun, they reused the sheets they had previously painted with natural pigments to create new floral compositions. They carefully cut out a variety of paper flower shapes before arranging and assembling them on the coloured backgrounds, giving a second life to the artwork they had created during the anthotype workshop. This complementary activity encouraged participants to further develop their imagination, artistic composition skills and creativity.

Discover the creative process in the video below:

@aventuredusucre

Connaissez-vous la technique de l’anthotype ? 💡 C’est ce que Natacha, Marie-Josée, Marie-Année, Naomie, Lucie et Keteline, issues d’associations de la région, ont découvert lors de notre dernier atelier solidaire. Accompagnées par l’artiste Daphné Doomun, elles ont exploré cette technique artistique naturelle en créant des œuvres à partir de pigments végétaux : betterave, persil, gingembre et spiruline 🌺 Bravo à toutes les participantes issues des ONG Caritas Solitude, Caritas Pamplemousses, Comité de Quartier de Cité Pamplemousses, Jeunes Créatifs Paul & Virginie, SAFIRE et Association de Développement de Pamplemousses (ADP) pour leurs créations ✨ #art #flowers #mauritius🇲🇺 #ilemaurice

♬ original sound – L’Aventure du Sucre – L’Aventure du Sucre