Artpaper. #18

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DESIGN Introducing Floating World, a buzzing new design studio with a sustainable edge

GAL L ERY Lily Agius talks about new art ventures after closing her permanent space

IN F OCU S Christine Xuereb Seidu on how NFTs are ranking in success for African artists

€2.00 WHERE SOLD

No:18

+ E R I C A G I U S TA

“The Milk of Dreams”, a paradigm shift and a witch’s dream

Pool Day II, Osinachi. Image Courtesy of Christie’s Images Limited 2022 >> pg.29

Like the centenarian prestigious organisation that it is, the Biennale sometimes struggles to be faithful to its mission of being at the forefront of research and investigation of contemporary trends. Both the art and the much younger architecture Biennale have had a couple of innocuous editions in recent years, in which relevant questions were asked but no meaningful responses were produced. The cycle has been broken by Cecilia Alemanni, wonder-woman curator of “The Milk of Dreams”, and by the radical change in perspective that she brought about. >> Pg. 20 S A M VA S S A L L O

STRANGE DAYS

ART MARKET DESIGN Malta’s most exciting design collections + fresh creative ventures ART MARKET The record for most expensive photograph sold at auction focuses on pop up concept after gallery closes

VENICE The 59th Venice Biennale

exhibition of treasures at Berlin’s Neue Nationalgalerie

GERMANY A special

STREET ART Christian Palmer’s solo show

ENVIRONMENT Anna Horvath’s eco-design collection wins big success through NFTs

INTERVIEW Lily Agius

SPOTLIGHT African artists and their

PHOTOGRAPHY Revisiting the decaying Grand Hotel Verdala through image

EVENTS Art events on the island and beyond

“I like to choose animals that have an edge about them, animals that are representative of an outsider. From this perspective, I make sense of my own internal dialogue and the irony of the human condition,” Palmer explained to gallerist Lily Agius, who has represented the artist in Malta over a decade. >>Interview with Christian Palmer, exhibiting on the 1st of July at Green Shutters in Floriana, pg. 22

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Welcome / Team / Inside June - August 2022

Editor Sam Vassallo (+356) 9902 2398 Graphic Designer Nicholas Cutajar Managing Director Lily Agius (+356) 9929 2488 info@artpaper.press Sales Person Katherine Maj Printing Press Print It Contributors Andrew Borg Wirth Therese Debono Joanna Delia Romina Delia Jean Ebejer Erica Giusta Marija Grech Lisa Gwen Anna Horvath Margherita Pulè Joe P Smith Gabriele Spiller Nick Theuma Sam Vassallo Christine Xuereb Seidu

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t’s been a year of firsts. Emerging from two years of pandemic idleness into a war on Europe’s doorstep, the world’s most defining international art fair has finally returned in Spring’s bloom. Just as the full moon awoken in the sky over the shimmering waters of Venice, the 59th Biennale opened to the world once more. Cecilia Alemani, the first Italian curator of the Biennale, broke tradition by showcasing a record 1433 pieces art, with women and non-binary artists dominating men at 10 to 1. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky made an online appearance, sending an urgent message and reminder of the pressing functions of art: “There are no tyrannies that would not try to limit art because they can see the power of art.” Zelensky said in the video. “Art can tell the world things that cannot be shared otherwise.”

Art can tell the world things that cannot be shared otherwise.

It gives form and shape to otherwise unspeakable stories and feelings through atoms of the art world: artists, curators, collectors, viewers, you. There is no society without art.

Like the centering Biennale exhibition, this issue, also, by coincidence, features a majority female line-up of writers: from Erica Giusta, Romina Delia and Margerita Pule’s take on the Biennale to Christine Xuereb Seidu’s piece on NFT success of African artists. There are also exciting new ventures in the local creative scene: a limestone line of domestic objects by Floating World, a sustainable, creative agency by entrepreneur Tammy Fenech and more.

This issue also marks a new chapter for Artpaper, as I step into the shoes as its editor. I’m very excited - I hope to keep a torch on the finest in art and design in Malta and beyond. I hope to be a little catalyst to help tell the world things that cannot be shared without our art. Big things are in store.

Until next time, Sam

Supported by ArtzID Babel Fimbank Frank Salt Real Estate iLab Photo Manoel Theatre No.43

SPOTLIGHT

EXHIBITIONS + EVENTS

12. INTERVIEW Lily Agius bids farewell to her permanent gallery for pop up ventures

22. SOLO Christian Palmer exhibits in Floriana

29. ART MARKET How African artists benefit from NFTs

38. EVENTS in Malta this summer

ART NEWS

INTERVIEWS + REVIEWS

05. ENVIRONMENT Anna Horvath’s ecodesign collection gets international recognition

14. REVIEW The Venice Biennale

11. AUCTION Man Ray photograph smashes record at art auction

32. REVIEW A collection of art treasures in Berlin

A-FIL-LIATION-2-2021, Angéle Etoundi Essamba.

Image: Courtesy of Cameroon pavilion, Venice Biennale 2022

36. EVENTS Around the globe

Oyster Real Estate People & Skin Sunday in Scotland Tico Tico VeeGeeBee Vitra Zigumar Restaurant

24. INTERVIEW Austin Camilleri’s solo show

Art Galleries Blitz, Malta Christine X, Malta Gallery 111, Malta Green Shutters, Malta Marie5, Malta National Gallery, London National Museum, Oslo The Malta International Arts Festival

DESIGN 08. FLOATING WORLD presents domestic objects made of limestone 08. DESIGN TRIO exhibit eclectic limestone collection

The Mill, Malta The Neue Nationalgalerie, Berlin The Venice Biennale Spazju Kreattiv, Malta Society of Arts, Malta Valletta Contemporary, Malta

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News / Design / Real Estate June - August 2022 MALTA

CONSTRUCTION UNWASTED:

LOCAL DESIGNER MAKING WAVES IN ECODESIGN

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nna Horvath, designer and architect, has made waves on the international scene with her disruptive ecocollection .

SORGI, after she won over judges to represent Malta in this year’s Creative Business Cup and was honored with an award at a New York City design trade fair called CLOSEUP, with European designers collective ECO Solidarity.

This news came just after ECO Solidarity, a collective of design practitioners from nine EU countries, was recognized by the ICFF Editors’ Award 2022 in New York City at design trade fair organized

by WantedDesign Manhattan and ICFF - CLOSEUP 2021. The ICFF Editors Awards are one of the design industry’s premier accolades. The esteemed design judges awarded ECO Solidarity, which includes AHA objects, with “best booth” at the fair.

The Hungarian, Malta-based designer and architect is the founder of AHA objects, an emerging design studio “based on storytelling, sustainability, and joy” according to their website. It centres itself around playful yet sustainable design, like their latest body of work: SOR. GI.

Horvarth is no stranger to international projects, participating in a number of design and architecture projects in London, Lisbon, Budapest and Malta. Her projects include the permanent exhibition at the prestigious Jewish Museum in Berlin, furniture design for a favela in Rio de Janeiro, or a pop-up store for Hermes Petit h collection in Lisbon.

These wins are just the beginning for the designer.

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SORGI is an outdoor furniture collection made entirely of construction waste for the island’s public spaces. Each piece is an aesthetic answer and tangible solution to the mounting issue of discarded materials left in the trails of the booming but destructive construction industry in Malta.

After securing these .two international triumphs for SORGI, it’s clear that Horvath’s brainchild has not gone unnoticed.

This global competition, organized by the Creative Business Network, brings together 80 national winners who aim to change the world through their own unique creative enterprise.

Judges of The Creative Business Cup .

Malta unanimously awarded SORGI with first place, which will see Horvath represent Malta in this year’s Olympics of creative start ups in Denmark.

Christie’s International Real Estate network expands into the luxury enclave of Malta with Oyster Real Estate

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rincipal Miguel Bonello founded his boutique firm in 2017, one of the fastest growing privately owned real estate agencies in Malta, after a long-term career focused on the luxury real estate market. Specialising in the high-end market, the company is rebranding to Oyster Christie’s International Real Estate, underscoring its close ties to the world’s leading invitation-only network Malta may be one of the smallest countries on the globe, but it is a mighty draw for buyers of luxury real estate. And Christie’s International Real Estate proudly announces the network’s newest Affiliate, Oyster Christie’s International Real Estate in Malta, under the co-ownership of Miguel Bonello, Annabelle Bonello Lowell and Malcolm R Lowell.

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News / Interview / New Boutique in Sliema June - August 2022 MALTA

THE DECADENT LUXURY OF FINE LIFE AND CHOCOLATE

New boutique opens in Sliema

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he phrase “attention to detail” may have gained the status of a buzzword, but at Sunday in Scotland, it is a true centering raison d’être. From the custom clad interior design to the charming cakes brought to life by Creative Director Amer Wahoud, everything alludes to careful craftsmanship.

Wahoud, the founder and creator of Sunday in Scotland, has forged a rivetingly fresh way to experience the decadent luxury of fine life and chocolate. The entrepreneur, artist and chocolatier’s eco-conscious, zero-waste and handcrafted boutique stands to be a benchmark of lifestyle brands worldwide.

“This isn’t simply a café or shop - it’s a chocolate boutique, a whole experience within itself. Everything is natural, bespoke and genuine. There’s layers behind all the fine details,” Wahoud explained, when asked about what makes Sunday in Scotland stand out.

“I take inspiration from my love of art and craftsmanship, the dedication to the work, the passionate in process as well as the final item.”

The proof is in the luxury pudding. Entering the boutique on a slanting hill of Valletta is to feel an immediate sense of serenity. It is to enter a place forged for nostalgic beauty and allurement of the senses. Everything from the ethereal blue of the signage outside, to the material choice of the chairs’ cushions, to the bold combinations of the artisanal flavors and textures of the cakes, reflects this.

After establishing the flagship boutique store in the heart of the capital, Wahoud has a lot planned for Sunday in Scotland, bringing the concept to multiple other popular locations on the island.

Experience Sunday in Scotland: visit the boutique on 173 St Lucy Street, Valletta, Malta International Airport, and The Strand in Sliema, and check out their website at sundayinscotland.com

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Design /Malta / Floating World / Cosie June - August 2022 MALTA

A NEW CREATIVE STUDIO FLOATS INTO THE WORLD Matt and Suzi, the designers that make up creative studio Floating World, have showcased their first collection in May, producing intricate and bespoke domestic objects made of limestone dust. “On an island where limestone pretends to grow” presented at the Malta Society Of Arts, used the land itself, Malta, the limestone archipelago floating in the Mediterranean sea, as its starting point. Drawing inspiration from the island’s limestone heritage, the collection investigates how the stone can be reimagined and reinterpreted through contemporary design.

The pair were attracted to limestone not only for its golden hue and visual beauty, but also for its archetypal significance. From huge stone slabs at Hagar Qim to austere Medieval chapels and intricate Baroque cathedrals built by the knights, one can trace Malta’s history in limestone. It is the common thread that wends through the island’s architectonic past and forms the backdrop for daily life.

Floating World was interested in exploring the middle-ground between the manmade and the natural, the rectilinear and the curvilinear, the machine-cut quarry face and the windblown sea-shaped cliff face. “We wanted to combine our

experience in innovative design with our knowledge of materials to create a collection of functional home objects which span past and present by using a traditional material in a futuristic way.”

Synthesising their visual research with an understanding of the material itself.

Matt and Suzi identified limestone dust, which is a byproduct of the quarrying process, as having the potential to be reimagined. Using their knowledge of casting they developed a composite material that would allow for a diverse range of forms and applications while still retaining all the qualities of limestone that attracted them to the material in the first place. The composite they developed allowed them to work limestone in new and unusual ways, shaping and rolling it like dough, forming it like clay, even painting and pouring it on like plaster, thus resulting in the Limestone Home Objects Collection, which is made up of a cubby shelf, a set of bowls, a planter, a lamp, a chair and a side-table.

“This collection synthesises our material research with the experience of living on an island where limestone pretends to grow, and Floating World’s Limestone Home Objects are an ode to the land itself.”

MALTA

MALTESE ENTREPRENEUR LAUNCHES CO-CREATIVE AGENCY Sustainability can sound like a 21st century marketing buzzword, but to underestimate the way it is shaping how we do business and interact with each other on an individual, social and economic level would be a grave mistake.

Cosie Studio, freshly launched by Maltese entrepreneur Tamara Fenech, came to fruition in response to the current urgency to address climate change. The co-creative agency is offering services that support businesses to implement sustainability into their models as a way of accelerating action. As EU businesses are becoming more and more obliged to adhere to laws and work towards reaching collective targets, through examples like the EU Green Deal, it is imperative that they are supported, guided and advised along the way. Local businesses can now invest in Cosie’s services by benefiting from Jobs Plus Malta’s ‘Investing in Skills’ scheme to upskill the sustainability literacy of their employees.

The private sector has clear opportunities to implement sustainable solutions into their business models while gaining competitive advantage and thriving socially, environmentally and economically. Cosie Studio is here to support businesses and brands in understanding these opportunities, finding ways of creating solutions together.

A sustainable and purpose driven studio Its aim is to make sustainability more accessible to businesses, by equipping them with the right

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knowledge and tools needed to implement sustainability into their business model from the inside out.

“Our vision is to coexist in a world with more sustainability and purpose. Where working culture is defined by collaboration and businesses work in the shared interest of creating positive impact, while thriving socially, environmentally & economically.” says Tamara Fenech, founder and CEO of Cosie Studio.

Cosie stands for Co-creative, Sustainable, Ideas and Endeavours. As a co-creative change agency that provides advisory services, Cosie Studio leads and facilitates the work that needs to be done. However it is built on a cocreative model that focuses on working collaboratively and in the shared interest of all stakeholders involved.

Creative outputs are developed and strategies are put in place by working alongside clients, creatives, experts, supply chains and any other relevant stakeholders.

“Yes, we are the experts, but we are equally as eager to learn from and work with our community, because we truly believe that sustainable development requires this kind of collaboration, humility & openness.” says Tamara Fenech, founder and CEO of Cosie Studio.

News / Lily Agius Gallery / Final Collective Art Show June - August 2022 MALTA

A Collective Exhibition: The Final Show in Sliema

Lily Agius Gallery in Sliema will be hosting the final collective art show before moving to another venue. View the work of artists represented by the gallery until the 17th of June 7pm, and attend the final farewell piano performance by Yun Cai featuring James Cummings at 8pm on Friday 17th.

Opening hours: Tuesday to Saturday 10am to 7pm. For a private view contact the gallery on +356 99292488 or email info@lilyagiusgallery.com Image: Limited Edition Photograph by Stephanie Galea

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News / Cored Ores / Spaces in Suspension June - August 2022 MALTA

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In search of Ethereal Design: Presenting Cored Ores together objects and moments which speak of their influences, while seeking to open up opportunities for future stories to unfold.

ored ores is a collection of lighting objects, conceived and fabricated by bloc collective, a group of three local designers who have since 2017, been developing a design practice which brings together their individual aspirations and methods.

The collection, put forward by bloc as a play between the ‘incidental and the intentional,’ emerges as an exploration into extraction and processing of natural stone, centred around the act of coring.

As is observed through the collective’s greater portfolio of work, ranging from product development and fabrication to fashion and set design, their approach is borne out of a thorough understanding of materials and tooling techniques, resulting in objects and events expressive of the carefully tailored processes through which they are brought to life. With cored ores, bloc’s attitude towards working with natural stone is twofold, fluctuating between the deliberate and the coincidental, the machined and the raw - with emitted light mediating the two.

Blocks of solid Carrara and terrazzo are purposefully cored, forming

In a Maltese scene characterised by pastiche, where the garishly nostalgic passes as traditional, where entity comes at the price of identity, this work positions itself as a measured attempt at realigning our shared aesthetic values, prompting conversations which we desperately need to be having, promising a rekindling of a design ethic which is of our time, and of our place.

Photos by Marija Grech

cavities to house lighting electronics.

A brass plate insert and bulb sit side by side, a relationship shifting between illumination and reflection, aura and shadow. The compositions boldly ask to be moved and rotated, their sculptural qualities allowing them to elegantly illuminate an array of spaces within the house, in whichever orientation they land.

Characterised by unique circular cut outs and markings, traces of a coring process undergone at the quarrying stage, the second series of the collection celebrates fragments of raw marble discards, deemed to be a waste product

of the industry. Jagged marble strips and a contrasting crisp edged brass plate bound diagonal strips of light. At studied incline bridging horizontal and vertical, the emitted light flirts with the architectural planes of floor and wall.

Through their debut collection, Andrew, Mike and Nick’s architectural roots and penchant for storytelling shine through, as they present pieces which fashion themselves as a series of gestures, negotiating between object and space, the decorative and ambient, the familiar and novel. bloc come across as favouring a light touch over the overly prescriptive, masterfully putting

MALTA

SPACES IN SUSPENSION This is a collaboration between photographers Joseph P Smith and Therese Debono and a revisitation of the “Spaces in Suspension exhibition held at Spazju Kreattiv between October and December 2021.

Once an icon of luxurious hospitality, the Grand Hotel Verdala in Malta closed its doors in 1997 and was left in a derelict state. It is being reflected upon by the two artists at a time when the building has been removed from its original purpose for decades, but moreover, in a very different reality. What was once a meeting point for film stars, top diplomats and high-end tourism, has now become a space suspended in time, where traces of a previous life still linger and a new fate awaits.

The documentation of the place happened during COVID lockdown, a time when the concepts of “hospitality” and “meeting” were, and still are, suspended in time. Since then, the building has been totally demolished to make way for a new development.

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Joe and Therese have a Masters Degree in Fine Art - Digital Art from the University of Malta and have exhibited extensively locally and abroad.

News / Art Market June - August 2022

FAMOUS MAN RAY PHOTOGRAPH SELLS FOR RECORD $12.4 MILLION AT AUCTION

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Man Ray’s famous photographic print Le Violon d’Ingres (1924), has sold for an unprecedented $12.4 million, setting a record for the most expensive photographic artwork ever sold at auction.

he surrealist print depicts the slender nude back of French femme fatale Kiki de Montparnasse, Ray’s artistic muse and longtime lover, which he overlaid with a violin’s f-holes. It sold at a Christie’s New York auction dedicated to Surrealist art on Saturday 14th May, after 10 minutes of intense bidding.

It would also characterize his value of the concept and idea behind an artwork over the artwork itself.

Inspired by Dada’s detachment from traditional perceptions of art, Ray experimented with “camera-less” pictures which he called rayographs. They were made by placing objects directly onto photo-sensitive paper which he exposed and developed. His works turned everyday objects like scissors and coil into dramatic dream-like visions. He turned the mundane into the ethereal.

This print of Le Violon d’Ingres, one of Man Ray’s most recognizable works, is highly treasured because it is an original photographic copy, likely made around the same time as the photo negative.

Andreas Gursky’s 1999 landscape photo, Rhein II, was the previous auction record holder. It sold for $4.3 million, a third of the price of Le Violon d’Ingres.

WHO WAS MAN RAY? Born Emmanuel Radnitzky in 1890 in Pennsylvania, Man Ray was a pioneer of avant-garde art, specifically surrealist photography, which exploded in the 20th century. His long-spanning career saw him float and experiment with different media, starting as a painter and moving towards the mechanical: film, photography and object-making. His

MAN RAY, wikicommons

Le Violin D’Ingres, wikicommons

photographs are most valued by art collectors, signaling his undeniable mark on art photography.

(New Brunswick, NJ: Rutgers University Press, 2003), 215.

“I have finally freed myself from the sticky medium of paint, and am working directly with light itself.”

Quote: Man Ray to Ferdinand Howard, April 5, 1922; quoted in Francis M. Naumann, Conversion to Modernism: The Early Work of Man Ray

Man Ray as a young painter was highly influenced by cubism and expressionism, two movements which dominated the art scene in the early years of the 1900s. His move to Paris in 1921 and meeting with conceptual artist Marcel Duchamp would see him become synonymous with Parisian Dada and artists and writers of the Surrealist scene.

Ray did exceptionally well in the commercial art world during his lifetime, eventually becoming a prestigious fashion photographer. His work is still exhibited and celebrated in Europe and the US, where he made his claim to fame.

While Man Ray is most remembered for his photographs like Le Violin d’Ingres, he always regarded himself first and foremost as a painter.

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Interview /Malta / Lily Agius June - August 2022

LOOKING AHEAD: ESTABLISHED GALLERIST LILY AGIUS OPENS A NEW CHAPTER Contemporary art aficionado Lily Agius is bidding farewell to her gallery in the heart of Sliema after more than a decade of flagship exhibitions and events. And while the local art scene says goodbye to one of the island’s few permanent art spaces, this doesn’t mean Agius is slowing down anytime soon.

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am Vassallo met Lily Agius at her independent gallery to talk about past shows, present preparations for one last show in June and what the future has in

store.

“When I started 15 years ago, it felt like a Sisyphean battle to give Malta’s artists the recognition they deserved. We’ve come along way since then but we’ve still got a lot to do,” Agius explained.

Closing down this gallery space allows Agius to focus on promoting her artists internationally and the flexibility to do pop-up shows around the island.

“I feel like now is the time to focus on the bigger picture. I have my art publication, The Malta Artpaper, which we plan to publish in major art hubs in Europe and the Middle East. I want to establish my presence in London, where I grew up. I’ve also just moved to Floriana, where I have an interesting space which will hold some pop-ups and workshops called Green Shutters, which is another challenge to keep me on my toes.”

Over the years, the gallery established itself as a melting pot and meeting place for artists, art lovers and collectors alike.

“It’s been great doing non-stop shows.

The gallery has hosted such an interesting catalogue ofcontemporary art. I remember one show we did called 6:6, presenting the art of six established and six emerging artists side by side, artists whose bodies of art weren’t necessarily aligned but presented an interesting catalyst to discuss and reflect. That’s one of the beauties of art,” she said.

The gallery has also been a space for different disciplines of art practice, like dance performances and music recitals.

This was all present at the last show at Lily Agius Gallery called “Black Clouds of Smoke Made the White Clouds Look Dark” by CO-MA. The event included a swooning improvised piano recital by Yun Cai, which was interpreted by contemporary dancers.

Ten years and hundreds of shows later, Agius, who was constantly adjusting art works on the wall during the interview, is clearly just getting started.

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“I started this project because artists needed a professional space dedicated to exhibiting work. A place where you could meet dedicated clients face to face, a place for locals to experience what the scene has to offer, which is a lot. I’ve been extremely lucky to work with such talented people, meet regulars, to have found a space in Sliema and have such a fantastic landlord,” she mused.

Lily Agius Gallery’s final collective show will be held on the 17th June, followed by a solo show on 1st July

by Christian Palmer at Green Shutters in Floriana.

For more information contact Lily on info@lilyagiusgallery.com and sign up to her newsletters via The Malta Artpaper.

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Review /African representation + Feminism / Venice Biennale June - August 2022 ITALY

MARGERITA PULÈ

CRAFTING

Fantasy

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uch has been said about the female presence in The Milk of Dreams, and about its curator, Cecilia Alemani’s feminist approach in creating the exhibition, engaging a huge number of women artists, and acknowledging female and feminist aesthetics and methods. Much has also been said about the surrealist elements which dominate many of the exhibition’s narratives, drawing on the work of Leonora Carrington whose book gate the exhibition its name. And equally, much has also been written about the show’s five capsules, the small semi-historical, semi-independent sections which explore key themes pertinent to the exhibition as a whole.

I would like to focus on another aspect of the show, which relates to all of the above elements in some way; that of the exhibition’s merging of traditional, sometimes ancient, crafting techniques, with contemporary, often futuristic practices and imaginings.

Take, for example, the lead crystal sculptures by Romanian artist Andra Ursuta that dominate a large room, alongside huge monochrome wool on canvas pieces by Rosemarie Trockel.

Some of Ursuta’s figures are missing limbs, and others lack a head entirely.

As if to compensate, they have been given strange, unhuman appendages, alien-like tentacles, or extremities shaped like industrial tools. The figures are hybrid beings and bring to mind deep-sea creatures, but also – strangely - domesticity. Their unsettling contortions, textural detail and subdued colours make them seem at once immediate and remote. Ursuta works with casts of her own body, fusing them with found objects, and combining traditional lost wax casting techniques with 3d scanning and printing. Anyone who has tried to work with casting glass will know that it is so difficult that it makes

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even bronze-casting look like child’s play; these pieces, with weird shapes and chilly lead crystal colour palette push the boundaries of a traditional craft, both conceptually and technically.

The combination of post-human worlds, speculative imaginings, and textural, tactile craft is ever-present in The Milk of Dreams exhibition, both at the Giardini, and the Arsenale. Straw and fabric works jostle with cyborg-like creatures, while animals and animalistic forms compete for space with oil-dripping technologies and futuristic images. The vast spaces are filled with equally huge textile sculptures (Tau Lewis’ animal heads), found-object pieces recalling weaving techniques (Bronwyn Katz’s salvaged bed springs and pot-scourers), alongside ceramic herds of animals (Raphaela Vogel’s giraffes), over-sized fluorescent flowers (Tetsumi Kudo’s forms), and deconstructed robotic figures (Geumhyung Jeong’s assemblage).

Alemani has said that following the covid-induced zoom calls and online existence of the exhibition’s planning phase, she instinctively moved towards more tactile and three-dimensional pieces. This she certainly did, presenting us with a vast array of materials from stoneware, ceramics, collage, and textile, as well as aluminium, iron, and synthetic materials and liquids.

The human figure – in infinite variations – is ever-present too. Later in the Giardini, we come across Mrinalini Mukherjee’s ambiguous upright forms. Made using the ancient Arab hand-knotting and weaving technique of macramé, the figures contemplate us as earnestly as we contemplate them. Their ambiguity endows them with strength, and almost gives them a menacing air; are they alien figures? Do they represent mythical sexual organs?

Or are our minds playing tricks, and seeing forms where none exist?

Zigzagging through the exhibition in both venues are themes of mythology, speculative ideas, a strong female presence, and a strong thread of continuity from ancient times to the future that we have created for ourselves. The hybridism and anthropomorphism that speaks to us from the past relates to how lives have changed in the 21st century, how we endeavour to have control over our bodies and our destinies, while faced with environmental and territorial challenges that we have ourselves caused.

The crafts that are present in the exhibition are not limited to ancient or hand-made skills. Also very much

visible is a more contemporary craft, if one defines it as such; that of computer programming, working with modern technologies, to build (or craft) an action, algorithm or even an intelligence.

Geumhyung Jeong’s DIY robots are created by the artist herself, ‘crafted’ together from DIY parts. Tishan Hsu’s work pushes this definition even further – does using innovative fabrication techniques and materials place him outside the boundary of a ‘maker’ in the craft tradition? Is the presence of the hand-made in literal terms a prerequisite for the definition of craft? Or is his work moving towards a new kind of craft, where artist and digital technology work alongside each other?

MARGERITA PULÈ is an artist, writer and curator, with a Master’s Degree in Fine Arts, and founder of Unfinished Art Space.

Her practice and research are concerned with the contradictions of politics and social realities.

Back to the more familiar material of cast bronze; in the Arsenale we are confronted with Simone Lee’s towering and beautiful Brick House, majestic in its monumentality. The piece holds obvious references in its form to domed earthen homes, as well as to African American crafts, but its unseeing face and dome-like body endow it with multiple meanings; is it trying not to see, or is it seeing something not on this earth? Is it protecting us, or warning us from something that has yet to come?

Elsewhere, Myrlande Constant’s large-scale flags, are packed tight with brightly coloured glass beads, each one sewn on by hand, depicting images packed with Haitian history, vodou symbols and contemporary culture. The surfaces are lush and dense with colour and symbolism.

Many of the exhibition’s films also refer to the hand-made. The work of Thao Nguyen Phan also holds a river at its source; and the making of brise-soleil; a combination of traditional Vietnamese building technique with the modern material of concrete. Ali Cherri’s multi-channel installation brings together ancient brick-making techniques and the contemporary building of a huge hydroelectric damn to engage in a new mythology, imagining the construction of the dam as a portal to a fantastical world.

And it is impossible here to mention each work in detail, from Gabriel Chaile ‘s five adobe ‘sculpture-ovens’, to Müge Yilmaz’ installations, from Virginia Overton’s huge cement shapes, to Sandra Vásquez de la Hora’s beeswax-sealed drawings.

So much is the hand-made present in this exhibition – whether in Precious Okoyomon’s site-specific garden-like installation, or Mire Lee’s kinetic sculptures - that the whole exhibition can be seen as quietly acknowledging the symbiotic roles of the artist and the craftsperson (with a broad a definition of each as possible) each one contributing skill, knowledge, and new ideas upon which to build.

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Review /Italy / Venice Biennale June - August 2022 ITALY

CHRISTINE XUEREB SEIDU

BLACK FEMINISM AND A RISE OF AFRICAN REPRESENTATION AT THE VENICE BIENNALE The 59th edition of the Venice Biennale comes with the main exhibition ‘The Milk of Dreams’, curated by the Italian Cecilia Alemani, which she specifies is a ‘reaction and an allegory’ against the 20th Century where pressure was imposed on the definition of identity. The change sees a feminist and anti-colonial Venice Biennale following decades of gradual development in African representation which we also notice through USA’s pavilion sculptor Simone Leigh who explores the burden of colonial histories and the promise of Black feminism. Together with Britain’s Boyce, who won a Golden Lion for best national pavilion, she really did prove her point.

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n this exhibition we see Alemani’s selection of 16 African artists out of the 213 artists in total, 13 of which are living and with the majority being female artists. Participating artists include Igshaan Adams, Bronwyn Katz and Simnikiwe Buhlungu from South Africa; Monira Al Qadira and Ibrahim El-Salahi from Sudan; Elias Sime and Merikokeb Berhanu from Ethiopia; Kudzanai-Violet Hwami and Portia Zvavahera from Zimbabwe; Magdalene Odundo and Cosima von Bonin from Kenya; Safia Farhat from Tunisia and Sandra Mujinga from the DRC. African representation at the Biennale’s main show was probably only larger in

Installation view of different works by Kudzanai-Violet Hwami.

Image: Courtesy of Adéolá Olágúnjú for TSA Art Magazine

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number under the late Nigerian Okwui Enwezor’s curatorship in 2015 and larger in percentage in 2019 when Ralph Rugoff selected 10 African artists out of the total 79 artists for ‘May We Live in Interesting Times’.

When we take a look through the history of African representation at the Venice Biennale we notice that although the fair gained international popularity in the early 20th Century, African artists only started participating in the 1920s and while the first country pavilion started with Belgium in 1907, the first African country pavilions only started appearing in 1993. The 1922 Biennale with the retrospective of Modigliani received a lot of criticism

CHRISTINE XUEREB SEIDU founded Christine X Art Gallery in 2004 after a university degree in Art History and Anthropology.

She has returned to Malta after a year in Ghana where she explored African art and culture.

of 4 Kenyan artists who explore the relationships and dynamics between participants in conversation and how this relationship affects, influences and occupies the space of a story. Acaye Kerunen and Collin Sekajugo represent Uganda in its pavilion, which received a special mention at the Golden Lion awards, showing the different territories and trade and living conditions in its urban centres. Acaye Kerunen also used sustainability as a practice whilst collaborating with craftswomen from around the country.

Process behind creating Acaye Kerunen’s work for the Ugandan National Pavilion at the 59th Venice Biennale. Kampala, Uganda, March 2022.

Courtesy of Acaye Kerunen Studio.

especially when the African sculpture exhibition was promoted by the organisers in a derogatory sense of being ‘primitive’. Things took off quicker within the last decade, first with Angola winning the Golden Lion award for national participation in 2013 and then when the late Nigerian Okwui Enwezor curated the 2015 edition by introducing 21 African artists. The last three editions also saw a rise in African pavilions with 10 countries participating in 2017, 8 in 2019 and 9 this year. Out of the 9 participating African country pavilions, only South Africa and Egypt maintain their permanent spaces at Giardini whilst Zimbabwe is now appearing for its sixth time. Others are Kenya, Ivory

Coast, Ghana and for the first time, we are seeing the participation of Cameroon, Namibia, and Uganda.

It hasn’t been easy for African artists who struggle to get their governments to fund or show interest towards art and culture so it’s of no surprise that African representation is generally not very prominent and the fact that national pavilion newcomers are forced to look for locations away from the central exhibition in Gardini which itself centralised on anti-colonialism, they need to settle for this colonial arrangement.

In the 2017 edition of the Venice Biennale, Kenya participated with a national pavilion despite receiving none of the funds promised by its government and

in the previous editions, its pavilion stirred up controversy over its lack of Kenyan representation leaning more towards Chinese and Italian artists and curators.

This year, except for Namibia, who had to pull out at the last minute due to controversy, African pavilions were mainly represented by African artists.

Ivory Coast is represented by six artists who look to stories to interpret and represent the socio-economic realities of the subject and of the collective.

The feminist artist Laetitia Ky uses her body and hairstyling to vilify the modern definitions of the contemporary human condition. Kenya’s ‘Exercises in Conversation’ includes the work

Cameroon’s pavilion set a dialogue between 4 Cameroonian artists and 4 foreign artists on the theme of chimeras and possible utopias. In a similar way, the artists of the Ghana pavilion use the black star, the Lodestar of African freedom, whilst examining new constellations of this freedom across time, technology, and borders. Egypt’s exhibition is divided into two main complementary zones and reveals the reality of common people, unity, the power of integration, and the ensuing balance.

In ‘I Did Not Leave A sign’, the 4 artists in the Zimbabwean Pavilion show the beauty of the unexpected, exploring livelihoods of being Zimbabwean while being governed by unseen threats.

South Africa was the only Pavilion to look at negative and positive impacts of the enforced covid lockdowns.

Should you like to take a glimpse of the evolving black feminism taking place at the Venice Biennale, you have until the 11th November 2022 to head over to Venice. Without a doubt, we continue to see a rise in the future of African representation at the Venice Biennale. The African Art in Venice Forum (AAVF), only set up in recent years following the necessity to compensate for the lack of African representation, seems to have made an impact.

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Spotlight /Arts Council Malta June - August 2022 ITALY

Establishing Malta’s Presence at La Biennale di Venezia Arts Council Malta (ACM) is the commissioning body responsible for Malta’s Pavilion. Artpaper talks to Dr Romina Delia, Internationalisation Executive at ACM, about the Council’s commitment to establishing Malta’s presence at this prestigious event and her role as Project Leader of the Malta Pavilion at La Biennale di Venezia.

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a Biennale di Venezia was founded in 1895 by the city of Venice. It was conceived during the height of the Great Universal Exhibition, a cultural phenomenon that took continental Europe by storm after England’s Crystal Palace Exhibition in 1851. Yet, despite its longevity, Malta features very sparingly within the landscape of the Biennale’s history.

In 1958, seven Maltese artists - Antoine Camilleri, Carmenu Mangion, Frank Portelli, Emvin Cremona, Hugo Carbonaro, Josef Kalleya and Oliver Agius – featured in a special exhibition at the 29th edition of the Biennale. Malta reemerged 41-years later with a commissioned show curated by the late Adrian Bartolo. A curator at the National Museum of Fine Arts, Bartolo selected artists Vince Briffa, Norbert Attard and Ray Pitrè to showcase work reflecting the philosophical concept of time.

Dr Delia explains that in 2015, plans were set for Malta to have a more permanent presence at the Biennale. “I was asked to commission and project lead on behalf of ACM, the return of the Malta Pavilion. For the past seven years, this has formed part of my portfolio as the Internationalisation Executive at Arts Council Malta, falling within the strategy department of the Council.”

In 2015, Dr Delia set up initial meetings with the Biennale organisers to re-introduce Malta’s participation in the 57th edition in 2017. “After viewing several sites, we decided to choose the space that hosted the Tuvalu National Pavilion in 2015. After an absence of 17 years, Malta was about to proudly return to the Biennale with its National Pavilion located in a central location in the Ar-

“Without whose constant support and advice I would have never managed to get through each Biennale.” senale.” “We had made sure the location was central as we wanted all the visitors of the Biennale to literally pass through our pavilion. Over 600,000 visitors at every edition and over 6000 international press.”

A few months later, Dr Delia coordinated an international open call for curatorial proposals, presided over by a jury composed of local and international curators. Artist-curators Bettina Hutschek (Germany) and Raphael Vella (Malta) represented Malta in 2017 with their playfully poetic Homo Melitensis: An Incomplete Inventory in 19 Chapters.

The pavilion interpreted and defined the notion of “Malteseness”, cleverly weaving together an eclectic mix of Maltese artists and an array of local artefacts.

As its first foray into the Biennale in many years, Dr Delia recalls having to start from scratch: “I had no one in Malta to guide me, as the curator Adrian Bartolo and project manager Dennis Vella, who formed the team in 1999, had both passed away. So, I reached out to any entity I thought could assist.” She approached a mixture of public and private entities such as Malta Enterprise, Malta Tourism Authority, Heritage Malta, BOV, the Valletta Cultural Agency,

and the Malta Presidency of the Council of the EU in 2017. Dr Delia maintains that the success of delivering such a project is thanks to the constant support of its collaborators.

The 2017 edition holds a special place in Dr Delia’s heart. As she explains: “most artists participating were relatively young to be participating at the Biennale, and having them, there was amazing. It was the opportunity of a lifetime. I was like, ‘wow- these are Malta’s future, and they are here at this international art event absorbing all!’. I had tears in my eyes.”

Yet another ambitious collaboration followed Malta’s 2017 offering. The 58th Biennale in 2019 featured Malta’s entry, Maleth / Haven / Port - Heterotopias of Evocation, a pavilion curated by historian Hesperia Iliadou (Cyprus), whose curatorial inspiration was Homer’s Odyssey. It included newly commissioned work by artists Vince Briffa (Malta), Trevor Borg (Malta) and Klitsa Antoniou (Cyprus). Their work examined Malta’s unique position in the central Mediterranean, providing a contemporary reinterpretation of our timeless need of seeking Haven, most strongly experienced in times of crisis. Like vessels

within a sea, the artworks come together, inviting the audience to participate in an intuitively playful dialogue, traversing the exhibition in a curiosity-driven voyage of self-reflection This year, Dr Delia informs us that the 2022 Malta Pavilion, Diplomazjia astuta brings several individuals together: “Each curatorial team member has a solid track record. Even though the project might have seemed like a highly ambitious one on paper, the whole team has now proven that sometimes even what appears to be an impossible project can become a reality if people put faith and trust in each other. When people do their utmost to understand each other and put all their resources togethermagic happens!”

Over the years, Dr Delia has worked tirelessly to bring each pavilion to fruition: “I am with the curatorial team every step of their journey, which is quite a roller-coaster ride, I must say, especially when dealing with curators, artists and other principal actors based in different parts of the world. I feel my role is to pull all the strings together, ensuring that the project is delivered successfully.” In addition, she works hand in hand with the directors, administrators and communications team at ACM and at La Biennale di Venezia headquarters, “without whose constant support and advice I would have never managed to get through each Biennale.”

Even though the work is challenging, Dr Delia maintains it is still a process she finds fascinating and rewarding. “Exploring each other’s cultures, attitudes, traditions, politics, histories, contacts, whilst learning to trust and understand each other and building something together” is part of this exciting journey.

SALADS BY DAY DRINKS BY NIGHT @ NO.43 43, MERCHANT STREET, VALLETTA

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Review /Italy / Venice Biennale June - August 2022 ITALY

ERICA GIUSTA

“THE MILK OF DREAMS”, A PARADIGM SHIFT AND A WITCH’S DREAM Review of the 59th Venice Art Biennale, curated by Cecilia Alemanni

View of Simone Leigh and Belkis Ayón’s work in “The Milk of Dreams” at the 59th Venice Biennale, 2022. Image courtesy of the Venice Biennale. Photo by Roberto Marossi.

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ike the centenarian prestigious organisation that it is, the Biennale sometimes struggles to be faithful to its mission of being at the forefront of research and investigation of contemporary trends. Both the art and the much younger architecture Biennale have had a couple of innocuous editions in recent years, in which relevant questions were asked but no meaningful responses were produced. The cycle has been broken by Cecilia Alemanni, wonder-woman curator of “The Milk of Dreams”, and by the radical change in perspective that she brought about.

After years of the equivalent of a bunch of privileged middle-aged white men discussing inequalities on a tedious talk show, proved by the gender imbalance of exhibited artists in the last 100 years (between 10 - 30% women vs. 90 – 70% men), Alemanni presented a titanic effort in re-

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versing the trend and offsetting it. She gathered a genuinely innovative collection of works, of which 90% are by women and gender non-conforming artists, in many cases unknown to the public because overlooked for decades.

Through a sequence of ‘historical capsules’, as she defines them, she created a fluid, oneiric promenade across the Arsenale, questioning how the definition of human is changing and envisioning a new ‘post-human’ condition under economic, environmental, social and technological pressures. The exhibition draws its main inspiration from Leonora Carrington’s otherworldly creatures, elected ‘companions on an imaginary journey through the metamorphosis of bodies and the definition of human’, as Alemanni wrote. This journey culminates in the Padiglione Centrale at the Giardini, where the density as well as the complexity of the relationships

ERICA GIUSTA is Director of Innovation at architecture firm AP Valletta. She read for an MA in Architecture, and has a Post-Graduate Master from the Sole24Ore Business School in Milan. She contributes regularly to academic journals and international architecture magazines such as A10 New European Architecture and Il Giornale dell’Architettura.

between works intensify, leading to a magical section titled “The Witch’s Cradle”, nestled at the core of the show - both physically, at the centre of the labyrinthic pavilion, and symbolically, as enlightening exploration of the main theme. In a pleasantly carpeted and intimate atmosphere, in fact, the works of surrealist giants like Carol Rama, Leonor Fini, Remedios Varo, Eileen Agar, Dorothea Tanning and Leonora Carrington reveal a different side to the history of art as we know it, and enchant the visitors of this astonishingly engaging Biennale.

The main exhibition, and a few national participations too, read like an archival research re-tracing connections and re-organizing our knowledge of contemporary art, succeeding in being pioneering, poetic and ultimately relevant.

The great absence of a thorough environmentally conscious approach to the installations weakens the otherwise flawless consistency between concept and execution. For instance, Brick House, Simone Leigh’s sculpture at the entrance, works brilliantly as a powerful and evocative introduction to the show but the uprooting and transportation of its 2,700 kgs of bronze from the Highline in New York to the Venice Arsenale raise criticism. Similarly, the large amount of steel continuously melted at high-temperature as part of Diplomazja Astuta, the spectacular kinetic installation of the Malta pavilion, raised some concerns while succeeding in lyrically re-articulating Caravaggio’s seminal altarpiece The Beheading of St John the Baptist and giving great visibility to the country’s participation one that sparked stimulating debates at both local and international level, and that will be remembered. At the next Biennale, people will certainly look out for Malta.

Overview, Arsenale, CAPSULA 5, Cyborg perspective. Courtesy of La Biennale di Venezia.

The Witch’s Cradle, Overview. Courtesy of La Biennale di Venezia.

It is also true that, in this perspective, the very nature of the Biennale should be questioned as not environmentally conscious: tons of materials and thousands of people converging to fragile Venice from all over the world represent the past and its pre-climate

change and pre-pandemic structures, of which we all feel so nostalgic about.

Hopefully The Milk of Dreams will contribute as a step towards the much-needed radical re-imagination of these structures too.

STRADA STRETTA, VALLETTA T: + 356 2122 0449

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Interview /Exhibition/ Malta June - August 2022 MALTA

S A M VA S S A L L O

Believe

STRANGE B DAYS

old, Byron-based artist Christian Palmer is set to exhibit at Lily Agius’ new pop up gallery, Green Shutters, in Floriana this summer, in a show called Strange Days.

Presenting a selection of fine art prints and paintings, the show will be a melange of new works and retrospectives, showcasing the artist’s distinct style, spanning over the years.

Australian Artist Christian Palmer To Exhibit At Green Shutters

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Palmer’s work can be described as “grunge realism”, blending lone misfit animals with lyrical, graffitistyle text.

The result is an alluring, idiosyncratic take on the human condition.

“I like to choose animals that have an edge about them, animals that are representative of an outsider. From this perspective, I make sense of my own internal dialogue and the irony of the human condition,” Palmer explained to gallerist Lily Agius, who has represented the artist in Malta over a decade.

SAM VASSALLO is a Maltese journalist, writer and artist based in Berlin.

“This exhibition will be special for a number of reasons,” Agius explained.

“I’ve worked with Palmer extensively over the years and its always special experiencing the public’s reception of his work. It also marks a new chapter for me as a gallerist, moving from my permanent gallery space in Sliema to a popup concept in Floriana.”

of his mother. It is here that he experimented with painting in collaboration with a group of like-minded artists, as well as setting up a boutique graphic design company. In 2001, he moved to Byron Bay where he published the ‘Byron Bay Diaries’ photographic journal and began working as a professional as a painter.

Born and educated in England, Palmer now works and lives in Australia, after travelling extensively in South America, Africa and Asia. He then landed on the idyllic island of Malta, the homeland

His work lies at an intersect between the confines of his fine art background and the pull of urban contemporary street art, with its casual communication and interaction through public spaces. Years

What if go was one of us?

Will it ever be the same again?

of work in graphics, illustration and painting inform his art practice, communication through canvas, wood, streetscapes and street paint, rooted through child-like writing that make up his lyrical art works.

Attend the opening of Strange Days on 1st July, at Green Shutters, Floriana. The show will be on until the 23rd. For more details visit www.lilyagiusgallery. com, and follow Lily Agius Gallery on Instagram and Facebook.

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Review /Malta / Austin Camilleri June - August 2022 MALTA

JOANNA DELIA

LE.IVA: SUBLIME FURY AND EXQUISITE OUTRAGE. LE.IVA - Anger is a Lazy Form of Grief a solo show by Austin Camilleri was held between the 25th of February and the 10th of April, 2022, at Spazju Kreattiv, Valletta.

LEAP, Unpatinated bronze, orbital sanding, 2021. Photo: © Brian Grech Courtesy: Austin Camilleri Studio

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JOANNA DELIA is a medical doctor who specialises in cosmetic medicine. She is also a cultural consumer and art collector who tirelessly supports local contemporary art and culture.

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believe Austin Camilleri likes to have fun with his works. He clearly likes to create works which can be likened to fantastical toys, props, immersive theatrical sets and juxtapose them to a community, forcing us to play with them in our heads with him. And in doing that, we play in our heads with him. With the games, and the rules for the games his mind conjures. The thought games he uses to deal with whatever society is doing to piss him off. The aspects of human behavior which consciously or unconsciously cause pain and trauma to other fellow humans and the lies the same humans use to cover this up.

LE.IVA - yes/no, seems to mean thoughts like Should I, or should I not? Should I look, or should I look away? she loves me, she loves me not. Shall I give up, or not?

He ponders these questions, these states of confusion and pours the results of his disorienting conclusions into works using media as diverse as it gets. In fact, the only unifying thread is that each work is in itself made of diverse media. From recovering a migrant boat engine propellor, which he then gilds to a wooden architectural model of a bombed opera house, which he then burns, to

GHOSTTRIP SERIES, Magnani paper, Rosaspina paper, non-Newtonian ink, etching ink, 180 individual works, 2015/2021 Photo: © Brian Grech Courtesy: Austin Camilleri Studio

a passport which he destroys and paints on, each work is a process in itself. It is the half-baked result of a journey. It is the documentation of a journey to nowhere.

Almost all the works seem to show two sides. Two states. The artist seems to want to present a symbiotic relationship between perceived truth and fiction, and the honesty and dishonesty society is presented with, or chooses to contend with when it comes to issues such as post-colonial turmoil, racism and blind fury at illegal migrants, misogyny and so on. At the same time this dichotomy is transcribed when he made each work both beautiful and classically ugly at the same time.

Hence the title. One might see it as polarisation, something Camilleri’s birth country aces in. The work calls out the immature us and them, black and white mentality which is so typical of the debate process in this country. But rather than be separated, the issues have been forced to coexist within each physical structure.

Take Leiva, a public sculpture, placed in the niche of Palazzo Castellania, former Court of Justice of Malta and current headquarter of the Ministry of Health. She is equally small, but fierce, hamalla Curator Rosa Martinez and Austin Camilleri give exhibition tour

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Review /Malta / Austin Camilleri June - August 2022 MALTA Continued

but commanding, furious but demanding of justice. Livid but harmless. It obviously reminds me of the statue of the Fearless Girl by Kristen Visbal which for a while was so perfectly placed in front of the bull in Manhattan, except that in Malta Leiva, the fierce one is stuck in a niche like the ones which once housed a religious figure. Except that Historically, the plinth on Palazzo Castellania never housed the statue of a saint or apostle but in stark contrast to the many other corners of Valletta people found guilty of robbery or other minor crimes where exposed to public mockery on that plinth, so they could suffer the shame of being judged and punished by other fellow citizens. Leiva seems like she would like to face the world but is relegated to her pedestal of piety. And is allowed to confront no one. Her issues are not even given enough credit to be discussed or debated. She is strong but she is weak. She is seen but not respected.

Our society is thus fragmented. Bipolarity and Fragmentation of opinion is pretty much the case with every hot topic of the moment. And whereas most contemporary art shows would usually somehow deal with a stream of consciousness stemming from the wish to explore a single or closely knit set of issues or emotional reactions, Austin seems to start from the notion of power and fly with it. He starts with a Hamalla tal-belt ends with queen Victoria - or her absence. When something is removed - do you have less meaning?

Less significance? Or more? Yes or no?

He dedicates a room to the thousands of human beings dying in our sea while we watch and munch popcorn and badger the dead with virtual spit and vitriol and then makes a shiny golden, larger than life monumental statue of our very own super hero - the man who conquered this same sea and

ANGERISALAZYFORMOFGRIEF 1, 4K video, 3 screens in sync, 2021/2022 Photo: © Brian Grech Courtesy: Austin Camilleri Studio

broke world records. Although he, like Leiva, is facing no one. All that power staring into space.

The show is curated by the formidable Rosa Martínez who curated international biennials including Barcelona, 1989-1992; Manifesta 1, Rotterdam, 1996; Istanbul, 1997; SITE Santa Fe, New Mexico, USA, 1999; Busan, South Korea, 2000; Sao Paulo, 2006; and Moscow 2005-2007. In 2003, she was curator of the Spanish Pavilion at the Venice Biennale where in 2005, she directed the 51st International Art Exhibition - ‘Always a Little Further’ in the Arsenale, which made her - together with Maria de Corral, of the Italian Pavilion- the first female director of this event in 110 years of history.

From 2004 to 2007 she was chief curator of the Istanbul Museum of Modern Art and in 2019 she curated the show In the Name of the Father at the Picas-

BANDIERA BIANCA,2 channel HD video 03:07, looped, 2018, Edition 3 Photo: © Brian Grech Courtesy: Austin Camilleri Studio

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so Museum in Barcelona.

In 2018, she organized the project Constellation Malta for Valletta 2018 European Capital of Culture, and this is where the collaboration with Camilleri was consolidated.

Martinez has evidently formed a strong professional relationship with Camilleri over the years and champions his concepts, processes and works in her statements. In a Times Of Malta interview when asked if the subtitle ‘Anger is a lazy form of grief’ refers to our country’s propensity to wallow in impotency, she answers ‘If you, who are a Maltese citizen, see it that way, there might be some truth in what you say.

However, again, all this refers also to many other countries…’

Irene Biolchini, is co-curator - a lecturer in Contemporary Art at the Department of Digital Arts, University

of Malta, and a Guest Curator for the International Museum of Ceramics in Faenza since 2012 which are two among many of her international roles.

I caught up with Austin for a few clarifications.

How did you meet your curator and co-curator? How did the idea of this collaboration start? What was your drive and motivation for this show?

I’ve known Irene for quite a long time and we collaborated both locally and abroad. Irene was my curator for the Venice Biennale 2019 bid, BARRA. I first met Rosa in 2018, when she invited me to be part of her international show Constellation Malta. It was an honour to exhibit with Marina Abramovic, Yoshimoto Nara, Chiharu Shiota, Saskia Calderon etc. We have been collaborating ever since. It was natural for me to share and discuss the idea behind a new show with Rosa. She very much liked the works....so it was easy from then onwards:) Did you work on the individual themes separately? It seems like a response to diverse and yet equally important frustrations/observations. Did one issue lead to another?

All are concerns that I’ve been tackling for the past years...and all share the same root!

want to transmit?

The title is just an excuse, and doesnt have to be literal. Polarisation was central - its manifestation, not necessarily in the works themselves but in the perception of the works or the perception of the theme of the works by the social fabric itself.

I always feel your works stem from pure concept but then become very tangible, covetable physical objects. And most artists today are happier stopping half way through this journey and publish the documentation - leaving things open ended - like most say pavilions in this year’s Venice Biennale. How do you feel about this ‘trend’? Do you feel compelled to produce a tangible work every time?

Not really. I maneuver between transience and permanence. I have many works that are open-ended, time based or simply instruction-based.

With Le.Iva, I wanted materiality and the expanded form of sculpture, together with its gravity and tradition,

to be very much the backbone of the show.

How do YOU think this show was perceived? How do you feel about the malta based audience? Do you see an increasing level of maturity and appreciation of contemporary art as the years go by?

I felt that the show reached an audience beyond the usual art circles, and that’s encouraging. Le.Iva had also an international following and, by default, the works are bound to travel.

Images of visitors to the exhibition posing with the Monumental statue of Neil the record breaking swimmer went viral - and in this way I believe the work fast became possibly the most recognizable contemporary work of art in Malta. And the show sold out although the works live on in unity in the catalogue which accompanied the works. And in our collectively bewildered concerted memories.

The works also seem to me to be a Yin Yang of anger and appreciation as the title suggests I guess… and therefore the work feels very balanced collectively - some bitterness and some awe - is this something you regularly feel and

HOPE, Stainless steel propeller/migrants boat, 22crt gold leaf, 2018 Photo: © Brian Grech Courtesy: Austin Camilleri Studio

LEIVA, Cold cast aluminium, white paint, 2021/2022 Location: Castellania Palace, Merchants Street, Valletta, Malta Photo: © Brian Grech Courtesy: Austin Camilleri Studio

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CHRISTINE XUEREB SEIDU founded Christine X Art Gallery in 2004 after a university degree in Art History and Anthropology.

She has returned to Malta after a year in Ghana where she explored African art and culture.

Spotlight /Art Scene / Africa June - August 2022 AFRICA

CHRISTINE XUEREB SEIDU

AFRICAN ART IN THE GLOBAL MARKETPLACE OF NFTS

Guest at ART X Lagos’ NFT Exhibition ‘Reloading...’ - Image: Courtesy of ART X Lagos

Crypto-artists have been profiting from their NFT (non-fungible token) artworks since 2014, following Kevin McCoy’s first minted NFT ‘Quantum’ artwork, which sold for 1.4 million US dollars at a Sotheby auction. While the history of NFTs is captivating, endless opportunities are in the pipeline, especially for digital artists, and this has been especially so for African artists who now have an added platform where to sell their content to a global audience.

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Spotlight /Art Scene / Africa June - August 2022 AFRICA Continued

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n October of 2021, Nigerian artist Osinachi (Prince Jacon Osinachi Igwe) was the first contemporary African crypto-artist to sell his work, a series of 5 NFTs ‘Different Shades of Water’, through Christie’s (in collaboration with 1-54 African Art Fair at Sommerset House in London). Made entirely through Microsoft Word, his work was inspired by the work of David Hockney and sold for 68 thousand dollars, even less than the sale of the painting ‘Becoming Sochukwuma’ which he sold for 80 thousand dollars earlier in the year. This artwork depicted a black dancer in a tutu.

Art X Lagos, West Africa’s largest art fair, also had an NFT art presence with the exhibition ‘Reloading ...’ at its last fair in November 2021 in partnership with SuperRare. Osinachi, co-curator of exhibition, was once again present at his home city together with Nigerian multidisciplinary artist /photographer Niyi Okeowo and Nigerian digital artist Abdulrahman Adesola Yusuf (aka Arclight.jpg).

Together with other NFT artists from the African continent and its diaspora, they displayed an NFT wave throughout the continent. Ghana was represented by Nyahan Tachie-Menson and Senegal was represented by Linda Dounia. East Africa was represented by Rwandan digital artist Mucyo Daniel Dylan (MDD) and North Africa was represented by the self-taught artist, researcher and cultural worker Youssef El Idrissi. Rendani Nemakhavhani (aka PR$DNT HONEY) and Thapelo Keetile represented South Africa, whilst Zimbabwe was represented

by Canadian-based artist Moonsundiamond. A Jamaican artist by the name of Idris Veitch was also one of the participating artists.

Osinachi spoke of great success selling NFTs on the crypto art market, even mentioning the return on investiment for those buying his work to sell soon after. This was also the case for a 19 year old Zimbabwean artist YKHulio who sold his artwork featuring HipHop star Drake eating pasta from one of his award plaques, together with his father and son, for 10 thousand dollars and later seeing it listed for more than 50 times that amount. Art X Lagos’ founder Tokini Peterside talked of problems they encountered when it came to African art collectors trusting the future of NFTs so they created talks on NFTs for the Art X Talks programme hoping to get people to understand it better.

A-FIL-LIATION-2-2021, Angéle Etoundi Essamba. Image: Courtesy of Cameroon pavilion, Venice Biennale 2022

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Despite the usual African art collectors having to deal with the unknown when it comes to the future of NFTs, the opportunities for African artists in the global marketplace when it comes to the digital art market passes the level of success in the traditional art market by far. When in the traditional art market African art sales accounted for only 1% of the 50 billion dollar global art market, the African NFT market already exceeds that proportion. This is why we are now seeing so many digital artists of African descent minting their art on several NFT platforms as well as a rise in African digital art communities, which serve as platforms to promote collaborations, share resources, challenges, ideas and online events to help up and coming artists. These

Pool Day II, Osinachi. Image: Courtesy of Christie’s Images Limited 2022

include the Kenyan NFT club, the Nigerian NFT community, the Afro Future DAO, the Network of African NFT Artists, Black NFT Art, African Digital Art and the Africa NFT Community.

South African art world is now entering the NFT space with Latitudes’ first NFT offering, the Out-of-Africa collection at

their online art fair. This online art fair, which started during the Covid lockdown after the physical fair was hampered by the pandemic, has a curated selection of just under 50 South African artists which include some of their top NFT artists- Phumulani Ntuli, Musa Nxumalo, JP Meyer and Lerato Lodi.

This is only the beginning of NFTs and we are likely to hear of so much success from African artists in the near future.

We could only keep an eye out and watch the success of the African NFT artists mentioned together with other top creators like Anthony Azekwoh, Paul Ayihawu and Odion Tobi from Nigeria and Rich Allela from Kenya. If you are at the

Venice Biennale this year, do check out Cameroon’s first ever pavilion, which is also the Venice Biennale’s first NFT Art exhibition, with the Cameroonian artists being Francis Nathan Abiamba, Angéle Etoundi Essamba, Justine Gaga, and Salifou Lindou.

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GABRIELE SPILLER is a journalist with an MA in Art Education. She lives in Berlin and Ghajnsielem. Her book 50 Reasons to Love Gozo is an expression of her enthusiasm for Malta’s culture.

Review /Germany / Gallery June - August 2022 GERMANY

GABRIELE SPILLER

The Big World in Miniature The exhibition “Illustrious Guests. Treasures from the Kunstkammer Würth” at the Kunstgewerbemuseum Berlin tells of the desire to collect and the first curators.

A

special exhibition at the Kunstgewerbemuseum (Museum of Decorative Arts) Berlin welcomes “Illustrious Guests. Treasures from the Kunstkammer Würth”. It is “the big world in miniature”, as director Sabine Thümmler said at the opening, “a

Georg Pfründt, Hornförmiger Deckelpokal mit einer Allegorie auf Afrika, 3. Viertel des 17. Jh.s, Zebuhorn, geschnitzt, Silber, vergoldet, 43,1 x 37,5 x 11,4 cm, © Staatliche Museen zu Berlin, Kunstgewerbemuseum / Stephan Klonk, Berlin

glimpse into divine creation” – from the perspective of Baroque artisans and their collectors. The collection on display belongs to the German-Austrian entrepreneur and arts patron Reinhold Würth (born 1935). The Würth Group, also present in Malta, is world market leader in the trade with connecting materials and a family business since 1945.

The son of the founder owns a collection of over 18,500 works spanning more than 500 years of art history. However, by far the largest part of it is contemporary. From the small baroque Würth Kunstkammer, 60 objects came to Berlin.

Centuries ago, a private “Wunderkammer” (cabinet of curiosities) served to discover and stimulate the intellect. For their princely or clerical owners they were a way to acquire knowledge and to show off exotic things to their guests.

They wanted to surprise, amuse, educate – and also accumulate a fortune.

Often it was curiosities from all over the world, which at that time could be travelled more and more. Treasures from local manufactories also found their way into the cabinet of rarities. Natural objects, stones and preserved specimen were not yet separated from skilful handicrafts or unique works of art in this early collecting phase.

Illustre Gäste. Kostbarkeiten der Kunstkammer Würth, Ausstellungsansicht, Kunstgewerbemuseum 2021, © Staatliche Museen zu Berlin / David von Becker

The exhibition thus opens with the 17th-century painting “King Solomon and the Queen of Sheba”, as Solomon is presenting his treasures to the queen: Gold objects, coins, jewellery. Bystanders admire the wealth from balustrades and guards watch over the room. It is the earliest depiction of a chamber of art.

“DIVINE BODIES” MADE OF IVORY Even with the small courtly art cabinet (from Augsburg, around 1610), the viewer can easily imagine how valuable pieces and papers were hidden in the tiny, ornate drawers. The curators suc-

ceed in organising the smorgasbord into eight thematic areas. One sees “Divine Bodies” in the form of ideal statuettes, often made of ivory. “Private Devotion” is shown in domestic altars and Men of Sorrows, while the chapter “The Soulful Gaze” also falls on Christian motifs, Madonnas and Holy Families.

The impetus for this collection by the contemporary art collector Würth came from the Swabian sculptor Leonhard Kern (1588-1662). He came from Forchtenberg and thus from the same region as the Öhringen-born entrepreneur. “Reinhold Würth has been collecting from Kunstkammers since the late

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Review /Germany / Gallery June - August 2022 GERMANY Continued

1980s,” explains his curator Sonja Klee.

“He admires the perfection, quality and aesthetics of the works.” Even at the time of their creation, the fine sculptures testified to the owner’s education.

EROTIC FANTASIES AND UNBRIDLED PLEASURE But entertainment was not to be neglected either. In the chapter “Sex and Violence in Antique Garb”, the art connoisseurs were delighted by abducted women and Cupid boys. Packaged in ancient mythology such as the Rape of the Sabine Women, erotic fantasies could find their place despite strict Catholic morals.

Sprawling tables and their ostentatious ornamentation also often revolved around hunting themes. Under the title “Opulent Hospitality” one finds a “Diana on the Stag” object. With a winding mechanism, the metal animal – filled with wine – could move across the table and randomly “visited” the guests. The courtly games such as drinking ships on wheels, rare nautilus and amber goblets encouraged unbridled enjoyment.

THE SOVEREIGN AS ARTISAN The enormous skill of the artisans culminates in the “Lathed Treasures”. Particularly popular were contrefait balls which, by means of a pull mechanism, exposed two different effigies. The

Paulus Ättinger, Diana auf dem Hirsch, um 1610, Silber, getrieben, punziert, ziseliert und teilvergoldet, mit Brillanten, Rubinen, Smaragden besetzt und mit Perlen behängt, Höhe: 34,5 cm, © Sammlung Würth, Foto: Philipp Schönborn, München

amazement could only be topped by spectacular works by the ruler himself.

Souvereigns therefore had themselves taught how to turn and carve ivory in order to arouse admiration among their

Leonhard Kern, Adam und Eva, um 1645, Elfenbein, 19,5 x 12,4 x 11,3 cm, © Staatliche Museen zu Berlin, Skulpturensammlung und Museum für Byzantinische Kunst / Antje Voigt

visitors. The masterpieces demonstrated the steady hand of the sovereign, who “godlike” worked the material.

“The main achievement, however, probably lay with the mechanicus who set up

the lathe,” says the curator.

Supplemented by ten exquisite pieces from the Kunstgewerbemuseum, the exhibition illustrates how aristocratic cabinets of curiosities became royal collections and later public museums. The first owners did valuable preparatory work by having their own art experts – early curators – systematise the objects. So it is only logical that the “illustrious guests” are spread out amidst the famous Lüneburg silverware and Brussels tapestries. “You need a bit of leisure to get involved, to discover,” says director Sabine Thümmler, and she recommends that “it’s best to bring someone along to exchange ideas.”

“Illustrious Guests. Treasures from the Kunstkammer Würth”, Kunstgewerbemuseum Berlin. Until July, 10th, 2022. Web: https://www. smb.museum/en/exhibitions/detail/illustrious-guests/

Illustre Gäste. Kostbarkeiten der Kunstkammer Würth, Ausstellungsansicht, Kunstgewerbemuseum 2021, © Staatliche Museen zu Berlin / David von Becker

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Spotlight / Events / Global June - August 2022 EXHIBITIONS

06.22-08.22

A selection of art events from around the world

Events until November 2022

09.04.22

23.04.22

RAPHAEL

THE MILK OF DREAMS

Until 31 July 2022

Until 27 November 2022

This paramount exhibition, originally planned for October 2020, marks the 500th anniversary of Raphael’s death. In just two decades, the Italian High Renaissance painter Raphael (1483-1520) helped shaped the course of Western art. There will be over 90 works displayed at the National Gallery in London, diving deep into every aspect of Raphael’s intricate art practice, including paintings, tapestries and drawings in which he captured divine beauty.

National Gallery London Trafalgar Square, London WC2N 5DN, United Kingdom Image Courtesy: The National Gallery, London

After two years of postponement, the Venice Biennale is finally back with a bang.

The 59th edition is curated by New York-based Cecilia Alemani and gathers 213 artists from 58 countries. The central exhibition will be based around The Milk of Dreams, a book by surrealist artist Leonora Carrington. This year’s themes include ‘the representation of bodies and their metamorphosis’; ’The relationship between individuals and technologies,’ and ‘The connection between bodies and earth’.

Additionally, the Biennale features five time-capsule artworks: unseen history works borrowed from museums and collections, which are installed alongside the show’s contemporary artwork. It is surely not to be missed.

Arsenale della Biennale di Venezia, Campo de la Tana, 2169/f, 30122 Venezia VE, Italy Image: View of Simone Leigh and Belkis Ayón’s work in “The Milk of Dreams” at the 59th Venice Biennale, 2022. Image courtesy of the Venice Biennale. Photo by Roberto Marossi.

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BITTE LACHEN/PLEASE CRY

I CALL IT ART (NATIONAL MUSEUM OSLO)

Until 28 August 2022 The Neue Nationalgalerie presents Barbara Kruger’s first institutional solo exhibition in Berlin. The American conceptual artist, known for her famous largescale graphic works of sharply worded texts, has created a site-specific text installation. The work seeks to engage the audience in public discussion about political and social issues. In BITTE LANCHEN/PLEASE CRY Kruger combines her own texts with quotes by three authors - George Orwell, James Baldwin and Walter Benjamin - whose writings each address major political issues: the violence of totalitarian states, the mechanisms behind societal discrimination and the dangers of biased historiography.

The National Museum in Olso, Norway will be the biggest art institution in Scandinavia, when it opens its doors this June. The inaugural exhibition features 150 artists and collectives, presenting a diverse contemporary response to the age old question “what is good art?”.

National Museum, Oslo, Norway Image: Wikicommons

Neue Nationalgalerie, Potsdamer Str. 50, 10785 Berlin, Germany Image: Courtesy the artist and Sprüth Magers / Mies van der Rohe, VG Bild-Kunst, Bonn 2022.

Photo: Timo Ohler

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Until 27 November 2022

DIPLOMAZIJA ASTUTA

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On the occasion of the 2022 Venice Biennale, curators Keith Sciberras (MLT) and Jeffrey Uslip (USA); artists Arcangelo Sassolino (ITA) and Giuseppe Schembri Bonaci (MLT); and composer Brian Schembri (MLT) re-articulate Caravaggio’s seminal altarpiece The Beheading of St. John the Baptist (1608) as an immersive, sculptural, site-specific installation that bridges biblical narrative with contemporary culture.

Malta Pavilion at La Biennale di Venezia 2022 is commissioned by Arts Council Malta.

Arsenale della Biennale di Venezia, Campo de la Tana, 2169/f, 30122 Venezia VE, Italy

S

/ Events/ /Budapest Malta Spotlight /Africa August 2022 June - October 2021

VISUAL ART EXHIBITIONS

A selection of curated events in Malta

06.22-08.22

03.03.22

12.05.22

SOMETHING ABOUT YOU

SAAI FACTORY

Until 30 June 2022

Valletta gallery Blitz presents SOMETHING ABOUT YOU, a ten-year survey exhibition of Italian multidisciplinary artist Marinella Senatore, curated by Sara Dolfi Agostini. It brings together paintings, drawings, videos, a new site-specific sculpture and a powerful public art work. For more information check out https://blitzvalletta.com/marinella-senatore-something-about-you/ Blitz, 68 St. Lucia’s Street Il-Belt Valletta, VLT 1181

Until 29 June 2022

SAAI Factory is an art project initiated by the Hamburg-based artist Christoph Faulhaber. The performer, filmmaker, and author is known for his surprising, bold, and mind-boggling projects that address socially relevant issues and institutional critique. The exhibition is showcasing artworks along the intersection of Art and AI enabling to view the interactive human-machine-process at Spazju Kreattiv, Valletta. While questioning “art” as a merely human product, SAAI is offering an act of rethinking, rewriting, reorienting.

Spazju Kreattiv, Pjazza Kastilja Pope Pius V Street Il-Belt Valletta, VLT 1030

18.06.22

22.06.22

THE MALTA INTERNATIONAL ARTS FESTIVAL

DON’T FORGET ME

Until 3 July 2022

The annual Malta International Arts Festival has quickly become a staple of the summer season. Bringing together local and international talent, the festival is a distinguished celebration of music, dance, literature and visual arts against the island’s historic landscapes.

Check out the full program by Festivals Malta here at https://www.festivals.mt/miaf

Until 25 June 2022

“Don’t forget me” is a screendance discussing borders, family, asylum, inequality, xenophobia, and LGBTIQ+ rights at the Mill in Birkirkara, hosted by the Gabriel Caruana Foundation. Mohamed Ali (Dali) Aguerbi is one of Refugee Week Malta’s commissioned artists. He will be presenting his personal story of how he deals with not being able to see his father who has begun to experience dementia. This event is part of Refugee Week Malta Festival happening between 20-26 June, you can find all event details https://linktr.ee/refugeeweekmalta.

The Mill, Triq Bwieraq, B’Kara

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STRANGE DAYS

An exhibition of paintings

by Christian Palmer

1 – 23 JULY 2022

Opening event 7 - 10pm At Green Shutters, Floriana Green Shutters, 27 Triq San Tumas, Floriana, Malta

By Lily Agius Gallery - lilyagiusgallery.com - +356 9929 2488 Sponsored by