Artpaper. #21

EXHIBITIONS

INTERVIEW

The state of the built environment

The entropic life cycle of various architecture elements dominates and inspires the discourse led by Andrew Borg Wirth, curator and exhibiting architect, on what the role of the architect is, or should be, in the current Maltese context. Conceived as a group show, Experiments in Entropy at Valletta Contemporary is an experiment in itself, in the way it brings together 11 young professionals on the basis of their age and educational profile, therefore providing the audience with an unusual and accurate photograph of a very specific group, at this specific point in time, in Malta.

>> Exhibition, Experiments in Entropy, pg. 27

WHERE ARE THE ANGRY BIRDS?

- whether this comes by way of murder, or old age….So they paint landscapes. Or oranges. Or orchids. As do their sisters. To calm down.”

>> Extract, Art and Gender Based Violence, pg. 30

JOANNA DELIA & MARIA LUISI LIOTTA CATAMBONE

ERICA GIUSTA

“Women who are trapped, are invisible to the police and to justice, women who suffer physical and emotional abuse and cannot run away because neither the geography nor the tongues of their mothers, would allow it. Trapped until death

REA Tort ta min. Photo by Elisa Von Brockdorff

Visiting

Emma Attard

Francesca Balzan

Trevor Borg

Vince Briffa

Gabriel Buttigieg

hat a comeback year this was! The work in the Malta Pavilion at the Biennale Di Venezia got raving reviews, Artissima returned with a bang, Art Basel in Miami was the party of the year and Malta is seeing a keen interest in the many established and new art spaces around the country. The big institutions like Spazju Kreattiv and Society of Arts are booked to close to eternity with big shows and the performance art companies are showing mesmerizing things to big audiences and taking their wares abroad. Last but not least, an auction of local modern art from the 20th century saw works sell for never before seen prices consolidating the belief that the Maltese are not only interested in old masters and art from the baroque era. Hopefully the interest of these collectors turns to contemporary art by living artists with the same fervour.

On the other hand, we are still struggling with human rights, women’s rights to be precise and we are slowly accepting the

fact that we have always been a port town - with communities as diverse as diverse gets, and are enjoying a cultural renaissance with contributions from lovers of this island born on every corner of the planet!

In the next few years we are expecting the opening of a huge and exciting national contemporary art space - MICAS, as well as the launch of a Malta Biennial - which one hopes will be curated well - and will pull us into the future and not be a parochial “yes yes” nod nod to all and sundry. One hopes. One dreams.

To all the artists out there - keep it up! To all the ones running the spaces - persevere. To everyone else - discover the amazing art on this island and fall in love with it. Take it home. Learn from it. Only art can save us!

Photo by Perottino - Piva - Peirone / Artissima

CHOPARD: EAGLE WINGS FOUNDATION

The history of the alpine eagle collection is visionary, bold and united by the same determination and now addressing a new and sustainable approach.

The Alpine Eagle collection reflects the concern at the heart of Chopard for environmental issues. Back in the 2000s, sensitive to the initiative taken by Prince Sadruddin Aga Khan, Karl-Friedrich Scheufele had already joined the Alp Action programme.

Now, in unveiling this new watch collection inspired by Nature, he sought to associate it with a new and sustainable approach by co-founding the Eagle Wings Foundation. This innovative and multidisciplinary environmental project, designed to raise awareness and galvanise the public with respect to the importance, beauty and fragility of Alpine biotopes, will offer a new vision of the Alps through the eyes of human beings as well as the eagle –the latter being especially renowned for its piercing gaze. The ambitious programme will span at least five years, with the first project being the Alpine Eagle Race: an initiative for aerial observation of the Alps through the capture of video images obtained by a camera carried by an eagle launched from five legendary Alpine peaks in five countries.

PODCAST: TREASURES FROM MALTA

‘Treasures from Malta’ is a podcast series produced by Fondazzjoni Patrimonju Malti. Hosted and presented by Francesca Balzan, an art historian and artist with a long connection with FPM, each podcast episode consists of in-depth conversations with living ‘treasures’ such as artists, historians, art collectors, performers and arts practitioners with some Malta connection. Now in its fourth season the podcast is going from strength to strength. You can listen to all the episodes by finding them on the podcast section of the Patrimonju website www.patrimonju.org where you will also find links and images referred to during these episodes. Alternatively, you can subscribe to this series or download individual episodes for free from your favourite podcast directory. Follow the Treasures from Malta Facebook and Instagram pages to get regular updates on the latest episode release.

LANDSCAPES. TRACES AND TIMES

The event was held in front of the main wall of the impressive megalithic complex of Ggantija, which was erected in three stages over several hundred years (c.36003200 BC) by the community of farmers and shepherds who inhabited the small island of Gozo. The rituals of life and the cycles of the seasons seem to have been practiced within these enclosures, while the sophisticated architectural achievements reveal that something truly exceptional was taking place on the Maltese islands more than five thousand years ago.

Gabarron sketched his first strokes in greens, simultaneously with the poet and writer Francesco Grech reading an unpublished poem, with all the meaning he needed to communicate to the rest of the artists and attendees, one part in Maltese and one part in English, which spoke of the beauty of these landscapes,

at the same time of his need to know what happened in Ggantija, what these ancestors of his wanted to transmit to us, but above all, he moved on to an essay on the responsibility of the current generations, on what we are going to leave to our generation and to those to come, talking about that important and enigmatic trace.

APS Mdina Contemporary Art Biennale

The APS Mdina Contemporary Art Biennale is now entering its fourth edition under the artistic direction of Giuseppe Schembri Bonaci.

Each edition builds upon the experiences of the previous editions by addressing thematic, aesthetic, and even technical issues of relevance to contemporary art. The central ethos of the project is that of renewal and revision, seeking ways in which the arts may respond to contemporary global topics within a museum space famous for its traditional and religious works of art and artefacts.

In 2023, the Mdina Biennale will be re-igniting the significance of the Mediterranean as a geographical and cultural region, this time harking back to the multi-forms of mythological, religious, and spiritual deities. Hence the theme title of ‘Mediterranean Goddesses’.

The theme of spiritual and species fertility, so rich within the concentrated Mediterranean soil and sea, can,

albeit its utopian sub-text, offer an alternative to the political reality plaguing our world today. This notion develops upon the theme of the 2020 Mdina Biennale: ‘Regaining a Paradise Lost: The Role of the Arts’, and that of the 2017 edition: ‘The Mediterranean: A Sea of Conflicting Spiritualities’.

The APS Mdina Biennale is organised in partnership with the Mdina Cathedral Museum, APS Bank, and Changing Gear. The fourth edition is scheduled for Autumn 2023, opening from the 13th of November until 15th December. Visit the website for more information: www. mdinabiennale.com or get in touch on info@mdinabiennale.com

The improvised music of the electronic creator Charlon Calleja, who dialogued harmoniously with the monument and with Gabarron who continued to capture the architectural plan of the temples on a canvas, and the violinist Pierre Louis Attard from the Gozo Visual and Performing Arts School presented his sophisticated and beautiful contemporary discourse.

A great surprise for the audience was when, suddenly, the avant-garde dance of Julia Lundberg conquered the spaces of the canvas; and Jonathan Orchard dressed as a harlequin and made up as an ancestral character, sang, danced and masterfully expressed “his fears about the lightness of a part of our society, which did not know where it was going to take us”, commented the writer Albert Marshall of the Arts Council Malta. And Maribel Bajada’s contemporary dance depicted magical beings such as fairies and deities who were the protagonists of ceremonies performed for thousands of years in Ggantija.

The event was organised by Heritage Malta, Spazju Kreattiv and the Gabarron Foundation. This fifth edition of Ámbito, held in the city of Xaghra on the island of Gozo, was curated by Rupert Cefai, Chairman of Fondazzjoni Kreattività.

www.gabarron.org/Ambit

The magic of the megalithic temples of Ggantija in Gozo made vibrations on the morning of 29 October 2022 with 9 artists and personalities who attended the new edition of ‘Ambit’ with its creator Cristobal Gabarron

A 3 x 9m mural titled Landscapes. Traces and Times, Xaghra, Gozo (Malta)

MALTA

Valletta, a tale of light and shade

Conceived as a light, contemplative and ephemeral installation, “Valletta, a tale of light and shade” explored a series of dichotomies such as night and day, light and shade, permanence and temporality, with the aim of articulating a view of how light affects and moulds the city of Valletta. A series of drawings, photos and artefacts encapsulating and expressing these polarizations took the visitor on an immersive, and suggestive, urban promenade.

Nothing in our lives is ever lost. On the contrary, each one of us possesses his own treasure trove of accumulated memories. According to Marcel Proust, the successful artist releases and reuses these stored memories as a basis of his art. In a similar manner, this exhibition invited the visitors on a journey through their own personal memoir: a series of architectural projects articulated by the dynamicity of chiaroscuro; tangible through the architectonic features during the day, awash with artificial light at night and captured in the moment by the photo.

Inspired by Proust’s metaphorical use of the Magic Lantern, as a narrative frame in À la recherche du temps perdu, the exhibition was designed to project the visitor into a different story of the night with each drawing, photo and model.

Franck Franjou’s drawings of the lights of Valletta, unconsciously and unknowingly, insert themselves in a tradition of scenes of Valletta by night. But they are much

more than depictions of the city coming alive after dark, or the record of dramatic events unfolding with the urban facades as backdrop. They express more, too, than the multifarious visions of the several projects that AP Valletta was entrusted with during the last twenty years and for which Franck Franjou designed the lighting. The exhibition showcased actual technical drawings of projects, which transcend the necessity of specialized instructions on how to light the city and which are above all, a form of reasoned dream on how best to unveil the mysteries of the night, slowly and delicately, and to reveal the invisible secrets of the city.

In parallel, a series of photographs by Guillaume Dreyfuss, influenced by the urban peregrinations of Bachelard and Benjamin, explored different narrative aspects of the city’s historic and urban developments, using photography as a tool of inquiry. These photographs trace the substance of contemporaneity in Valletta by placing the dialectics of contemporary urban development in a historical setting, not as an end in itself but as a “crystal of crisis” (Didi-Huberman).

Throughout the exhibition, the surfaces of the urban geography were therefore reinterpreted through the resultant light from both direct and diffuse sources on the contours and volumes of the city. They terrace, at the same time, the relationships of human interaction with the city, charting the reciprocal illumination of the city and its inhabitants.

HELSINKI BIENNIAL 2023 ANNOUNCES PREVIEW LIST OF ARTISTS AND TITLE: NEW DIRECTIONS MAY EMERGE

elsinki Biennial 2023 reveals New Directions May Emerge as the title of its second edition, which will take place from 12 June to 17 September 2023. The biennial brings together around 30 established and emerging artists and collectives from Finland and across the world. Curated by Joasia Krysa, the biennial reflects on some of the major issues of our time that appear irresolvable, such as environmental damage, political conflict and the effects of technology.

For 2023, the biennial expands beyond the island of Vallisaari to the city of Helsinki – the world’s northern-most metropolitan area – to embrace its position in the Gulf of Finland. With an emphasis on outdoor spaces on the island, the biennial additionally sprawls across the mainland. Other biennial locations include HAM Helsinki Art Museum, Helsinki Central Library Oodi, Cultural Centres across the city, and online, with more sites to be announced.

“As contamination changes worldmaking projects, mutual worlds ––and new directions –– may emerge.”

- Anna Lowenhaupt Tsing.

Between Thursday 10th and Friday 11th November, St Johns Cavalier (Embassy of the Sovereign Order) hosted the exhibition tracing the 20 yearlong collaboration and friendship between light designer Franck Franjou, architecture firm AP Valletta and photographer Guillaume Dreyfuss.

MALTA

The Spring Programme at The Mill

The Mill – Art, Culture and Crafts Centre is a staple within the Maltese visual arts community. Located in the bustling streets of Birkirkara, the repurposed 1724 windmill was reintroduced in 1990 as an independent artist-run contemporary cultural centre for modern and contemporary art, culture and crafts by the late Gabriel Caruana, together with Mary Rose Caruana

Run by The Gabriel Caruana Foundation, The Mill has steadily held its ground as a highly sought-after exhibition space. Artpaper caught up with Foundations’ Co-Creative Director and Programme Manager Raffaella Zammit and Co-Creative Director and Curator Elyse Tonna to learn more about the Spring Programme, an initiative that gives emerging artists the exciting opportunity of exhibiting their work at The Mill as well as grow and develop as artists.

The Spring Programme found its roots rather organically. Building on the values of the late Gabriel Caruana and the Foundation itself. “Every year we’d hold an exhibition for an emerging artist,” explains Zammit. “During the COVID lockdown we decided to dedicate a wall at the Mill for emerging artists and thus the first SPRING call was released in 2020.” The idea for the programme came about following a series of workshops conducted with voluntary organisations, Public Cul-

tural Organisations, artists and various stakeholders related to the sector.

“It turns out that this was quite the enlightening process. The need for a platform for emerging artists was one of the main issues raised” emphasises Tonna. Most calls are typically for vast exhibitions and therefore, not suitable for an artist who is in the beginning of their career. Furthermore, a space for collaboration between artists was needed, a common need faced in the sector at large. Thus, the Spring programme was created to address these issues.

The response to the first call attracted over 35 applications. Most applications were of a high standard and therefore, the exhibition to take place on a singular wall of The Mill grew to take over the whole ground floor. Following the success of the first iteration a second call was released in 2020 which was just as successful and resulted in seven group exhibitions and one solo exhibition.

Over time certain gaps were starting to emerge within the emerging artists’ process. Thus, the Foundation introduced a programme titled toolbox+, an offshoot of the SPRING Programme. toolbox+ introduced a series of workshops that would arm artists with practical skills needed to successfully execute an exhibition including writing rationales, wording biographies, managing a project, understanding budgets and more.

Following a period of reflection in 2022, the Gabriel Caruana Foundation had renewed the Spring Programme. Following an evaluation by a board of artists and art educators, a dynamic and eclectic cohort of emerging artists have been selected showing promise, quality, experimentation and potential. The selected Spring artists: Isaac Warrignton, Sarah Chircop, Giola Cassar and Aprille Zammit, Mono2Mass, Claire Farrugia, Rachelle Deguara, Sephora Schembri, Sheldon Saliba, Samuel Ciantar and Florinda Camilleri, will feature in four major exhibitions at The Mill between 2023 and 2024.

In February 2023, The Mill will be opening its doors for the first Spring event, a solo exhibition featuring Flo-

Here, relational curiosity is materialised through transdisciplinary co-creative processes within collaborative work involving digital media, polaroid photography, clay sculptures, and live performance. The remaining three group exhibitions will be held in June and October 2023 followed by the final exhibition in February of 2024.

The Spring Artistic Programme for Emerging Artist 2023 - 2024 is partly supported by Arts Council Malta. For more information visit www.gabrielcaruanafoundation.org

rinda Camilleri. The exhibition will explore the points of encounter between human and more-than-human bodies as sites of creative potential.

Photo by Elisa Von Brockdorff

Past SPRING edition works by Kim Sammut. Photo by Elisa Von Brockdorff

Mary Rose and Gabriel Caruana June 1990. Photo by GCF Archives

Lebanese-born, Parisbased architect Lina Ghotmeh, has been selected to conceive the 22nd Serpentine Pavilion

hotmeh’s Pavilion will be unveiled at Serpentine South in June 2023 with Goldman Sachs supporting the annual project for the 9th consecutive year. This pioneering and prestigious commission, which began in 2000 with Dame Zaha Hadid, has presented the first completed UK structures by some of the biggest names and emerging talents in international architecture. The Pavilion has evolved over the years as a participatory public and artistic platform for the Serpentine’s innovative, experimental, interdisciplinary, community and

family programmes.

Ghotmeh leads her practice Lina Ghotmeh — Architecture in Paris, France, where she develops projects at the crossroads of architecture, art and design, on a global scale. Considerate of social conditions, environments and materials, her practice takes an in-depth 360 approach to its projects including research on location history, typology of the place, materials, resources, users’ habits etc. The architect’s designs are developed thorough historical research which emerge as interventions that enliven memories.

TAHT | FUQ – A WORK FOR THE (UNDER) MINING ART RESEARCH PROJECT

A

rtists Trevor Borg and Vince Briffa were invited by the curatorial team of the (Under) Mining Art Research Project to research and create a work for the traditional mining village of Kalavasos in Cyprus, engaging with its mining heritage, community, and landscape.

Originating from an island where there is no traditional mineral mining activity, Borg and Briffa looked at a series of similar excavation activities of the island’s rock structure in Malta and Gozo as thematic for a multi-media installation consisting of video and 3d scanned data. The Maltese artists’ work is site-specific, designed for the chosen exhibition site of the Old Oil Mill in Kalavasos.

Entitled Taht – Fuq, the installation reflected on the dual realities of these mining activities, namely the resulting scarring of the landscape and the environmental fallout, as well as on the awesome allure that these underground tunnels, catacombs and war shelters have on us. The project focuses on transporting and re-dimensioning the visual and aural experience of being underground, contextualising historically, sociologically and also philosophically, through multi-media technology.

The artists collaborated on the acquisition and interpretation of scanned data with University of Malta colleagues Prof. Saviour Formosa and Mr. Fabrizio Cali. The project was in collaboration with the the Cyprus Deputy Ministry of Culture, Cyprus University of Technology, Cut Contemporary Fine Arts Lab, Department of Digital Arts, University of Malta, Wignacourt Museum in Rabat, Heritage Malta and SAGIS. It was partly funded by the Arts Council Malta’s International Cultural Exchanges Scheme

Serpentine Pavilion 2023 designed by Lina Ghotmeh. Architecture Design render, exterior view.

Photo by © Lina Ghotmeh. Architecture Courtesy by Serpentine

Long before before Al Jazeera, Sky News and CNN round-the-clock news bulletins, news maps were an early form of reporting. Conveying visual information about geography and military manoeuvres, they began to appear in Italy and Northern Europe in the early 1500s, a period of constant conflict in which military technology evolved rapidly.

News maps captured contemporary, episodic events in cartographic, often schematic plan or aerial view, and were published either as they unfolded or shortly thereafter. These early newsreels took the forms of woodcuts or combinations of engraving and etching, printed on single sheets of paper. Their main aim was to inform heads of state and interested parties on the progression of events and to shape public opinion. As artworks, these humble maps would serve as a blueprint for commemorative battle murals in halls of state. The demand for cartographic snapshots of current events resulted in advances in

A Taste of Victory

surveying and measured representation.

Approximately fifty news maps were published in 1565 during and following the four-month Great Siege of Malta. No other sixteenth-century event, not even the 1529 Siege of Vienna, garnered as much interest or generated as many news maps as this closely monitored epic triumph for Christendom. Published a few months after the siege

had concluded, Mathias Zündt’s detailed overview of the Great Siege, a map he etched and engraved in Nuremberg in 1565, entitled ‘Gewisse Verzaychnus der Insel und Ports Malta’ summarizes the entire sequence of events. Zündt’s map was financed by Nuremberg’s city council, which according to Jessica Maier in her article published in the Renaissance Quarterly Journal*, ‘clearly had an established tradition

of procuring celebratory images of Christian victories.’

On the 11th of September 1565, Grand Master de Valette placed an order for Burgundy wine, just as the Ottomans were being chased from Maltese soil by the Gran Soccorso relief force from Sicily. Valette was planning a sumptuous supper to celebrate the lifting of the Great Siege. Heritage Malta has recreated elements from this momentous occasion in a refined, gourmet hamper for you to gift this Christmas. The hamper features a bottle of Chablis Burgundy wine, along with exclusively commissioned pecorino cheese, pork salami, semolina and flour ‘ship’s’ biscuits (modern-day galletti) along with limited edition prints of Zündt’s map and a brief historical account of the celebratory meal and its context, packaged in a bespoke presentation box.

To gift the gourmand in your life order here: heritagemalta.mt/store/ great-siege-victory-hamper/

*Renaissance Quarterly, Volume 75, Issue 2, summer 2022, pp. 459 - 507

Mathias Zündt. Gewisse Verzaychnus der Insel und Ports Malta Nuremberg, 1565. Etching and engraving, 32 x 49 cm. Image courtesy of Muzew Nazzjonali tal-Arti, Heritage Malta, and the Malta Study Center at the Hill Museum and Manuscript Library.

MALTA

Sovereign Launches 6th Annual Art Foundation Students Prize

Sovereign Trust (Malta) Limited, part of the worldwide Sovereign Group, in association with The Sovereign Art Foundation, announce the launch of the 6th annual Sovereign Art Foundation Students Prize in Malta.

The competition aims to celebrate the importance of art in the education system and recognise the quality of work which can be produced by local students.

All local secondary schools and colleges in Malta and Gozo are being invited to participate, by nominating and submitting ten of the best artworks produced by its students. Of these works, 20 pieces will be shortlisted, and two winners will be chosen, along with

their corresponding schools. All entries will be viewed by an international judging panel, which will consist of senior Sovereign’s Howard Bilton, Chairman of the Sovereign Group and Stephen Griffiths, Managing Director of Sovereign Trust (Malta) Limited along with local artists Laura Swale and Christine Porter Lofaro and art collector Frank Yu. Finally, the judges and the public will select two winners by either voting online or at exhibitions of the shortlisted works which will be held in Malta.

The two winners will win monetary prizes for themselves and their schools, which will be presented at an award ceremony to be held toward the end of April 2023. Entries will be accepted from 12 December 2022 to 20 January 2023.

The Sovereign Art Foundation (SAF) is a charitable organisation that was founded in 2003 by Howard Bilton, to recognize and promote contemporary art talent around the world and bring the benefits of expressive arts to less fortunate children. Since its inception, the Foundation’s Art award has become the largest in Asia, and the charity has raised over $10 million for artists and charities worldwide.

SAF also runs a series of Students Prizes, annual awards that celebrate the importance of art in the education system and recognize the quality of artworks produced by secondaryschool students across the world. The first SAF Students Prize was established in 2012 in Hong Kong, followed by Guernsey, Bahrain, Singapore, Mauritius, Portugal, the Isle of Man, Malta and Gozo, Gibraltar, and London.

“Following our hugely successful 5th annual art prize Sovereign Trust in

Malta is again very proud to support The Sovereign Art Foundation”, said Stephen Griffiths, Managing Director of Sovereign Trust (Malta) Limited. “We continue to see an increase in interest in the prize and again, a record number of participants. The prize continues to provide an international platform with which to showcase art from talented students across Malta and Gozo. We are delighted to be involved with the 6th annual Schools Art Prize for Malta and Gozo. It has now become a tradition and a firm fixture on the Malta arts calendar, and we anticipate that the prize will continue to grow in scale and popularity. Art continues to play a vital role in fostering creativity and building confidence within young adults. The Foundation aims to use the prize to encourage artistic talent and showcase the efforts of those talented students in Malta, Gozo and beyond. The Sovereign Art Foundation in Malta is also proud to have been able to support local charity, Camp Willingness by sponsoring disadvantaged children thus enabling them to participate in their art rehabilitation programs.”

For more information please contact Valerie Urrunaga at eventsmalta@ SovereignArtFoundation.com

Hope Is Where There’s You, Acrylic and pencil, Stefania Farrugia

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.

JOANNA DELIA

He saw the world through war-tinted glasses IWOMD - Spazju Kreattiv 2022

That the show Inaction is a Weapon of Mass Destruction by Darren Tanti is of remarkable magnitude is undeniable. A major solo exhibition by Artist Darren Tanti, curated by Melanie Erixon, the body of work depicts the artist’s reaction of the portrayal of atrocities committed in the name of war in the media. The works vary from large, powerful and imposing oils on canvases, to interesting sculpture. I caught up with Darren for a few reflections.

JD: How did you meet your curator? What was her role in this project?

DT: I’ve known Melanie for over a decade now. We did work on multiple projects together and since Melanie and Antoine Farrugia gave me the opportunity to exhibit at il-Kamra ta’ Fuq to show the ‘Ahmar Helu w’Qares’ body of work in December 2021, we continued to work together on various other projects.

Melanie’s role as curator for this project developed in a natural way. She saw the initial artworks in 2018, way before the concept of the project was born. Over the months, as the work developed, we discussed the artworks and the trajectory that it was taking. Things gained momentum immediately after ‘Ahmar Helu w’Qares’ when the exhibition slot to show this body of

work with Spazju Kreattiv was fixed. At the time most of the artworks were ready but more artworks were still being developed. During this phase Melanie kept a watchful eye, following the various trajectories my work was taking, but never meddling around with

my creative process. She would ask me questions and discuss ideas, but more as an exercise to understand rather than to impose. It was closer to the exhibition preparation phase, that she took a very active role as curator and manager. She ensured that the different

levels of exploration were given space throughout the space in Spazju Kreattiv and at il-Kamra ta’ Fuq.

JD: How did the idea of this project start? What was your drive and motivation for this show?

DT: This project started around four years ago as a reaction to the dangerous threats that former US President Donald Trump and North Korea’s Supreme Leader Kim Jong-Un were posing to each other; threats that could have caused human extermination on an unprecedented scale by the simple push of one big red button (quoting President Donal Trump). At the time, the world was still grappling with various news of the unfolding disasters in Syria and other upheavals related to the 2010 Arab Spring rebellions that were still

“Art can never be discredited as futile - it can be the trigger as well as the bullet”

Warhorse. Photo by Neil Farrugia

Interview /Exhibition / Malta / Darren Tanti

happening in North Africa and Middle East. The refugee and asylum-seekers crises was all over the news and the disasters of capsized refugee boats and mass drownings were (and sadly still are) unfolding in the Mediterranean Sea. Tensions were running extremely high. In such a scenario, I felt that I had to do something, and even though I was fully aware that this ‘something’ would not really do much in the face of these tragic world affairs, I still had to do it. It started in the form of several reflections that eventually developed into small scale artworks and consequently into much larger artworks. Coincidentally, around the same period of time I attended an art/ education conference in which Ai Wei Wei’s photographic interpretation of the heart-breaking Alan Kurdi’s death, was being debated and heavily criticised for being exploitative and insensitive. That particular critical argument made me think very deeply about the role of the artist in the face of war and tragedy; especially if he/she is not experiencing it directly as victim inside of the warzone. These reflections drove me to further develop that body of work and to pursue this exhibition to the public.

JD: An artist uses artistic license to communicate and sometimes make a point. Even if that point is a personal opinion or the communication purely fantastical. This is implied, and deemed acceptable. Your work seems to criticize the fact that the media is doing the same. How does this ‘post-truth’ idea that anyone can tell a story make you feel? Do you believe that this is a new thing?

DT: Very valid points. My idea of the role of the artist and that of the journalist / media is that they have scope in their activity. It is true that in both sectors there is an element of ‘entertainment’ that is almost inevitable. Art audiences enjoy experiencing art, and the way news and information is packaged in the world of media is part and parcel of the content delivered and the experience of the viewers / listeners. Even though the identity and role of the artist is a very fluid and, I dare to say, undefinable, the role of the media is much clearer. In the case of journalists and professionals entrusted with the distribution of facts to the public, they are bound with a code of ethics and morality that demands an honest search for ‘truth’ that goes beyond egoistic interests. I’ve put the word truth in between inverted-

commas because I am fully aware of the complexity that such a term brings to the argument. Nonetheless, generally speaking one agrees that truth excludes any attempts to corrupt facts and wilful deception of the audiences. In view of this simple definition I understand that whoever is reporting news, has the ethical and moral obligation to respect the verity of the news reported. In such a scenario there is no space for artistic licence, there is space for fact-checked, critically sound arguments, but no playfulness. This being said, we are all very aware that within the current ferocious neoliberal world, many individuals have exchanged their moral / ethical compass to economic interests. Thus, truth has been reduced to a bargain. I do not feel this is acceptable. On the other hand, I believe that for others working within other sectors in the media world, such as cinema and entertainment, the individual is free to use his/her artistic licence. No one watching a movie can complain that he/ she is being deceived because there is a clear understanding that whatever they are experiencing can be fictional and fantastical. It is only through suspension of disbelief that the viewer gets fully immersed in the footage and visuals presented. In such scenario, the cinematographer (or any other creative individual) is free to explore possible alternatives of facts and truths. Things became more dangerous when the domains of newscasting and cinema/ entertainment got closer to each other… the news agencies started to give more priority to catching the readers attention through entertainment strategies rather than to the quality of the news itself, and this, I believe, is very dangerous. The problem of click-baits - the fast consumption of information and the viewers’ inability to hold attention for long - has made the landscape more dangerous and prone to misinformation. Another serious problem related to post-truth arguments is that if one manages to learn of a false ‘fact’ going viral on social media platforms, it won’t take long for it to become an accepted a ‘truth’ – similar to the liars paradox on steroids. Moreover the democratisation of tools such as cameras, video cameras and editing software has made it easier to ill-intended individuals to propagate falsities. Even though this is not a new thing, nowadays the situation is more accentuated than in the past. I am not against the democratisation of these tools, actually I find that it is crucial that people have access to such tools so to keep authorities under check (or

else we’ll end up in a regime), but on the other hand we must be aware of the aforementioned perils.

JD: The body of work also seems like a response to the diverse and yet equally important frustrations/observations related to warmongering, the breakdown of the principles of justice and basic human rights in times of war, and your response to images in the media which depict the above and although very powerful have ceased to shock a desensitized human population. What was your process? Did you start by brain storming a number of subjects you wanted to discuss with your audience? Did you collect material and then force yourself to respond as an artist? Or was it more organic? How difficult was this? And, were some issues more difficult to deal with than others?

DT: The work started and developed very organically. As an educator I am very aware of the political impact that art may have on society and I am very committed to the idea of activecitizenship. In 2018, with all the unfolding humanitarian disasters and threats of nuclear war between America and North Korea, I felt that I had to speak my mind (for whatever it may mean to myself and others). I started by collecting visual notes and jotting down reflections on paper. I followed news reports on Youtube, newspapers and other news portals to collect ‘information’ about ongoing conflicts and wars. After the initial phases of drawing and experimentations, some ideas started to become more pronounced than others – it was becoming more clear than ever that there is no way, I, as a viewer reading and researching about conflicts, can ever construct a clear picture of the same events I was researching. I felt that the same agencies that are entrusted with delivering ‘truthful’ facts are in themselves the cause of misinformation and distrust I am fearful of! I started to get angered by the ‘insensensitivity’ of random adverts popping up mid-news reports of tragedies and political strategies. Concurrently, I noticed a drastic change in the content I was being suggested on my social media platforms – almost catering my need to get to know more, thus morphing themselves into ‘feeders’ of an indiscriminate and unfiltered buffet of questionable footages. Somehow, my creative output was literally being dictated by the tools I was using – this

Empty Shell 1 by Darren Tanti. Photo by Neil Farrugia

realisation made me reflect that my true fight was against the algorithms and platforms that disseminate doubtful information. Needless to say, that spending four years, observing and engaging with news of war and human tragedy was difficult, especially when feelings of powerlessness started to seep in. Even though, during the four years, I worked on other art projects, this work was always at the back of my mind – it almost became a whitenoise, disturbing my psyche without being fully aware it. This preoccupation continued to reinforce my willingness to proceed with the project. Some of the decisions I took where not easy - for example to engage in large-scale paintings and to produce life-size sculptures. As an artist I let myself be guided by what I felt needed to be done rather than what was more logical to do. I’ve spent hundreds of hours painting works that exhausted me mentally and emotionally and I did so because it felt it was the right way. Some of the struggles I experienced when creating the initial work, which was mainly hyperrealist, led me to find alternative ways of expression, to seek ‘truth’ in abstractions, sculpture, video, sound and installations. It was during this summer, almost at the end of the process, that I was made aware of my ceaseless attempts to get hold of some ‘truth’. Teresa Bruenslow Sciberras, artist, educator and a colleague of mine, hit the nail on its head and pointed out this struggle to me. It was a moment of relief and clarity, she gave to me a strong new perspective on four years of work.

JD: Some shows and bodies of work feel balanced, loaded with political correctness. This show is all dark.

Did you do this on purpose? If so why? Do you feel your intentions affected people in the ways you intended? Do you feel there was impact? What was the feedback of visitors and consumers?

DT: Some of my close friends and colleagues at work say that I am very diplomatic and try to resolve conflict before it actually happens. And I agree, as a person I hate unnecessary conflicts. On the other hand, I find that political correctness can be a bit of a double edged sword. I know that this is a can of worms, but there are times in which political correctness is (consciously and maliciously) misused, or else it is used to mask one’s true opinions for fear of being criticised or attacked. But there are instances in which one has to grab the bull by its horns, and address the situation in a blunt manner. The darkness of the work presented is a mere reflection of the darkness of the situation. I did not want to sugar-coat any of my reactions to the current situation – there is plenty of sugar-coating and alienation happening around us. Usually my work is not as dark, it tends to be provocative and loaded, but not dark. In this project I did not force myself to be balanced the content, because that balance would in itself betray the severity of the situation (at least that is how I see it). Following Guy Debord’s reflections, to make the spectacle visible, one has to resort to the exaggeration of the spectacle itself. The grotesque and hyper-accentuation are required to destabilise the comfortableness of the viewer – obviously, I do not subscribe to the doctrine of ‘shock value’ for the its own sake, that is frivolous and void, but a well-planned jolt could be very

effective. One can see that there is no visible blood and gore in the exhibition, because we are submerged in such visuals, I opted for a subtler approach that engages the mind rather than the fight-or-flight response. The majority of the public shared my preoccupations and appreciated my efforts as an artist and Melanie’s work as a curator in the aim to highlight aspects of our experience of war and conflict that are taken for granted or neglected. Some of the comments in the guestbook are startling! There are those comments which are honest heartfelt reflections, other comments that are chilling (i.e. one comment was ‘Hello, the nuclear war

is coming, enjoy!!!’), and others attacked the artists and poets as useless people that fancy themselves being involved in the fight against war whereas they are pseudo-active and cause more damage than good. With reference to the latter comment, I say that it only takes one right person to be pricked by art, to cause real tangible changes! It took one bullet to start WW1 and which led to WW2 and the dynamics that led to the cold war and the turmoil in the middle east to the present day… every action can have serious ramifications, thus art can never be discredited futile, as it can be the trigger the same way as a well placed bullet.

Remove the Veil. Photo by Melanie Erixon

Unexpected Futures. Photo by Neil Farrugia

Miss Atomic. Photo by Neil Farrugia

JD: You said in an interview that the highlight of your career so far was to exhibit in the Malta Pavilion at the Biennale Di Venezia in 2017 with your work Annalisa. I couldn’t help but notice that a lot of the work in this show are inspired by works at Damien Hirst’s show ‘Treasures from the wreck of the Unbelievable’ which was inaugurated at the same time of the opening of that Biennale. How much did that show inspire you? Did you start working on this body of work around that time? How important is it for artists to travel and be exposed to works of the diversity and caliber as those in an exposition as big as the Biennale the Venezia?

DT: Yes, I honestly feel that being part of such a great team for an event of that magnitude is a privilege. I am also honoured to say that my work is exhibited in the Imago Mundi Collection as part of their permanent exhibition and having my work exhibited in other important venues such as the Maltese Embassy in Washington DC. It is essential for Maltese cultural sector to keep its presence in the Biennale of Venice and expand to other prestigious international art events. Such platforms give our artists the opportunity to raise the bar and keep up with global trends. Living on an island has its advantages but it also reserves plenty of disadvantages – difficulties to export our work (for obvious logistical

and financial reasons) may stifle our progress, and participating in events of this calibre give us back some changes to make our presence felt. Honestly, it is only now, that you are pointing it out, that I can feel some similarities between my work and the Hirst’s work presented in ‘Treasures from the wreck of the Unbelievable’. I had no intention to refer to Hirst, but I cannot deny that his work could have lingered in my subconscious and had influence on me. But I guess that the similarities are coincidental since the media I used have very specific meaning to me.

JD: Your works, in terms of medium seem to be finished, using more or less classical media - tangible, covetable physical objects - oils on canvas, digital prints, sculpture - whereas most of your past work was painting based. How did you decide to use such diverse media? And what effected your choices?

DT: Since the work was produced over the span of four years, it was somehow natural for the work to reflect the artistic developments I’ve been through the years. Most importantly, since I kept following what felt most honest to the theme, I let myself free from any self-impositions related to the medium. Every medium embodies the concept differently and thus offers the artist various visual and conceptual possibilities which are worth exploring. Certain decision are taken due to their

visual impact whereas others are taken due to their conceptual relevance.

JD: We have seen many contemporary artists ‘stopping’ half way through their journey and publishing the documentationleaving things open ended - as we could in fact see in many pavilions in this years edition of the Biennale Di Venezia. How do you feel about this ‘trend’? Do you feel compelled to produce finished, tangible work every time?

DT: As you rightfully stated, this is a ‘trend’ that is catching and was clearly visible in this year’s edition of the Biennale Di Venezia. One can see this ‘stopping’ half way through even in historical artworks or as a characteristic within movements such as Abstract Expressionism and Art Informel (and in following movements and contemporary practices). In art education, we can see that in the last decades more emphasise is being given to the process rather then to the final artwork. This approach has many pedological advantages as it allows the students to focus on the actual learning journey rather than the stress of the expected outcome. Eventually, there are those who pursue the production of a final artwork and there are those who are happy with appreciating the artistic process as a final outcome in itself. Both are valid outcomes. In my own practice I tend to favour the closure of the artworks but if

need be I am ready to leave the artwork in its development, in a permanent hault. Case in point was a drawing depicting children who were victims of Assad’s terrorist gas attacks. The sight of such horrors was too much that I could not ‘finish’ the artwork and left it half way through, for me that stop in itself marks the ‘closure’ of the artwork.

JD: You are also involved in education and I know that plenty of fantastic emerging contemporary artists have had the experience of your guidance. It is only quite recent and formal educational institutions such as the university of Malta and MCAST offer the teaching of fine arts. How do you feel this has changed the scene for practicing contemporary artists? Do you see an increasing level of maturity and appreciation of contemporary art as the years go by? Do you feel that the number of artists who break taboos and boundaries with their subjects and who are more transparent with allowing their frustrations shine through their work is increasing?

DT: It is very true that I am very lucky to have had the opportunity to be part of the formation of many young contemporary artists. Together with my colleagues at Mcast and at University, I’ve seen a huge transformation in the quality of art education given to those students persuing Fine Art. We owe such changes to the huge efforts made by those who preceded us and to the work that contemporary professionals in the field are making to push the envelope forward. Even though there is much more to be done, I believe that we are heading in the right direction. Students a couple of decades ago could have never believed the extent of opportunities current art students have. The development of Fine Art programmes have contributed greatly to the quality of the local artists. These courses are usually taught by professionals who are themselves practitioners and artist. Having educators who are active in the contemporary art scene and who themselves work hard to be respected artist in the local and international

“We need to save guard quality at all costs and educate the public that not every painting or drawing is ‘art’.”

Interview /Exhibition / Malta / Darren Tanti

Continued

MALTA

Il-Kamra ta’ Fuq. Photo by Neil Farrugia

sphere improves the quality and content delivered in the studio/class. Apart from having a positive impact on the prospective artists, this also positively impact the public, as more people are opening up to cutting edge forms of art and more challenging forms / concepts of art. I have seen a growth in the public’s interest in more challenging forms of art and this is very reassuring – audiences are embracing politically charged work that goes beyond mere aesthetics but transforms art into an actual agent of change. I’m seeing that many young artists are more interested in making a statement with their work rather than creating a decorative piece of work. This development in itself changes the stereotypical image of the ‘misunderstood artist living a dreams’ to an actual voice in the street to be listened and respected.

JD: The Fact you held the show in two locations - Spazju Kreattiv in Valletta, Malta’s virtual hub, and at Il-Kamra ta’ Fuq in Mqabba, simultaneously while also actively organising tours for the regulars at the bar there to come visit Spazju was heart warming. Is bringing the art to every corner of this country and using art to speak to the people outside of the art bubble important for you in your opinion?

DT: I think to speak to people outside the art bubble is very important. It is very easy for us in the art community to focus our attention on ourselves – it is easier as we speak the ‘same’ language and we broadly speaking we share very similar views on various issues. We can easily build a wall around us and make our practice inaccessible to others outside the wall. But I feel that if we do so, we miss the point of our activity. I believe that everyone has the right to art, because art is not a mere product

but it is the manifestation of humanity itself. I always say to my students that ‘Art is about life’ (even if it speaks about death) and by this I refer to the ‘human experience’. In this sense everyone can relate to the artist’s expression even if at first it seems distant and alien. At times it only needs an introduction, a couple of written sentences or else some time to take it in but at a point or another there will be a reaction, even if it is a refusal. At il-Kamra ta’ Fuq one can observe a very particular phenomenon in which locals who have never had any interest in art whatsoever, started to get engaged in art. The regulars who usually went at New Life Bar for the usual cup of tea, are taking the initiative to go up in the Kamra ta’ Fuq and see art and engage. They discuss the work, share ideas and opinions and are appreciating what once felt so distant to them – art. Even in their adulthood and senior years, we are seeing that people are eager to educate themselves and exploring culture, and this is amazing. It gives me great joy to see the community opening up to art beyond the comfortable zones – which was mainly bound to sacred art or decorative art. Melanie and Antoine work very hard to give everyone the opportunity to visit the space and meet with the artists. Apart from that we are seeing that at il-Kamra ta’ Fuq, people from every part of society is meeting and spending time in a positive art environment.

JD: What else do you as an artist think should be done to increase interest in contemporary art to the Malta based public? What can be done to increase the visual literacy of Maltese residents?

DT: There is much that is being done in this regard, and there is so much ore that still needs to be done and improved. Perhaps two words that I thing I’d like

to point out is more commitment and perseverance. We as people in the art world need to be more actively engaged with the public and draw them in, if need be organise tours to shows etc. It might seem ridiculous but perhaps some people only need a nudge to get them going. Another thing that I’d like to see happening is that we educate our public to invest in art and buy the work of Maltese and Malta-based artists. When buying art and bringing it to home, or putting it on display in public spaces, it contributes to continuous visual formation and literacy. Needless to say that, we need to save guard quality at all costs and educate the public that not every painting or drawing is ‘art’. In relation to this, I firmly believe that we need more art critics that do not shy away from speaking up their

mind and point out valuable art from hobbyist takes on art. Gallerist too have a responsibility in this regard, they must exercise professional and informed judgment to who display in their gallery. But I am opening Pandora’s Box in here, perhaps we develop on this argument in another interview.

JD: What’s next for you?

DT: I have a couple of projects in the pipeline amongst which another solo exhibition in December 2023. I would like to explore lighter subject and I am also looking forward to explore abstract art, installation and sculpture. I have new work which is very different from that shown in ‘Inaction is a Weapon of Mass Destruction’ and I am very curious to see how it will develop and how it will be received once it is exhibited.

SALADS

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

Setup image 2. Photo by Melanie Erixon

EXHIBITION HIGHLIGHTS MALTA 2022

LE.IVA - ANGER IS A LAZY FORM OF GRIEF History of art and its sculptural tradition were the starting point to explore the layers, complexities, contradictions and mutations which characterise the notion and face of power in every age. It is the silent statues, memories of a faceless and voiceless humanity, that look at us and warn us. This is why rethinking the representational devices of past power also means thinking about the forms of our time and the impermanence of values over time. Thus, to choose materiality does not, in fact, mean to renounce concept, as the artist, Austin Camilleri, reminded us, that simple oppositions do not exist. To adopt this multi-lingual approach as a means of giving a body to a concept is totally in line with the artist’s research, which shifts between techniques without any obligation to the medium. LE.IVA - Anger is a Lazy Form of Grief, was curated by Rosa Martinez and Assistant Curator Irene Biolchini between 25 February - 10 April at Space C, Spazju Kreattiv, St James Cavalier, Castille Place, Valletta.

CO-MA

The Maltese artist known as CO-MA exhibited a mixed collection of charcoal drawings, hand-crafted lamps and furniture last November at a solo show at the recently launched pop-up space –Green Shutters, in the heart of Floriana, curated by Lily Agius Gallery – a venue as raw and true to its roots as the artist, who gave new life to otherwise discarded items and presented a series of works from various experiments from the last year. www.coma-artist.com

THE FOUR SEASONS - A REFLECTION OF ARCHETYPAL IMAGERY

‘’In The Four Seasons project, mythology is aligned with psychology, with primitive visual imagery blended with personal reflections and experiences. The journey through life was one of the main inspirations, being unpredictable, multifaceted, colourful, dark, and constantly in motion. Life, with its illusions of comfort and certainty, is mostly about impermanence, about vacuums, about terminations, hidden under the superficial sheath of materialistic folly and hedonistic joys. Beginnings and endings become one, with sensual exploration of the artworks supported simply by the elegance of line and the robust expression of colour, and upon co-creation with the viewer.’’ Gabriel Buttigieg

The Four Seasons – A Reflection of Archetypal Imagery took place at Space 38 in Valletta from 1 to 15 April, curated by Justine Balzan Demajo.

Photo by Elisa von Brockdorff

Photos by Elisa von Brockdorff

Photo by Andre Gialanze

MALTA

GROUNDWATERS

‘Groundwaters outsider perspectives and visions of elsewhere’ was a collective exhibition which explored outsider art in Malta as well as stories of pain, hope, survival and strength. Curated by Gabriel Zammit, it brought together work made by individuals functioning on the fringes of the mainstream as well as fetish dolls, ex-voto paintings and other objects rooted in religion, magic and ritual, and featured work by by Anonymous, Emma Attard, Adrian Camilleri, William Driscoll, Emma Johnson, Salvina Muscat and Joe Vassallo. The exhibition took place from 30 September to 12 November at Valletta Contemporary Gallery, East Street, Valletta

SHADOWS & LIGHT

Christine X Art Gallery has offered an extensive programme of exhibitions this year, one being a stunning presentation of photographs by the late Maltese photographer Wilfred Flores (1912-1981) titled Shadows & Light between 29 October and 22 November documenting ordinary life and Malta of the past. “Many were the photographers in Malta who documented Malta but very few were keeping up with Flores’ level of artistic interpretation and metaphor, towards a more contemplative reading which leave us a testament of a time in Maltese history.” David Pisani.

ANTHROPO SANS FUTURE

Anthropo Sans Future took place between 21 April and 13 May with art by Chris de Souza Jensen, Darren Tanti, Kevin Attard, Mario Abela, and Rupert Cefai. ‘The pandemic has had artists shifting attention and the selection of artworks for this exhibition showed this influence of humans on climate and the environment, questioning how humanity plays part in the ecological downfall which finds society guilty of robbing from future generations for their short-term economic gain.’ Christine X Seidu, owner of Christine X Art Gallery.

OBLITERATED CHILDHOOD

Obliterated Childhood, took plave between 17 June and 8 July with the works of artist Dereje Shiferaw: ‘Dereje Shiferaw has seen children being traumatised through war in his country (Ethiopia) and in this show we got to see what he sees through his work’ Christine X Seidu, owner of Christine X Art Gallery.

Photo by Michaele Zammit

West African Bocio Fetish Doll (c. 1850-1920) wood, cloth, shells, dried grasses, thread and metal fishooks. Photo by Lisa Attard

Photos by Jacob Sammut

TORINO ART WEEK

The first time I experienced Olafur Eliasson’s work was in Aarhus - while walking through his corridor in the sky which filters the city panorama in different colours - a work entitled Your Rainbow Panorama and later explored his exhibition Riverbed at the Louisiana Museum of Modern Art in Denmark in 2014/15. So the opportunity to experience his new work Orizzonti tremanti / Trembling horizons, at the Castello di rivoli launched during the Turin Art week in early November this year was a good enough reason to visit this chic and fascinating city for a second time.

Olafur Eliasson plays with light and water and imagines and builds installations to be enjoyed alone as sort of little places of refuge from the total darkness which otherwise envelopes the hall.

The artist transforms the Manica Lunga wing of Castello di Rivoli - a very long hall of already very grand immersive proportions by installing a new series of six immersive kaleidoramas combining the words kaleidoscope and panorama named Your Curious Kaleidorama, Your Power Kaleidorama, Your Self-reflective Kaleidorama, Your Hesitant Kaleidorama, Your Memory of the Kaleidorama, and Your living Kaleidorama.

Photos by PerottinoPivaPeirone / Artissima

Turin

In Turin, only those serious about art visit Artissima - the most important contemporary art fair in Italy. An interesting variety of galleries both experimental and established show new and iconic works in a spacious hall at the Fiere of Torino. Collectors are spoilt with a feast for the senses and a generous welcome by seasoned gallerists and artists and entertained with talks and workshops by the industry’s finest.

Within Artissima one found Sara Dolfi Agostini in her role as curator for the Fondazione Paul Thorel - launching a competition for a residency at their premises in Naples. Participating in the fair with a stand showcasing some of the late artist’s works as well as works from his collection which includes artists such as Anish Kapoor and Claire Fontaine, the foundation also held a panel discussion launching their various projects.

Another highlight of the very vibrant and inspiring Torino Art Week was the launch of new exhibitions at the Fondazione Sandretto Re Rebuadengo.

In Backwards ahead artists Simon Starling and Slavs and Tatars show works criticizing society and its obsession of using time to measure progress. Liz Glynn, Goshka Macuga, Yinka Shonibare’s works discuss material culture while Paul Graham, June Crespo, Josh Kline, Andra Ursuta’s works deal with paradoxical agents of social order and discipline.

Lawrence Abu Hamdan’s film Air Pressure (A diary of the sky) produced in collaboration with The Future Fields Commission in Time-Based Media and curated by Irene Calderoni and Amanda Sroka is a chilling documentary work about the torture-like presence of Israeli fighter jets in the Lebanese skies.

Diana Policarpo’s Liquid Transferswinner of the Illy Present Future 2021 Prize Exhibition, curated by Bernardo Follini in collaboration with Artissima is another fantastic video work exploring the connections between fungal life, and great social upheaval.

The others fair, where one finds another spectacular offer by dozens of international teams of curators and a very varied interesting range of galleries and artist run spaces was being held for the 10th time. Here one found a more affordable selection of great works and a vibrant, hopeful atmosphere.

And finally of all the satellite events, the fantastic performance work by Londonbased Luca Bosani at Osservatorio Futura was a mind blowing immersive experience. His iconic and extraordinary extrapolated and loaded Shoes had creatures in them - IPOs for one night only.

Luca is currently showing at the Rosa Qwir space in Balzan Malta as part of a collective.

Luca Bassani. Photo by Joanna Delia

Photos by Perottino - Piva - Peirone / Artissima

ERICA GIUSTA

EXPERIMENTS IN ENTROPY:

An insight into what a new generation of Maltese architects has to say on the state of the built environment

The entropic life cycle of various architecture elements dominates and inspires the discourse led by Andrew Borg Wirth, curator and exhibiting architect, on what the role of the architect is, or should be, in the current Maltese context. Conceived as a group show, Experiments in Entropy is an experiment in itself, in the way it brings together 11 young professionals on the basis of their age and educational profile, therefore providing the audience with an unusual and accurate photograph

of a very specific group, at this specific point in time, in Malta. In contrast with these specific premises, the spectrum of research topics tackled by the group appears very broad. Notions of progress, heritage, identity, authenticity and even animism are called upon and analysed, in some cases too eagerly, in others more effectively, by a series of sitespecific installations and other works. The ambitious choice of such layered and far-reaching topics must have rendered the exercise more challenging and the process even more enriching, at times even rambling. The common denominator that binds together all the

outcomes is a great sense of urgency: from the ingenious reuse of limestone dust proposed by Suzi Mifsud to the accumulation of data which Nick Theuma presents as an opportunity to reflect on the tangible consequences of invisible processes that architects contribute to, and from the photographic documentation of what is regarded as progress that Lucia Calleja shares as a collection of postcards to “Arka”, the 1:1 scale portal that Felic Micallef constructs to beautifully criticize the current approach to the Maltese built heritage, all the pieces express the urgent need for new and tangible solutions to the

overdevelopment currently vexing the island.

Common objects like the ubiquitous gold aluminum door, which Jean Ebejer repurposes as an invite to introspection, or organic elements like the ephemeral carpet of fine construction material laid by Matthew Scerri, take the visitor by surprise and encourage the questioning of current practices. The traditional dichotomy between eternity and temporality of architectural projects is rejected, and future transformations of built structures are imagined in a postanthropogenic scenario. Objet trouvé,

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.

Photos by Lucia Calleja

fragments, rubble and dust generated by the ever-growing construction frenzy are adopted as primary media of expression, with a few exceptions, including the sardonic cartoon by Isaac Buttigieg tackling the multifaceted role of the architect and the convoluted dynamics of decision-taking processes that it entails.

Every layer of every contribution conveys the intensity and the character of this great moment of crisis of the status quo. A “crisis” as a neutral moment of change which can develop positively does not seem possible anymore: nature and entropic processes of organic transformation are entrusted with the definition of a possible future.

As Michele De Lucchi recently said while presenting “Satellite Stations”, a project for a series of structures made of natural materials and intended to be re-absorbed by nature, at La Triennale di Milano, «we have to seriously rethink what is destined to eternity and what needs to be consumed and reused in the short term. There are things which deserve to exist forever, and others which don’t. We have to identify what is what very quickly because we live in a sort of “exponential age” in which everything changes at an everincreasing fast pace. Many things should be preserved, and many others should be recycled». The group identified by Andrew Borg Wirth seems to align with the position of this representative of

an international and, funnily enough, much older generation of architects, especially in the way they both look at entropic processes as a potential strategy to resist overdevelopment and take a radical stance against climate change.

How can time and decay become building materials? How can they be transformed into assets contributing to a new, truly sustainable design approach? How can this approach be then tested in the Maltese context, with all its peculiarities? Can the past be connected to potential futures? The exhibition successfully suggests relevant questions and will hopefully prompt many others.

“Experiments in Entropy. Ten years ago I joined Architecture School”, curated by Andrew Borg Wirth and featuring works by Maria Azzopardi, Isaac Buttigieg, Kane Calì, Lucia Calleja, Jean Ebejer, Katrina Galea, Andrew Galea, Felic Micallef, Suzi Mifsud, Tracey Sammut, Matthew Scerri, Nick Theuma, Mike Zerafa, and Norbert Francis Attard is open at Valletta Contemporary (East Street, Valletta) until the 18th February 2023.

Where are the Angry Birds?

Art and Gender Based Violence

I am sick of seeing ‘artists’ paint flowers.

I am sick of seeing ‘artists’ paint landscapes.

I am sick of seeing ‘artists’ make art about discovering who they are, about their identity this and identity that…

Where are the Angry Birds?

Art

and Gender Based Violence

I am sick of seeing ‘artists’ paint flowers.

I am sick of seeing ‘artists’ paint landscapes.

I am sick of seeing ‘artists’ make art about discovering who they are, about their identity this and identity that…

MALTA

JOANNA DELIA AND MARIA LOUISA LIOTTA CATRAMBONE

WHERE ARE THE ANGRY BIRDS? Art and Gender Based Violence

Iam sick of seeing ‘artists’ paint flowers.

I am sick of seeing ‘artists’ paint landscapes.

I am sick of seeing ‘artists’ make art about discovering who they are, about their identity this and identity that…

And I am sick of not seeing enough anger and angry, sexual violence, and bloody victims and degraded, helpless, desperate, abused limp figures in the

works of artists in Malta. Of course, it’s not up to me, or to anyone else to tell artists what to do, but the lack of reflections on frustrating realities by the local artistic community and the absence of reactions explosive or not, to social ills is astounding.

Malta is full of invisible women. Women who have to hide their pregnancies when they have anencephalic foetuses growing inside them. Women who have to travel to have terminations which

will save their life. Women who were deprived of financial independence because society expected them to stay home, clean, and paint flowers.

Women who are trapped, are invisible to the police and to justice, women who suffer physical and emotional abuse and cannot run away because neither the geography nor the tongues of their mothers, would allow it. Trapped until death - whether this comes by way of murder, or old age.

So they paint landscapes. Or oranges. Or orchids. As do their sisters. To calm down.

I asked Maria Louisa Liotta Catrambone, a criminologist with extensive hands-on experience with a human rights NGO, to give us the low-down on the statistics.

A 2018 analysis of prevalence data from 2000-2018 across 161 countries and areas, conducted by WHO on behalf

REA Tort ta min. Photo by Elisa Von Brockdorff

of the UN Interagency working group on violence against women, found that worldwide, nearly 1 in 3 of women have been subjected to intimate partner violence (marital rape, femicide), sexual violence and harassment (rape, forced sexual acts, unwanted sexual advances, child sexual abuse, forced marriage), human trafficking (slavery, sexual exploitation), female genital mutilation and child marriage.

A number that however increases if we consider, and we can’t not do it, emotional and psychological abuse, street harassment, stalking and cyber-harassment. Even when there is no physical violence, abusive language or actions can be very damaging.

Violence against women and girls is a human rights violation that continues to be an obstacle to achieving equality, development, and peace. The immediate and long-term physical, sexual, and mental consequences for women and girls can be devastating, including death.

Malta remembers the tragic horror of femicide through the names of its victims – Mary Saliba, Rose Casaletto, Angela Debono, Carmen Micallef, Gemma Fonk, Diane Gerada, Sylvia King, Jane Vella, Maria Buhagiar, Vanessa Grech and her 17 month old daughter Ailey, Rachel Muscat, Pauline Tanti, Josette Scicluna, Patricia Attard, Doris Schembri, Lyudmila Nykytiuk, Theresa Vella, Caroline Magri, Eleanor Mangion, Maria Carmela Fenech, Antonia Micallef, Shannon Mak, Yvette Gajda, Margaret Mifsud, Charlene Farrugia, Meryem Bugeja, Silvana Muscat, Catherine Agius, Paulina Dembraska, Christine Sammut, Irena Abadzhieva, Karen Cheatle, Lourdes Agius, Marija Lourdes, Daphne Caruana Galizia, Angele Bonnici, Chantelle Chetcuti, Rita Ellul, and Bernice Cassar.

These are the names of the women killed, at the hands of a man since 1978 in Malta.

But there is no corner of the world where women do not suffer any kind of violence, the latitude does not save anyone. Even more complicated is the situation of the migrant women forced to suffer unspeakable violence in refugee camps and during their dangerous migration routes. With MOAS-Migrant Offshore Aid Station, the international humanitarian organization founded in 2013 in response to the Mediterranean maritime migration phenomenon and now dedicated to providing humanitarian aid and services to the most vulnerable people around the world, we have been direct witnesses. We have seen with our own eyes the physical and psychological wounds of women who, after spending terrible months in Libya, risked losing their lives at sea. We have heard the stories of the cruelties inflicted on Rohingya women fleeing Myanmar. And we continue to witness the violence committed in the conflict in Ukraine.

In this context the voice of women plays a very important role. Among the various instruments of protest and emancipation, art has constituted the megaphone of important messages turned to the entire society, a vessel and tool for expression and rebellion against a male dominant.

From Artemisia Gentileschi in the 1600s to Cecilia Beaux two centuries later, from Georgia Okeef to Frida Kahlo, from Clara Peet to Khathe Kollwitz, all these women have fixed in their works a representation of the female voice, a vision of the world shaped by them.

“Art has constituted the megaphone of important messages turned to the entire society, a vessel and tool for expression and rebellion against a male dominant.”

Emma Attard, Black Horse Stallion (2022) ink, coloured pen and crayon on paper

Feature /Malta / Art / Violence against women

Today, in the increasingly integrated system of the art of fashion and design, we can hear the voice of women for issues of great social and political importance such as those of women inclusiveness, equity, and social and cultural rights from women artists. The issues of gender difference represented by the Kenyan Ato Malinda, the prejudices on the body of the black woman by the South African Mary Sibande, and the the sexual discrimination represented by the South African Stephanie “Kenyaa” Mzee, are precious contributions that enrich the path towards gender equality and the eradication of violence against women.

What about the local scene? What are malta based artists’ reactions to vicious murders and the delays or ineffective judicial procedures which follow them? I tried to recall the instances when artists reacted.

When it comes to theatre and performing arts, I must admit we have seen some realistic, visceral reactions to gender based violence. In 2013 TAC theatre staged Kenyetta Lethridge’s play Innocent Flesh with in-your-face interpretations of the realities of various forms of abuse, while not will last month 4Jays Theatre and actors Shaian Debono and Aleandro Bartolo staged Vjola, a play on domestic violence to coincide with The International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women.

The work Grace | Rofflu staged in 2009 by the Rubberbodies Collective and directed by Jimmy Grima was very powerful and explored a relationship which meandered from love to violence using dance and physical theatre.

Experimental theatre in Malta also saw the launch of Alice in Wonderless

Land, DIY Theatre by Teatru Malta for ZiguZajg 2020 which explores and highlights the impact of a patriarchal society and is designed to be set up in schools to hopefully inspire teenagers to break away from the shackles of their predecessors.

Teatru Malta also staged Laringa Mekkanika (A Clockwork Orange) in 2019 - adapting a classic dark and violent tale for a teenage audience, hoping to spur discussion amidst the rising cases of reported psychological problems in these age groups, with increasing incidence of self-harm perhaps coinciding with increased exposure to a more easily available relentless bombardment with violent narratives and imagery on social media and the internet.

A simple internet search reveals a poor response to gender based violence and

rape locally and one comes across a few exhibitions and works of visual arts with victimization rather than anger. And dreams of atonement rather than a call for change.

The National Commission for the Promotion of Equality organized a show for the Valletta 2018 capital of culture entitled ‘Domestic violence portrayed in original art creations’ by artist Raymond Darmanin. The works portray dreamy, floaty women escaping. No anger. No blood. No violence. The message seems to be Run Woman Run with no allusion to fury directed towards the perpetrator. We seem to be saying - Let’s not dwell on the reason for your pain. Or the mention of pain at all.

Another image which pops up is of a painting with the title The Rape of Prosperina who taking after the famous marble statue by Bernini is romanticized in work by Luca Azzopardi. Both Bernini and Azzopardi seem to want whoever looks at the image to be aroused and not infuriated.

The Catholic Church in Malta sponsored an exhibition with the Jean Anthide foundation titled (Un)silenced: celebration of self-determination, solidarity and liberation –Archdiocese of Malta and once again the focus is on the victim. No mention of a perpetrator. Artist Carol Zammit - one of the artists in the show actually shows some anger but the rest is more flowers and landscapes - the take home lesson here seems to be, take a deep breath, forgive him, forget about him. Rebuild your life. Be a silent warrior. Carry your rapists child to date. Don’t bother about your shared assets, better poor and free than secure and trapped. Paint some more grass moving in the wind with little tiny flowers. It’s calming.

But there are also many visual artists who are finally showing their anger and frustration. CO-MA has been creating powerful, manipulated, hyper-realistic charcoal drawings which are evocative and angry and dark. The mostly female subjects are being silenced and blind folded and they look furious and beautifully deranged.

Ryan Falzon’s local show We Lost The War (2017), in Berlin under the name Fritz ist Amerikanish (2020), was more about political violence, ideology, terrorism and organized crime, rather than gender based or domestic

violence. But it’s angry. And anger at the systems which permit any form of institutionalized violence should be brought to light and criticised.

Charlie Chauchi’s show Sheherazade at Valletta Contemporary in 2019 revolved around depictions of abuse, debauchery, beauty and brutality in the Maltese-run soho clubs and brothels in the late half of the 20th century. The installation is immersive, velvety but provocative with confusing plays on words and nude women who vanish as you walk by them.

Artist Charlene Galea recently performed in the work titled Her Mum’s Clothes in Vienna, based on the true story of 4 mothers and the relationship with their daughters, where one of the women is forced into prostitution and violently abused by her husband. The

actresses wore the actual, now deceased victim’s red coat.

But possibly the most powerful works seen recently which deal with the ever present reality of gender-based violence are those by Rachelle Deguara and Emma Attard.

Rachelle’s most recent work is a textbased site-specific performance called No Place Like Home. It was part of the emerging artists’ exhibition at Spazju Kreattiv, curated by Trevor Borg and supported by Agenzija Zaghzagh, called Shifting Context II.

The artist borrows the stories of previous femicides in Malta and interpreters them, switching the gender to emphasize how society has become desensitized to cases of violence against

women. Subverting the dominant mythology of the feminine as submissive, the text explores the tensions between the themes of power and subservience, constraint and liberation, subjugation and empowerment.

Her first debut performance installation was during the exhibition Debatable Lands. The artist did a performative intervention about four women who were killed because of systematic failure, and she was preparing for a protest. The sound installation narrated the stories of Daphne Caruana Galizia, Kim Borg Virtu, Miriam Pace, and Chantelle Chetcuti.

Emma Attard uses art as a tool to therapeutically scream and externalise the rawness of her experiences, rendering trauma concrete so that it

can be released. The work exhibited at the exhibition Groundwaters, curated by Gabriel Zammit at Valletta Contemporary are literally drawings ripped out of her sketchbook. They speak of the unspeakable, blowing the viewer away with their intense simplicity, dripping with fury.

Emma Attard’s drawings were, perhaps originally not meant to be seen but as Gabriel says ‘Ultimately her work typifies the aesthetic transformation of pain into emancipatory potential and as viewers, if we can get past the gut punch and the uncomfortable pull of looking at someone else’s tragedy, what is left is a fragment of utopian potential, which is indicative of the art’s power to merge the real and the imaginary in the pursuit of catharsis.’

Fritz ist Amerikanish, Ryan Falzon

The Impulstanz performance in August 2022, Charlene Galea

CHRISTINE XUEREB SEIDU

ARTISTS FROM AFRICA AND HER DIASPORA DISRUPTING COLONIAL NARRATIVES IN MALTA SHOW

Commissioned by Spazju Kreattiv, Ghanaian curator Dr. Bernard AkoiJackson introduces the group show ‘“What’chu Looking at? Who you Speaking with?”: A Gazing All Around’ showcasing the work of ten artists of African descent.

Akoi-Jackson describes the continent of Africa as a complex, intricate and unfathomable entity which often has the west trying to totalize it. In this show with work by creatives that operate from Africa and her Diaspora, we come to the realisation that it is impossible

to do so. Contemporary African artists express their many lived realities across a continent made up of fifty-four (54) countries. With what materials, media, techniques and technologies are their ideas being wrought into objects, situations and complex aesthetic propositions? What, in terms of globality, constitutes our collective becomingness and imagination in the recent experience of the world? This exhibition proposes an investigation of some of the possible responses to the above-stated questions in a variety of novel and audacious forms from subSaharan African artists and some who reside in the Diaspora.

The first part of the title: “What’chu Looking at? Who you Speaking with?” bears a similar sense of audacity and daring. Even though it sounds accusatory, it is not. What is intended is a provocation towards reflexivity. The second part, ‘A Gazing all Round’ suggests that the erstwhile othering gaze is now shared all around, such that there is neither any subject nor object. What we have now is a common sphere of looking back and forth. What this two-way, or indeed, poly-reciprocal gaze yields cannot be pinpointed. It is something that is immanent. We all live to learn what it becomes. This is an exhibition of contemporary Art from an

intricate entity.

Inspired by the Movement of NonAlignment from the 1960s, which played an important part in the process of decolonization and the independence movements in Africa, Christian Guerematchi’s (Congo-Slovenia) NonAligned Movement is an artistic search for black European identity. Blick Bassy (Cameroon) also draws on the notion of home and separation, having lived in France since 2001 and presents a film that investigates these issues. Nelago Shilongoh’s (Namibia) performance reflects on the history of domestic work and black women from as early as the

Sa by Nelago Shilongoh. Photo courtesy of Ana Córcoles Siegersbusch

MALTA

1910s, and its imprint as continued heritage in contemporary Namibia. Along with the techniques of movement, the interdisciplinary performance features historical archives that make a part of the conversation. Similarly, Priscilla Kennedy (Ghana) acknowledges historical connections between craft work and the subordination of women through oppressive structures and domestic systems, viewing them also as sites of subversion and potential emancipation, using forms of imaging that reference her body as a medium to draw connections between personal narratives, race and feminist politics.

Tracy Thompson’s (Ghana) topographical works on micropolymer structures within her postproduced foods has its entire process of phasing between micro and macro, computational and biological, twodimensional and three-dimensional,

resonating with the exhibition’s theme in complicating a more-than-humancentred gaze. Akwasi Afrane Bediako’s (Ghana) work blurs the boundaries of the physical space and the virtual, playing with the audience’s perception of what reality is through engaging them with Virtual Reality, Gaming, 3D animation video and Augmented Reality applications. Simnikiwe Buhlungu (South Africa), one of the exhibitors of the Milk of Dreams’ main show at Venice Biennale 2022, researches the production of knowledge, how it is disseminated, and by whom. Through film, sound, installation, and text, Buhlungu transports viewers into metaphorical and theoretical considerations of the ways we come to ‘know’ and what informs those narratives.

Patrick Tagoe-Turkson’s (Ghana) use of found flip-flops, which metaphorically

represent diverse aspects of the human experience, transforms as topography, fabric, symbol, sensation or tales. Contrary to Tagoe-Turkson’s process of turning found objects with their own stories into an artwork, Eric Gyamfi’s (Ghana) work focuses on two portraits and translating thoughts and opinions of these portraits into new characters through analogue/ chemical processes as well as varying weather/ environmental conditions. Dereje Shiferaw (Ethiopia) tells his own thoughts and views as an African through his paintings.

Anyone willing to experience the lived realities of contemporary African artists across the African continent is invited to visit Space A, Spazju Kreattiv, St James Cavalier, Valletta from Friday 27th January to 5th March 2023 which also includes a programme of events.

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.

Participants in Kwasiada Frankaa by Akwasi Afrane Bediako. Photo courtesy of the artist.

NAM by Christian Guerematchi. Photo courtesy of Alwin Poiana

Fixing Shadows: Julius & I by Eric Gyamfi. Photo courtesy of the artist.

EXHIBITIONS

25.01.22

Until 23 April 2023

DAVID HOCKNEY: BIGGER & CLOSER (NOT SMALLER & FURTHER AWAY)

David Hockney will launch an ambitious, immersive art show in London in January 2023, transforming his iconic paintings, rarely seen pieces and some newly created work into a multisensorial experience. Three years in the making, the exhibition will be the launch show at Lightroom in Kings Cross. The four-storeyhigh space, designed by London architects Haworth Tompkins, is a joint venture between design studio 59 Productions and the London Theatre Company. The six-chapter, 50-minute show features a dedicated score by American composer Nico Muhly, and commentary narrated by Hockney himself, in which he reveals his artistic process. ‘It can plunge the audience right into the way he looks at the world, and the way he understands art,’ explained the show’s executive producer, Nicholas Hytner, in an interview with BBC Radio 4. ‘There’s an absolutely amazing sequence where we watch him create one of his iPad pictures of his house and gardens in Normandy, almost as if you’re watching him paint in real time.’

Lightroom, 12 Lewis Cubitt Square, London, United Kingdom Image courtesy of David Hockney

10.02.22

Until 4 June 2023

VERMEER

Incredibly, this is the first Vermeer exhibition to be shown in the Netherlands’ most prestigious art gallery and it is set to feature a significant number of the Dutch master’s work. As only 35 known paintings were left behind after his death, his work is rarely lent to galleries, but the Rijksmuseum has worked closely with the Museum Prinsenhof Delft (in Vermeer’s birthplace) as well as other international galleries to present a fuller picture of his life and career. Newly restored works will be shown to the public for the first time, alongside well-known masterpieces such as The Geographer and The Girl with a Pearl Earring

Museumstraat 1, Amsterdam, The Netherlands www.rijksmuseum.nl/en/whats-on/exhibitions/johannes-vermeer

23.09.22

Until 19 March 2023

THE PAINTERS OF POMPEII

Following critically acclaimed presentations at Oklahoma City Museum of Art and New York University’s Institute for the Study of the Ancient World, the exhibition expands with a much greater number of works as it returns to Italy and marks one of the most anticipated exhibitions of the autumn exhibition season in Europe. Presenting over 100 rare frescoes, with almost half having never left Naples since they were excavated in the 18th century, the show is in collaboration with the National Archaeological Museum of Naples – the largest archaeological painting gallery in the world. Curated by Roman art expert Mario Grimaldi and produced by MondoMostre, it offers the opportunity to view ancient masterpieces in dialogue with the original tools used to create them and reconstructions of Pompeian rooms, featuring wall paintings and items dug by Bourbon archaeologists.

29.10.22

Until 5 February 2023

PLASTIC:

REMAKING OUR WORLD

From wonder material to global ecological threat, the story of plastic is explored with subtlety and depth in this expansive exhibition, co-produced by the V&A Dundee, Germany’s Vitra Design Museum and MAAT (Museum of Art, Architecture and Technology) in Lisbon. Using product design, graphics, architectural examples and fashion items, the show takes the long view. It represents the achievements behind the invention of plastic, its transformative power, and its role as one of the world’s most invasive forms of pollution, before considering how new technologies can help to find a viable solution.

V&A Dundee, Riverside Esplanade, Dundee, Scotland vam.ac.uk/dundee/exhibitions/plastic

Museo Civico Archeologico, Via dell’Archiginnasio 2, Bologna, Italy

Image courtesy of Museo Civico Archeologico

LONDON AMSTERDAM

BOLOGNA DUNDEE

Curated events in Malta

02.12.22

Until 18 February 2023

EXPERIMENTS IN ENTROPY

The second law of thermodynamics states that as energy is transformed, it incrementally dissipates and tends towards loss, decay and waste. This is the process of entropy; a process of mutual construction and demolition—and an admission that time is perhaps the most present and yet seemingly most anonymous protagonist in the physics of production. It applies to societies and to systems, as it does to our natural environment, and has generated curiosity since its peak in art production in the sixties. It is a meta-narrative for our more micro realities to perform against. This exhibition invites ten architects who collectively started architecture school a decade ago to investigate trajectories of this narrative in their daily grind. The group has come together and dissipated at different times across the past ten years, making their own growth an entropic process in itself… Returning to a position of critique, the exhibition assembles itself as a collective of individual findings, transforming the galleries at Valletta Contemporary into places for the introspection of the Maltese built and unbuilt context. This, through the lens of the youngest of Malta’s generation of architects.

15, 16, 17 East Street, Valletta www.vallettacontemporary.com

12.12.22

Until 28 January 2023

AWOL

R Gallery presents their first group show titled AWOL, an exhibition by international contemporary artists featuring multimedia practitioners, namely Maxine Attard, Charlie Cauchi, Romeo Roxman Gatt and Duška Maleševic whose work is informed by the plethora of interpretations of AWOL (absent without leave). Through their explorations, the artists invite us to question, confront, reframe and reinvent absences that inhabit us, giving these seemingly empty spaces the presence necessary for redeeming catharsis. The potent body of works include installation, photography, objects, sculpture and painting. Curated by French artist Julien Vinet.

R Gallery, 26 Triq Tigné, Sliema

Image: Noah’s Ark, 2022, Duška Maleševic

10.12.22

Until 15 January 2023

LATENT SPACES REFRAMED

Latent Spaces Reframed – Malta, is an immersive installation of site-specific works directed by Ana Baer Carrillo and Heike Salzer under the umbrella of WECreate Productions. Locating the body in urban and natural landscapes this exhibition offers self-reflective encounters with environments, raising questions about one’s sense of self within the world. Featuring the hyper-local and reaching the global, this installation invites the viewer to experience landscapes from Iceland, Ireland, Mexico, the United Kingdom, and Malta. Exploring interdisciplinary arts production with screendance, sound and textile artists, along with costume and scenic designers. These transdisciplinary artworks provoke a longing for deceleration and re-connection with nature, displaying contrasting urban metropolitan atmospheres and exploring the in-betweenness of urban and natural places. The collection brings together new and existing works, premiering HinterTerra developed in Malta in 2022.

Space B, Spazju Kreattiv, St James Cavalier, Castille Place, Valletta

11.01.23

Until 23 January 2023

VALLETTA BAROQUE FESTIVAL

Valletta International Baroque Festival offers you the opportunity to listen to world-class baroque music artists in a historical atmosphere typically filled with a local and international audience. One of the main stages of the festival is Teatru Manoel, the oldest working theatre in the world, St. John’s Co-Cathedral, and the Valletta Archaeological Museum are just a few of the fascinating venues you can visit. The Valletta International Baroque Festival gives its audience a feast of music with its magnificent music performances ranging from Bach to Vivaldi and much more.

Various venues around Malta. Visit https://www.festivals.mt/vbf