SOAP THINK WITH TO

A solo exhibition by Norbert Francis Attard

Contemporary Maltese artist, Norbert Francis Attard opened his solo exhibition titled SOAP TO THINK WITH at Gozo

Contemporary on the 1st of April, followed by a satellite exhibition at R Gallery in Sliema, Malta, on the 20th of April

The exhibition, which is curated by Ann Dingli, chronicles the artworks and subject-matter of a comprehensive solo exhibition by the artist, encompassing a breadth of multi-media work spanning just over two and a half years in the making. The show’s works and catalogue will interrogate three driving themes: the Covid-19 pandemic; political and financial corruption in Malta; and the assassination of journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia.

Attard’s treatment of these themes begins from a universal and global perspective, threads through spheres of collective thought, and finally zones into individual analysis. Each theme is catechised through works that link with canons of conceptual art, objet trouvé, light art, photography, sculpture, and graphic art. In his selection of subjectmatter, Attard builds a retrospective comment around the wider and ongoing question of human ethics – his work grapples with the major traumas and moral dilemmas that have plagued communities both worldwide and locally in Malta. Their commentary addresses events that occurred over substantial stretches of time, as well as those that took place within the space of a moment.

The works comprising SOAP TO THINK WITH tackle some of the most urgent, lasting events and themes of recent history, together acting as a contemplative edict on how human beings live today. They accordingly function as a capsule of reflection for Malta and beyond – a longform comment on the way humanity contends with the most arduous tests and trials of our time.

SOAP TO THINK WITH includes 111 pieces in total, the vast majority of which are featured in this exhibition. All of the exhibition’s works were conceived and made during the Covid-19 period and immediately after The World Health Organization declared the virus a pandemic on 11th March 2020. National lockdowns began two days later, on 13th March. The exhibition’s first pieces were created towards the end of March 2020, followed by an entire series of 2D and 3D works that continued to be

ANN DINGLI is an art and design writer with an MA in Design Criticism from the University of the Arts, London. She has worked as a freelance writer and content consultant for four years, writing remotely from London, New York and Malta since 2016. (anndingli.com) produced until the end of October 2022 – a span of exactly thirty-one months. In numerology, which is the belief that numbers share a mystical relationship between coinciding events, the number 111 is closely linked to new beginnings, independence and positivity. When added together, 111 equals 3, which symbolises creativity, curiosity and imagination. These are all attributes which have come to define Attard’s decades-long artistic career, in which he strays away from stagnation, and instead seeks out the new, reinventing himself at every opportunity which presents itself. www.vallettacontemporary.com/ soap-to-think-with

SOAP TO THINK WITH is a satellite exhibition of Valletta Contemporary, at Gozo Contemporary, 11 Triq Mongur, Gharb, Gozo, until the 29th of October 2023. And R Gallery in Sliema presents part of the collection in a solo show until the 3rd of June, curated by Julien Vinet.