THE MALTA PAVILION TAKES OVER THE CENTRAL COURTYARD AT SOMERSET HOUSE FOR THE LONDON DESIGN BIENNALE 2023

MALTESE ARTISTS HAD QUITE A PRESENCE SHOWING OFF THEIR TALENTS IN RECENT YEARS, EXPERIENCING SIGNIFICANT SUCCESS AT MAJOR INTERNATIONAL ART FESTIVALS SUCH AS THE VENICE ART BIENNALE, WITH PAVILIONS COMMISSIONED BY ARTS COUNCIL MALTA RECEIVING HIGHLY POSITIVE FEEDBACK FROM THE INTERNATIONAL PRESS.

Arts Council Malta aims to build on these accomplishments by focusing on international visibility, collaborations and exchanges. For the first time ever the Arts Council Malta is presenting work at the London Design Biennale 2023 wh ich opens its doors on 1st June till the 25th.

I had the opportunity to discuss the Malta Pavilion with ‘Open Square Collective’, the creative team behind the ‘Urban Fabric’ installation, commissioned by Arts Council Malta. The large-scale walkthrough installation is set to take over the central courtyard at Somerset House in London. Visitors may be able to experience the various layers by negotiating their way around a hypothetical village that evokes the Maltese urban fabric. The creative team constituting ‘Open Square Collective’ is made up of individuals well known to the Maltese art scene. These are architect and designer Matthew Joseph Casha, artist and academic Trevor Borg, who has also presented his work at the 58th edition of the Venice Biennale, fashion designer Luke Azzopardi as well as junior architect and designer Alessia Deguara. The creative team is also joined by veteran journalist Ramona Depares on communications and Gilbert Micallef as financial advisor.

The Malta Pavilion has attracted wide coverage in the international media. Dr Romina Delia, Internationalisation Executive at Arts Council Malta, and project leader of Malta’s participation at the London Design Biennale 2023, stated that “given our geographical context, Arts Council Malta recognise s that forming and maintaining international connections is fundamental for Malta's cultural and creative sectors to flourish. Arts Council Malta’s aim is to support artists to reach out to new and diverse audiences around the globe and sustaining the growth of cultural and creative entrepreneurs.”

The installation ‘Urban Fabric’ is a response to the biennale theme of ‘The Global Game: Remapping Collaborations’, conceived through a fusion of art, architecture and innovative design, focusing on sustainability and environmental awareness. It celebrates Malta by merging the traditional city planning of ancient Maltese villages with the Phoenician tradition of fabric production and dyeing. ‘Urban Fabric’s’ sustainable and certified eco-friendly components of wood, stone and organic fabric contextualized through historical research carried out at the National Museum of Archaeology in Valletta, create a street -like layout enabling the viewers to interact with the installation. The artistic installation also encourages discourse about the environment by presenting a well-researched project made up of a combination of aesthetic and spatial awareness with activism.

“We are honoured and excited to be representing Malta for the first time at this prestigious event. The concept that informs this installation is something we all feel strongly about, that of providing an ‘urban’ space that changes and evolves with the regionality of its surroundings, thus allowing its quality and essence to come through more easily than it does through the concrete structures currently growing within the Maltese landscape” was what the collective had to say of their installation. “Using natural materials as the main material components, we strive to instill the idea that humans should use these materials to their best potential within their set timespan, rather than trying to extend their duration through unnatural means. Through Urban Fabric, we aim to evoke a sense of memory and space, allowing for a more integrated thinking approach to material and urban fabric.”

The Malta Pavilion is commissioned by Arts Council Malta, under the auspices of Malta’s Ministry for the National Heritage, the Arts and Local Government and sponsors include the Malta Tourism Authority, Airmalta, Malta Enterprise, Valletta Design Cluster, Heritage Malta, Camilleri Paris Mode, CTP Consulting Engineers, Hydroelectric and Collingwood.

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