ART AND CULTURE

We’ve pulled together a rundown of promising arts and culture events to stir the senses this winter

RE:// Apparat

Re: //Apparat explores the notion of tool making against drawing. Tool making is a physical or externalized approach to problem solving (or problem creating). As a sculptor, Matyou Galea tends to understand the world as a series of scenarios where objects engage with other objects, or individuals or abstract fleeting thoughts and intangible ideas. This interactive exhibition will allow the visitor to observe the art and even become it, in a playful interplay that juxtaposes function with dysfunction.

Studio Solipsis, 73, Triq il-Kbira, Rabat

Unseen

Unseen and Unheard is an exhibition that sheds light on overlooked or previously unrecorded war narratives and microhistories from Malta and elsewhere. It brings together items and artefacts drawn from different collections, with a primary focus on wartime experiences of women and girls. The exhibition was inspired by a series of conversations between the Storm Petrel Foundation and Dr Robert Attard. Dr Attard had found a collection of letters written by a young German woman during the Second World War, some of which will be on display in the exhibition, together with other artefacts from a number of collections. For more information visit www.stormpetrelfoundation.org

The Storm Petrel Foundation, Triq Sant Anton, Attard

C'est La Vie: Sculpture Exhibition

1-12

The solo exhibition by ceramist Joseph Agius focuses on various aspects of life. The exhibition title is meant as a tongue-in-cheek or sarcastic comment to highlight the alienation that we are surrounded with and the ‘laissez-faire’ way of life that we are so used to live in. The aspects tackled are various and origin from different strata of life as well as from different countries. The sculptures presented in this collection are all executed in ceramics, a signature medium for Agius who has been working for over 30 years and all come with very evocative titles, which is very typical and expected of Agius’s provocative works.

Il-Kamra ta' Fuq, Mqabba

WHAT’CHU LOOKING AT?, WHO YOU SPEAKING WITH?: A GAZING ALL AROUND

This exhibition of contemporary art will explore the intricate entity of Africa through the eyes of contemporary African artists. A two-way gaze of reflexivity and shared understanding through artistic investigation will provide a look into the lived realities across the continent.

1 FEB-4 MAR

Anamnesis

The project is an introspective visual art exhibition by Clint Calleja, consisting of paintings, sculptures, photography and installations revolving around the theme of ‘Trauma and Memory’. The artworks will be unfolding through autobiographical recollections that remain imprinted in his memory. Curated by Kenneth Cassar, this exhibition is an intimate confession through four life changing tragic chapters which have marked the artist and his family in a short period of time.

AMYGDALA, the title of Kim Sammut's first institutional solo exhibition, takes its inspiration from the region of the brain that receives inputs from all senses and processes emotions. At Blitz Valletta, Amygdala is an intimate collective self-portrait delving into the quest for identity of young adults living out of sync with a commodified present which leaves no space for selfexpression beyond money-making products. It is a present that Sammut keeps off-stage – the human body and its surroundings are stripped off all socio-cultural references except for a few clues – and yet we can feel its unsettling presence outside of the frame. To protect the bare self, Sammut conceived a shrinelike space, disconnected from the hectic life of the capital city. The exhibition includes four artworks, all never seen before – a drawing, two photographs and a video installation.

Blitz, 68 St Lucia Street, Valletta

2 FEB-

Carnival Exhibition

The time awaited by everyone has come and Spazju Kreattiv will once again be doning the carnival colours and will be organising a number of activities in its surroundings. The programme will include an exhibition of carnival costumes as well as the mischievous Qarċilla that has come back to life in recent years.

5 MAR