Five artists meet PM at Castille

"This nation acknowledges and appreciates the enormous contribution that our artistic community has given to the Maltese identity over the years," said Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi last Monday during a special preview of an artistic exhibition that seeks to reinterpret Caravaggio's art within a contemporary context.

The exhibition, a sample of which was previewed at the Auberge de Castille, translates 400 years of history into contemporary reality through the works of five local artists: Gabriel Caruana, Anton Calleja, Vince Briffa, Guzeppi Schembri Bonaci and Caesar Attard.

The exhibition is part of two projects - Caravaggio 400, which celebrates the 400 years since Caravaggio came to live in Malta, and the Malta Arts Festival, which started last Friday. "This is an exhilarating experience," Dr Gonzi said, "because you can actually feel Caravaggio dressed up in a contemporary way through the eyes of our artists. What we have here is a representation of an essential part of our history which we should expose to the rest of the world."

While expressing the government's will to invest further in cultural initiatives, the Prime Minister recalled the varied artistic and cultural activities that were successfully organised throughout this year.

He also referred to the pre-Budget document, presented by the government yesterday week, which proposes specific initiatives for 2008 with respect to culture and the investment it requires. The Prime Minister concluded by thanking the five participating artists for sharing this unique experience with the Maltese people.

Adrian Mamo, chairman of the Malta Council for Culture and the Arts, said that the artistic preview held at the Auberge de Castille is a tribute to local artists. "This exhibition does not merely lead us into the world of Caravaggio but also into the minds of the five artists who are participating. Malta has been selected as the Cultural Capital of Europe for 2018," he announced, "and all these projects serve to enhance the prestige that our capital city deserves".

Caravaggio scholar and University lecturer Dr Keith Sciberras described the fusion of these five exhibitions as a showcase of the exciting facets of Maltese contemporary art by way of a connection between the present and the past.

"The concept seeks to portray five artists working in five different spaces in Valletta," he said. "There is no sequence to the exhibitions and each one leads you into the other. The spectator is invited to explore the various venues and the contextual notion of Valletta, the city which hosted one of the greatest artists in the world between 1607 and 1608."

The artists' engagement with Caravaggio has stimulated a response which absorbs, exploits, connects with, cites or significantly salutes the Lombard master. There's a mixture of artistic expression that offers an exciting window onto contemporary art in Malta.

The participating artists come from different backgrounds and consequently express different interests and concerns. Together, they link the whole exercise and experience that projects Caravaggio forcefully into the contemporary world, a world which does not create new versions of Caravaggio but only seeks to rework his art.

Gabriel Caruana is exhibiting in the courtyard of the Auberge de Castille, Giuseppe Schembri Bonaci's works are on display at St James Cavalier's Upper Galleries; Vince Briffa's installations are on show at the Auberge d'Italie; Caesar Attard's paintings are being exhibited on Great Siege Square, while Anton Calleja's may be admired at the Grand Masters' Palace.

The five exhibitions are open every day and admission is free.