Mediterranean imagination

What does it mean to be Mediterranean? Is there a sense of belonging that unites those hailing from countries that lie in or touch ‘Our Sea’ (or Mare Nostrum) to use the Roman term for the Mediterranean Sea?

What is certain is that there are many traits that unite Mediterranean people, from frivolous gesticulations that animate speech, to a love for food which is ubiquitously present at any social gathering (and lots of it). The Mediterranean is exotic, colourful and loud.

These and the multi layers of history give the Middle Sea its unique identity. The more you become acquainted with the polyglot diversity of its culture, the more cerebrally intoxicated you become.

It was therefore a pleasure to visit ‘Mediterranean Soul’, an exhibition where colour abounds. However, if sun and sea are the only things you are after, then you will not be satisfied.

What is on show at the Grand Salon of the National Museum of Archaeology, is much more complex and more interesting to look at and experience.

The series of paintings and other works in various media have as their main characteristic a very idiosyncratic abstract, visual language.

The artist is Riccardo Licata, and his ‘visual language’ stems from his love for music and the arts in general, and a fondness for the Mediterranean.

Licata was born in 1929 in Turin, but has lived most of his life between Paris and Venice, and it is there that he acquired his artistic training.

We are assured before entering the exhibition hall, that Licata is “one of Italy’s top 10 artists”. I was also told that his art “sells for telephone numbers” at auctions. This is expected of an international figure with such an impressive output.

The exhibition first allows you to explore works produced in the 1950s. Up to the 1960s, forms are still pretty much abstract.

But the 1965 Situazione, and successive works dating to this decade, is indicative of the style in which Licata’s visual language was to develop.

The next set of exhibits, in fact, lead you into a world of abstract symbols. Motifs are repeated, and with every exhibit, the language unfolds itself to the viewer. They are like an alphabet which you try to decipher when venturing through the exhibition space.

Located close to these early works is B10, a kilim tapestry dating to 2001. This is a genuinely impressive work, remarkable for its sheer size. Its iconic presence fills the Grand Salon.

Licata’s motifs are playfully reinterpreted in Senza Titolo, 1995, a round, mixed media on canvas composition, containing several circles of colour and motifs, and in several other works.

Licata’s pictorial-graphic works have movement despite seeming static when viewed up close. Forms reach out of the picture plane and enter your personal space.

And these forms or motifs and recurrent symbols are one of the major protagonists of the exhibition. They are Licata’s trademark.

The several media employed – tapestry, mosaics, oils, and more –contribute to the interest of the exhibition, purely because the different textures are another key protagonist.

The presence of mosaic is understandable and explained by his living and training in Venice, and it is a welcome presence indeed.

But glass is not the only medium in which Licata’s mosaics are executed. Equally impressive are the tapestries.

Licata is not only allowing us to view a collection of his works at first hand, but he is expanding on his portfolio of exhibitions, including within it a country that lies at the heart of the Mediterranean.

‘Mediterranean Soul’ is being organised by Heritage Malta in collaboration with Verso l’Arte Edizioni Italia, and is curated by Alexander Debono and Giovanni Granzotto.

‘Mediterranean Soul’ is open at the Grand Salon of the National Museum of Archaeology (Auberge de Provence), Valletta, until October 9.