An exhibition fusing Japanese art with Mediterannean concepts is being set up at Cavalieri Hotel in St Julian’s this week. Titled Japanese Impressions, it will feature about 100 paintings, including 60 works by Maltese artists.

Joseph Barbara

The fourth edition of the exhibition is organised by Japanese artists Rin Terada of Shamane, Japan, with the help of Tomoko Germar, who is based in Berlin, Germany, and local artist Joseph Barbara. It is sponsored by IMS Create, a Japanese company that has hundreds of artists as members and that promotes art and culture in various countries, especially Germany.

“Rin Terada contacted me four years ago and asked for my help to organise a collective Japanese exhibition. He came over to Malta and after showing him a few venues, he decided to inaugurate one at the Cavalieri Art Hotel, whose galleries are large enough to accommodate around 150 paintings,” says Barbara. “He loves Malta and wishes to settle here.”

Germar is the director of the Terada Museum of Art and runs a gallery in the German capital. She has been to Malta several times and is also the coordinator of this exhibition.

The paintings on show at Cavalieri’s Renoir and Monet galleries feature a wide spectrum of Japanese art.

Anthony Weitz

“Nowadays, many Japanese artists are influenced by European art,” points out Barbara. “So apart from the traditional calligraphy, there is photography, mixed media, water colours and pastels. As regards subjects, their paintings cover from flowers to seascapes and landscapes.”

Barbara makes reference to a particular painting, titled Elegant Cat, by Hidehiro Kaminaga, which was awarded at Le Salon de Paris.

“Kaminaga chose this picture for this exhibition because he read that in Malta there are more living cats than humans. He also read that the Maltese really care about these cats and love them. This really impressed him. He thinks that this caring  characteristic of Maltese people is admirable.”

A. Aonuma

At the time of writing, 26 Maltese artists had confirmed their participation in the exhibition. These include established names like Francis Galea, Joseph Casapinta, Josette Fenech, Anthony Weitz and David Xuereb, besides a number of upcoming artists. Their subjects vary from landscapes, seascapes, plants, abstract, symbolism, Maltese landmarks to spiritual art.

For the first time, these local artists will have the opportunity to exhibit one work each at an exhibition in the Sumida Riverside Hall in the centre of Tokyo, Japan, in April. Barbara considers this hall an important one as its hosts various cultural events and is frequented by many people on a daily basis.

Barbara will be in Tokyo for the length of the exhibition in April, hoping to makemore contacts for possibly more exhibitions and to improve cultural relations between Japan and Malta.

• Japanese Impressions will be inaugurated on Friday by Culture Minister Owen Bonnici and will run until February 20. It will be open for visitors at Cavalieri Hotel, St Julian’s, all day. For more information, contact Joseph Barbara on 9987 8757 or via e-mail on jofes07@gmail.com.

Francis Galea

Hideiro Kaminaga