The winning artist of the Divergent Thinkers exhibition and competition, Sarah Maria Scicluna, was announced last week at the Malta Maritime Museum. The exhibition, which is organised by Aġenzija Żgħażagħ in collaboration with the Valletta 2018 Foundation, features the works of nine young local artists and one Japanese artist.

The artists taking part in the exhibition include Aidan Celeste, Chiara Cassar, David Falzon, Janis Luste, Justine Navarro, Keita Onishi, Lara Manara, Sam Sultana, Sarah Maria Scicluna and Roderick Camilleri. The winning artist received the prize of a month-long residency at the Youkobo Art Space in Tokyo, Japan in August 2017.

“Divergent Thinkers has established itself as the main platform for emerging artists in Malta. It encourages innovative thinking and artistic projects, focuses on the actual processes of artistic creation and commissions new work from the selected participants,” curator Raphael Vella said.

Aġenzija Żgħażagħ CEO Miriam Theuma said: “Divergen Thinkers is all about enabling young artists through the provision of opportunities and spaces to present their spontaneity, concepts and artistic thoughts. This year, this space will widen and spread to Japan, where for a whole month the winning artist will benefit from a month’s residency in Tokyo and immersion in an artistic and cultural environment that will surely expand and enrich future artistic endeavours.”

The project challenges young artists to take on the notion of divergent thinking by exhibiting drawings, photographs, objects and other material to show how creative problems can be resolved in different and unusual ways. This year, artists had to produce works under the theme ‘Navigate’.

Divergent Thinkers is set to attract a total of 1,500 people during its running. Some of the works from the exhibition will also be showcased during the European Youth Conference in March 2017 as part of the EU Presidency programme.

The exhibition runs until Friday at the Malta Maritime Museum.