Held at the decaying, but now repurposed Splendid in Strait Street, Valletta, over a two-day period, Gary Bugeja and Malcolm Gauci’s photographic offerings focused on the often unseen social, mental and economic problems which riddle Maltese society and the world at large.
Although this subject matter has often been represented in the local scene, their work was given a dark twist in their use of local models for their fairy tales-gone-wrong tableaux.
Accompanied by beautifully-written, short poems in Maltese, each collection of photographs tackled a particular theme while also giving a generous nod to the darker tones of the fairy tale genre.
Indeed, while fairy tales became somewhat watered down and more child-friendly over their more than 100-year tenure, the original fairy tales were often deeply sadistic and macabre, stained throughout with rapes, death and cruelty. The once beautiful queen in Snow White may have deserved punishment but I’m not sure that dancing herself to death in molten iron shoes was the best way for this to happen.
It was this polymorphic slant which gave the exhibition an added dimension. While unfortunate circumstances were conventionally prettified in order to gloss over their inherent trauma, the happy ending was dispensed with altogether. Greatly artificial in its inception to begin with, the happy ending was merely used as a device through which one could distract readers and facilitate their ignoring the uncomfortable truths which were often taking place in their own backyards.
This particular exhibition had the quality of making the viewer feel comforted by the familiarity of his or her own childhood while leaving him unsettled by the macabre qualities the stories had been given at the same time.
The happy ending was merely used as a device through which one could distract readers and facilitate their ignoring the uncomfortable truths which were often taking place in their own backyards
Keeping this in mind, it was extremely fitting that the opening photo of the exhibition was of Snow White’s queen. Covered in a black veil that did little to distract from her beauty, the photo depicts a model who is saddened by what she sees in the mirror. However, unlike the traditional queen who relies on her own inner measure of beauty, Bugeja’s queen is obsessed with perfection as a result of everyone else’s expectations.
Indeed, the common thread running through all the photos was not solely self-loathing, but an inner rupturing and erosion of the self, based on the cruelty and rejection of others.
The subjects of every tableau were all victims of a society which is not always awake to the suffering of others and is many times instrumental in causing that same suffering. A particularly moving shot was that of ‘Sleeping Beauty’. This was interesting not only because Bugeja and Gauci chose to use a male model for this particular shot rather than the golden haired woman we are accustomed to, but it was also moving because of the inert sadness of its accompanying quote which almost condemned the beautiful boy to death solely for being different.
Interestingly, it is not only differences which are being discussed in the exhibition, but those who suffer in silence and bear their often hidden wounds.
While the Beauty and the Beast motif challenged the murky waters of domestic violence and the silence that surrounds this still taboo subject, there were also references to depression and eating disorders which served to highlight the loneliness and alienation which many people opt to keep concealed.
It was interesting to note that, while the voices of the protagonists were very much represented in the words which accompanied the photographs, the tableaux allowed for personal reflection, particularly with regard to our own personal responsibility for the suffering of others.
Despite the fact that the fashion photography and styling element is very much present in the photos, it is very clear that Gauci and Bugeja have used this exhibition to move away from their comfort zone and into a new one of awakened social consciousness.
While the pretty, glossy commercial element of the photos was most definitely apparent, there is an undeniable and unabashed honesty in the way they have represented the unsavoury. It will be interesting indeed to see in which direction they will choose to grow as artists.
