Materia, an exhibition by Adrian Abela currently showing at St James Cavalier in Valletta, is part of the Charti project in collaboration with Valletta 2018. Its main aim is to reinterpret traditional elements of the Maltese festa, giving them relevance within the contemporary international setting.

Charti is set during and around the rituals that occur during festas, performed in villages and towns on the Maltese islands. It primarily interprets the ritual of throwing pieces of paper during these celebrations. The paper being used in these rituals records the memory of the action, and dtails of the occurrence. The collective memories will be embodied within a new ritual to produce a new material bearing the same name: Charti.

Since 2014, the artist has been collecting material that worked around the aim of creating a machine to produce Charti.

The exhibition consists ofthree major works presented in different locations around St James Cavalier:

Gentes and Mater currently show (Space A and Spot A) from 10am to 9pm until July 3.

Gentes (people) is a series of works that document communities, groups and individuals who organise and participate in the festa rituals.

Mater (mother/material) focuses on the original material of the project – the festa paper.

Ritus opens to the public tomorrow (Spaces C1-C4).

This component of the project focuses on the materiality of the rituals, presented within four distinct artworks.

Artist talks and tours will also take place on the following dates: Thursday, June 23 at 7.45pm in English; Saturday, June 25 at 10.30am in Maltese; Sunday, June 26, at 10.30am in Maltese.

http://charti-charti.com