Mirages are curious phenomena. Optical illusions, yet completely naturally-occurring, unmagicked.

Witnesses of such optical deceptions are conned into believing they are viewing the image of a "displaced object" through plays of light.

And really, what is a work of art if not a deception of reality, or the manifestation of emotion disguised through often fervent line or layers of paint and colour?

Image et Mirage was the theme and title aptly chosen for the sixth Mediterranean Biennial of Arts in Tunis, organised by the Municipality of Tunis and the Marseille-based Ecume, the Association for Mediterranean Cultural Exchange.

The biennial features some 40 visual artists from 17 towns scattered around the Mediterranean, including Malta and Gozo.

Austin Camilleri and Patrick J. Fenech were the two artists selected, out of some 15 applicants, to represent the Maltese islands. The works they submitted were judged by a jury from the Ecume; their participation was also made possible thanks to the Maltese Embassy in Tunis and through the personal assistance of Ambassador Vicky Ann Cremona.

The biennial is being hosted in the beautiful location and space known as the Palais Khereddine, in the Place du Tribunal Medina, Tunis.

This 19th century palace was restored and turned into a museum back in 1999. Now known as the Museum of Tunis, the palace doesn't have a permanent collection or display but instead hosts temporary shows of painting, photography and sculpture by contemporary national and international artists.

Encounter With A Siren is the title of the two-piece photomontage by Mr Fenech. The fascination with the sea and the passage of time is a recurring theme in his work and his source of inspiration was the epic Greek poem The Odyssey.

Mr Fenech transposes this classic poem into a contemporary timeframe where the toll of modern daily life unfolds into a perilous journey. Ulysses was warned to wax the ears of his crew and then tie himself to the mast of his ship to avert the seducing call of the sirens if he wanted to continue his journey back home. The fateful "encounter" with the sirens takes place in a car wash, used as a contemporary metaphor where, the motor vehicle, which comes to "bathe" to cleanse itself from the grit and grime of daily life, descends from the dry land of humanity into the underworld of humidity - the alien world of Poseidon. As the turbulent waters of the carwash and the sounds of the dryers rattle the vehicle, Uylsses, transfixed behind the steering wheel, encounters a siren. The question as to whether Ulysees will succumb to the sweet tunes of the mermaids or resume his journey back home nevertheless remains unanswered.

Mr Camilleri has also presented a series of works (four in all) in which he explores, not so much a theme, but a concept, he has been developing and working on for a while. And that is the concept of duality, the reutilisation or recycling of an "old" work - an image - created with the sole purpose of injecting it with a new lease of life while still acknowledging its "past" through the presence of peep-holes or windows onto the original work.

Mr Camilleri thus creates an image on an image - a painting, painting - the illusion (a mirage?) of a single work, which possesses a double layer of meaning. In fact, at first glance it has hard to decipher the "old" from the "new" and the juxtaposition of forms, together with typographic elements, create a happy ambiguity which has become one of his distinct marks.

As is evidenced here, both Mr Camilleri and Mr Fenech keep themselves intensely busy, which is why their names are recurrent in the art-related media. However, their projects seem to be focused abroad for the time being.

In fact, besides participating in this biennial, Mr Fenech will be representing Malta in the United States come June, in the video expo titled In The Loop, held at the Smithsonian National Portrait Gallery, which will then be moving to the American University Museum in the Katzen Arts Centre and to the Philips Collection, all three venues in Washington, DC. The expo will feature video works by 27 artists - one from each EU member state.

Mr Camilleri, on the other hand, will be working on a sculpture for the Garden of Nations in Ramallah next month, and will be delivering a workshop and series of lectures in Jerusalem during his stay there.

Later this year, however, both visual artists should be having solo shows or at least organising "in-island" projects of the public art kind.

Yet no more can be divulged as yet. But it shall not be too long before either/or should make it to the headlines once again.

Image et Mirages is open until May 6. Entrance is free of charge.