There are many things you can do with an old shop. You can let it gather dust as you put it on the market, hoping someone is ready to take the plunge and spend their cash on an outlet that has known better days. You might also try and start up a new business or turn it into a residence.

Or you could just turn it into an exhibition space, which is what the Malta Arts Council did with the former site of O&V Photographic in Strait Street, Valletta, which has now been rebranded as Spaces.

The place is being used to showcase contemporary works and features those by five artists - Fabrizio Ellul, Sean Gabriel Ellul, Ruth Bianco, Anton Grech and James Micallef Grimaud.

The go-ahead to use three government buildings for the new exhibition space had fallen through when it was felt it could jeopardise an ongoing court case. So with barely weeks to go, curator Lisa Gwen Baldacchino had to find a suitable building for Spaces. She turned to a real estate agent who was able to locate a decent venue.

Any place other than Strait Street was a no-no since the whole enterprise is based on the street itself. The project, in fact, is as much about the art and providing an alternative space for exhibition as it is about regenerating a neglected part of Valletta.

Each artist has their own space. Sean Gabriel Ellul has a room for his acrylic on paper paintings, Ruth Bianco a space for Soho Blue And Dirty Painting, respectively a video projection and hanging collages themed around the sex industry (akin to the one Strait Street was once famed for), while Fabrizio Ellul has a whole wall for his rather sizeable untitled painting. Going in further, James Micallef Grimaud has a "cinema" into which one can peep to see Berlusconi and other characters watching what sounds like a seedy movie, an installation called Another Afternoon At Cinema Shangri-La. The other room hosts Anton Grech's Totentanz series of pigment on paper pictures and installation.

Spaces is running at No.187, Strait Street, Valletta and opens between 10 a.m. and 7 p.m. daily until July 30. Entrance is free.