An exhibition titled Swim, subtitled Fragile Interventions, immediately makes you realise that this is not about pretty seascapes and renditions of summer, seaside fun. This is further substantiated by the cover photo, used for the catalogue and promotional material, of a wide expanse of sea with a high horizon, an agitated sea and sky.

The exhibition, which was curated by Austin Camilleri as part of the 2013 Malta Arts Festival, showcased a good blend of works by local and foreign contemporary artists. These were Adrian Abela, Pawl Carbonaro, Alicia Eggert and Mike Fleming, Filippo Leonardi, Strijdom van der Merwe, Denis Pondruel, Pierre Portelli and Ulrika Sparre. Camilleri also wrote the exhibition catalogue essay. I admire the way he thinks and jots down his ideas and brings the whole together.

With all that is going on in Malta, and the ongoing immigrant drama, not many may realise that the exhibition tackles this issue, albeit silently. But it is there.

Identity, the limitations of territory and life on peripheral regions and islands are subtly explored. The sea has always been an essential means of transportation, but it is here analysed as a means of detachment.

Portelli presents a metaphorical bridge that provides a cultural link. His Mewġa brings together Maltese and Arabic, and highlights the two languages’ similarity. This is something that has always fascinated me.

Here, Portelli continues to distinguish himself as a meticulously analytical conceptual artist. His art is stimulating and never fails to engage the viewer, physically and intellectually. The concept is clever, as is the display. Two suspended waves are made up of 128 speakers,whom you can approach and through whom you can listen to a poem – recited in Maltese on one ‘wave’ and Arabic on the other.

This is not the same feeling or idea proposed by other exhibits, such as Eggert and Fleming’s You are (on) an island, which is simple yet arresting. A simple blue neon sign, with the words: ‘You are on an island’ is brightly lit up. But the meaning changes completely when ‘on’ is blinked off for a few seconds. While I can live with the reality of island life, especially on a small island, having my being associated with an island is disturbing.

Also disturbing is Leonardi’s Cigno Nero, where an electric blender is the receptacle of a pretty aquatic plant that sits in water, calm and pleasant. But the idea of the blender chopping things up rapidly tarnishes this moment of calm. The title relates to the Black Swan theory, the unexpectedness of certain events. This was the title of the 2007 book by Nassim Nicholas Taleb that Leonardi was inspired by.

A beautifully curated event that is adequately stimulating

It was also a pleasure to see a new series of paintings by Carbonaro. The subject corresponds to the exhibition theme, and the three works are titled Mare Uno, Mare Due and Mare Tre.

These are three large square canvases that present us with broad sweeps of picture space, where the oil medium is used to remarkable effect, with texture and translucency at different intervals, to imitate the sea and its vastness, which is wonderfully captured.

Space does not allow me to go into the details of each of the eight exhibits, but it is a beautifully curated event that is adequately stimulating.

I cannot help but mention the ex-naval bakery of the British Mediterranean Navy, now the Malta Maritime Museum, which was the chosen venue for this exhibition.

Apart from the intrigue of the exhibits, you also have the chance to explore more of this building throughout the exhibition progression, including an inner room I had never ventured into. This and the exhibits provide a remarkable experience.