International Exhibition of Fictive Archives Opens at the Malta Society of Arts
Thirteen international artists explore the idea of the ‘archive’ as both factual and fictive in a multidisciplinary exhibition titled Two Moons and Two Suns.
The Malta Society of Arts (MSA) is hosting Two Moons and Two Suns, an ambitious collective exhibition opening on Thursday 3 July 2025 at Palazzo de La Salle in Valletta. Curated by Claire Ducène and Margerita Pulè, the exhibition brings together 13 international artists exploring the archive as both medium and subject – one that is simultaneously factual, fictive, poetic and political.
Developed through a two-year research-led project called Fictive Archive Investigations, the exhibition is the result of a collaborative process between artist-researchers with a diversity of practices, ages and backgrounds. The exhibition is accompanied by the symposium Fiction(s) in Archives, taking place at the MSA on 4 and 5 July.
Two Moons and Two Suns delves into the concept of the fictive archive: archival material reimagined, manipulated or invented to create parallel narratives, uncanny landscapes and speculative histories. The exhibition poses urgent questions about truth, memory and perception in our post-truth era – where even photographs can no longer be trusted as proof.
“In an age of misinformation and distortion, the archive remains a contested space – where power, storytelling and identity collide. This exhibition invites us to explore how documents, maps and artefacts can mislead as much as they inform, and how fiction, myth and poetic imagining might illuminate deeper truths,” says Ducène.
Structured like a book that unfolds chapter by chapter, Two Moons and Two Suns begins with an “archive island” of open books, maps and archival fragments – offering a gateway into imagined geographies and alternative histories. As the viewer journeys through each chapter, themes of mapping, ‘islandness’, nostalgia, environmental crisis and planetary scale emerge. The works range from delicate personal memories and poetic installations to speculative cartographies and augmented reality interventions.
“We imagined an island with two suns and two moons – a place that blurs the boundaries between real and invented geographies,” says Pulè. “The works don’t offer a single narrative, but rather a constellation of perspectives that invite viewers to question the way stories – and histories – are told. It’s about embracing the unknown and the uncertain.”
The space itself, Palazzo de La Salle, the historic home of the Malta Society of Arts, offers a fitting context. As Malta’s oldest arts institution. with its own archives and baroque spaces steeped in layered histories, the venue provides a resonant stage for this play between reality and fiction. From its halls to its chapel and courtyard, the building becomes part of the exhibition’s scenography, interweaving past and present, fact and fantasy.
“This exhibition reflects the Malta Society of Arts’ mission to support artistic practices that are not only rooted in research and process, but which also challenge how we perceive and interpret the world,” says Adrian Mamo, President of the MSA. “It’s a bold and timely exploration of how truth and fiction coexist, often uneasily, in our cultural consciousness.”
The exhibition includes work by Elise Billiard Pisani, Balthazar Blumberg, Josephine Burden, Anna Calleja, Céline Cuvelier, Katel Delia, Claire Ducène, Axel Fourmont, Bettina Hutschek, Margerita Pulè, Stéphanie Roland, Matthew Schembri, and Raffaella Zammit.
“Throughout this process, the idea was never to simply show artworks,” adds Ducène. “It was to collectively build a space – conceptual and physical – where each artist’s practice could interact with others, forming new islands of thought and imagination,” she concludes.
The collective multidisciplinary exhibition Two Moons and Two Suns by Fictive Archive Investigations is supported by Arts Council Malta & Wallonie-Bruxelles. The symposium is supported by the Ministry for Finance. It runs from 3 July to 20 August at the Malta Society of Arts, Palazzo de La Salle, Valletta. Entrance is free. For more details and opening hours visit www.artsmalta.org/two-moons-two-suns-exhibition or www.facebook.com/maltasocietyofarts.
