Issue 20

So many important and new things worth raving about are unfolding. On a local level, a new four-room gallery has opened in Sliema, spearheaded by Julien Vinet’s work. R Gallery is providing a space for contemporary art to continue to alchemize on the island and beyond. Meanwhile moving towards the centre of the island, Rosa Kwir has presented an exclusively LGBTQ+ show of international artists that is at once riveting, pressing and needed… In this issue, we continue to celebrate art in its different manifestations with a bold exhibition of outsider art called GROUNDWATERS, curated by Gabriel Zammit at Valletta Contemporary, while CO-MA presents his moody, monochromatic drawings and otherworldly objects at Green Shutters in Floriana. Kris Polidano speaks of the historic work of Magna Zmien, taking us back in time to Malta of the 1940s to 60s, through thousands of photographs of Joseph “Il-Gululu” Darmanin. In other disciplines, I speak to a young tour-de-force filmmaker Chelsea Muscat, whose confessional, autobiographical work is an ode to herself, the people in her life and the island of Gozo where she was born. Gallerist Christine Xuereb Seidu, a regular contributor to Artpaper, speaks of the works of Maltese art photographer Wilfred Flores and gives us a unique insight into the world of contemporary art in Madagascar. Lastly, we muse the question of the role of art in public and private spaces, thanks to architect Erica Giusta and her interview with design figure Marco Sammicheli, and Dr. Joanna Delia, who takes us in the intimate spaces of Valletta’s homes, with an interview with the brains behind Altofest, bringing professional performances inside the capital’s homes.  SAM