Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/904009
maltatoday SUNDAY 19 NOVEMBER 2017 31 This Week his easily recognisable motifs, which appear consistently in his oeuvre. Part of the Foundation's work is also to develop Caruana's Catalogue raisonne and this was a good op- portunity to go through Caruana's artistic development, so we made reference to works going back to the 1950s, to his time at the Acca- demia Belle Arti Pietro Vannucci in Perugia during the mid-sixties, and practically every decade henceforth. Since 2014, I have been organising the archive from letters, newspaper cuttings to artwork. Luckily dad has always made it a point to collect any relevant information and mum has organised newspaper cuttings in a number of folders in chronological order. It's an ongoing process but it is very rewarding to unravel the life of an artist. In terms of the workshop we want- ed to focus on a particular element so we chose Caruana's biomorphic figures. We obviously did not want the kids to copy his work, but to develop their own style. Fo- cusing on a particu- lar aspect helped since we had to work within a timeframe, the space, and other practical consid- erations such as the kiln space and the glazing pro- cess. The idea was for the kids to be- come 'kreaturi' in their own right. How did the workshops themselves pan out? On what criteria were the creative team chosen, and how did you seek to engage the kids that formed part? The workshops were held at The Mill – Art, Culture and Crafts Cen- tre in Birkirkara during August. The venue was a natural choice. Since its opening by Gabriel Caruana in June 1990 it has hosted a number of ex- hibitions, seminars, literature nights, workshops and school visits. Before the workshops, the team consisting of Joyce Camilleri, Andrea Pullicino, Umberto Buttigieg and myself, de- vised the lesson plans. We spoke to Gabriel directly and made reference to his notes as an Instructor at Targa Gap, where he taught ceramic art and pottery. Each of the team members brought their experience and contributed towards the workshops. In terms of choosing the team, I have a close relationship with Andrea Pullicino, whom I have seen develop over the years. I love the fact that she is concerned with process, her experimentation with clay and her breaking the rules of ce- ramic making to convey her artistic expression. W i t h Joyce, she a p p r o a c h e d us for a school visit in 2016 and I liked the way she engaged with children, the initiative she took and the interest she showed. Umberto has been involved in the Foundation from its start, he is enthusiastic, and has a sensitivity and an understand- ing that is very valuable, and he also has worked with kids. Back in 2014 he had approached us to set up and curate an exhibition for Gabriel in Gozo. The exhibition focused on works on paper and was organised by Fondazzjoni Belt Victoria and Il- Hagar Heart of Gozo. We were very pleased with the exhibition, how it was presented and organised. From my part, I brought my ex- perience in project proposal writing and management as well as my per- sonal experience of being Caruana's youngest daughter and my experi- ence of The Mill, having been there from its opening. From a young age, dad had always made it a point to involve us, by attending exhibitions both in Malta and abroad, meeting different artists, having access to his studios and learning about ceram- ics, glazing and how to operate a kiln. Travelling for us always meant visiting artists and their studios, go- ing to exhibitions or museums, or art festivals such as the Venice Bi- ennale or docu- menta, Kassel. My sister and I have very fond memo- ries of the people we met, the places we visited and the events we attend- ed. Art is another means of making connections and this is true on different levels. The workshops were open to chil- dren aged 10 to 13 years, we focused primarily on children from the Balzan and Birkirkara localities and approached schools within these lo- calities to distribute the application forms. We also used our Facebook page to disseminate the application form (https://www.facebook.com/ GabrielCaruanaFoundation/). We had a great group of kids who at- tended, and each lesson had a differ- ent aspect we wanted to concentrate on, from working as a team to focus- ing on sculptural forms, expression, emotions. The workshops weren't about ce- ramic technique (we showed them the basics) but were more about self-expression and how to transmit this using a variety of mediums. We made sure that each workshop was interesting, engaging and different. At the end of each lesson, everyone was happy and looking forward to the next one. What kind of 'end result' to the workshop would you say the exhibition itself presents, and what do you hope visitors will get out of it? We want the exhibition to be a snapshot of the studio life, the work- shops at The Mill, the creations of our Kreaturi and Gabriel Caruana the artist and the in- structor. The exhibi- tion at Spazju Kreat- tiv, St James Cavalier will run until Decem- ber 10 and is curated by Umberto Buttigieg. We purposely wanted to have it in Novem- ber to coincide with ZiguZajg Festival and we are organising two workshops as part of ZiguZajg Festival, which workshops were immediately booked. The idea is for kids to be surrounded by Ga- briel's work to be inspired and to create. We also have some elements that children of all ages can interact with, so the exhibition is evolving with each passing day. This was one of the reasons why we didn't do a launch of the exhibition, but we're planning a gathering in December. There is also something for the adults, as I said we went as far back at the 1950s and we have presented a selection of works that for the most part have never been exhibited and which also give an indication of Gabriel's artistic development. This is not a retrospective but really a snapshot of Gabriel's creative energy – which is infectious. What's next for the Gabriel Caruana Foundation? We're working on a number of exhibitions with a number of art- ists, designers and curators. The ar- chiving process is ongoing and part of the website is dedicated to the submission of information about Gabriel Caruana and his art (http:// gabrielcaruanafoundation.com/ legacy/) where we are inviting peo- ple to submit relevant photos and other information into a database. This is an ongoing project and will eventually contribute towards the Catalogue raisonne. The website was part of the Art Links project, which was funded by the Small Initi- atives Support Scheme by the Malta Council for Voluntary Sector. Kreaturi will remain on display at Spazju Kreattiv, St James Cavalier, Valletta until December 10 "The idea is for kids to be surrounded by Gabriel's work to be inspired and to create" legacy of loveable monsters Raffaella Zammit 'Gabriel Caruana', published by Kite Group The young participants of the Kreaturi project during the workshops held at The Mill in Birkirkara