Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1039277
14 maltatoday | SUNDAY • 14 OCTOBER 2018 CULTURE Malta Pavilion goes minimalist THOUGH it may have rung into pub- lic attention something of bureaucrat- ic controversy – casting something of a pall over Arts Council Malta's selec- tion procedure for the thing – prepa- rations for the island's second foray into the prestigious Venice Biennale appear to be well underway. With Malta breaking its 17-year hiatus from this most central of con- temporary art showcases last year with Homo Melitensis – curated by Raphael Vella and Bettina Hutschek and taking a dizzying, bazaar-like approach to the Malta's artistic blue- print – the 2019 pavilion is shaping up to be a quieter, more intimate af- fair where its predecessor aimed to overwhelm. In marshalling the Malta pavilion, entitled 'Maleth / Haven / Port – Het- erotopias of Evocation', the lead cu- rator Dr Hesperia Iliadou Suppiej is keenly aware of just how – and why – it will differ from Homo Melitensis in both approach and content. "I've been working at the Venice Bien- nale for a few years now, and I've noticed just how loyal its audience is – they show up year in, year out. Knowing this, I felt it made sense that Malta was announced to them with the abundance of artworks we saw at Homo Melitensis – the volume of it compensated for the lack of presence in previous years," Suppiej said during a chat earlier this week. "However, I prefer a more minimalistic approach as curator – one that is more like a theatrical piece, where the curator lays out the groundwork and then en- sures that the artists work in tandem with the established rhythm," she continued, expressing her satisfaction with the fact that the three participating artists – Klitsa Antoniou (Cyprus), Vince Briffa (Malta) and Trevor Borg (Malta) were very much in agreement on her approach from the start. Another happy twist was just how well the central idea of the pavilion – dealing The three artists making up 'Heterotopias of Evocation' (from left): Vince Briffa, Klitsa Antoniou and Trevor Borg