Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1057934
5 maltatoday | SUNDAY • 2 DECEMBER 2018 THIS WEEK ART ing a curiosity shop. However, when it comes to settling on a form and presentation of sound we be- come an entirely different beast. We be- come much more meticulous and struc- tured, to an almost obsessive extent. Red Fugue is a clear statement of our relent- less drive to solidify who we were up to the time of recording. You've also performed abroad recently. How did this opportunity come about, and do you think that other Maltese prog bands would find a warm welcome in such venues? Our vocalist Annemarie came into con- tact with Polish band Hegemony, who then invited us for the annual Prog Rock concert in Zory, Poland (Illuzje - Zorski Festival Muzyki Artrockowej). It was all fairly easy, really. We were also treated very much like royalty. The only thing missing was the key to Zory! The thing is, Malta has quite a healthy pool of distinct Prog-related and alternative acts. I don't have any doubt that given the right and appropriate conditions, Mal- tese Prog (and 'Prog-affiliated') musi- cians would find a very warm welcome. Also, festivals, both at a small and on a larger scale, occur all round the calendar year in Europe. What do you hope for the local music scene in 2019 and perhaps beyond? The DIY approach most bands have in- evitably taken has turned from a neces- sity into a craft in itself. However, given that the scene is grow- ing and more people are becoming inter- ested in underground music, more ven- ues with proper sound set-ups like The Garage (Zebbug) would be great. However, personally speaking, this hope business makes you somewhat idle. In the words of Eomer: "Do not trust hope, it has forsaken these lands". What's next for you? We have managed to book some gigs abroad for next year. In the meantime, we'll be performing in upcoming local concerts: Prog The Islands Presents: IL- PROGramm (December 7 and 8) and Dark Malta by Hades Events 2019 (April 5 and 6). We're also in the process of refining new material, which we're also perform- ing live alongside with Red Fugue mate- rial. Red Fugue is out now, and can be ac- quired by contacting the band through their Facebook page: https://www.face- book.com/vipersoupcomplex/ Embellishing life Ahead of the launch of her new exhibition 'Hazard and Imaginary', French-born but Malta-based painter Zoe Chomarat speaks to TEODOR RELJIC about the driving forces behind her work -- whose proceeds from this exhibition will go towards the cause of abandoned animals on the island MAKING her way to Malta from France a whopping 18 years ago and never looking back since, painter Zoe Chomarat is certainly happy to have found an adoptive homeland; one that appeals to her personally while also inspiring her creative pathway. "I fell in Malta 18 years ago, and that feeling is still very much in- tact. Sure, I've seen the changes happen -- on the negative side, it's become a bit of a concrete jungle of late, with the traffic situation only growing worse and worse with each passing day," Chomarat says, rushing however to supple- ment her observations with a pos- itive flip-side. "I really appreciate that public spaces have undergone extensive embellishment, that most things are available for us now and that there's better shops and restau- rants all round." But there is one unfortunate as- pect of living on this archipelago that she has not seen change -- or at least, not as much as she'd like. "The plight of abandoned ani- mals remains the same as it's al- ways been ever since I first land- ed, and the need to help them is always urgent. All of my exhibi- tions have been organised in aid of these animals, and this one will be no exception," Chomarat says in reference to 'Hazard and Im- aginary', which opens at St John's Cavalier on December 8. Her commitment to the cause certainly checks out, as a previ- ous interview with this newspaper shows. Speaking to MaltaToday back in 2013, Chomarat admit- ted that she was spurned to do- nate proceedings from her work to dogs after witnessing first-hand the conditions of some of the local animal shelters. "I immediately thought: how can I help with this? And just as quickly I figured out that yes, of course, I can sell my work. It's been something I've been proud to do ever since." On the more concrete level, Chomarat turns to the exhibition's title to describe the driving force behind it. Quite simply, she views it as being a clash between "haz- ard", or luck and the more intro- spective world of the imagination. "While I continue to find inspi- ration in the richness of Maltese history, as well as the feeling of strong family links which pre- dominate on the island, I don't re- ally think of my work in any com- plicated or philosophical terms. My ambition is simply to help em- bellish life, and pass on some hap- piness to the people who look at my paintings." Hazard and Imaginary will be on display at St John's Cavalier, Val- letta from December 8. For more information on Zoe Chomorat and her work, log on to: http:// zoechomarat.com/home/