Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1165935
maltatoday | SUNDAY • 15 SEPTEMBER 2019 9 CULTURE ART AMUSE (Artistic Multi Sensorial Ex- perience) is the first Creative Europe project ever to be selected for co- funding by the European Commission led by a Maltese organisation – the Malta Society of Arts (MSA). The pro- ject took place over a number of years, starting back in 2017 when the MSA submitted its proposal, laying out the concept of the creative programme. Three years on and, at the end of September 2019, AMuSE will come to a conclusion with three main events – a synchronised church bell ringing performance, an interactive concert, and a final collective exhibi- tion. The AMuSE final exhibition will consist of a constellation of artistic works that were created during three artist-in-residence programmes that took place over the last two years in the three European partner coun- tries – the Associazione Le Terre dei Savoia (Italy), Hanze University of Applied Sciences (The Netherlands) and Dusetos Cultural Centre (Lithu- ania). The month-long show will be divided into three sections according to the themes that emerged during the country-specific artist residen- cies: Organic, Man-Made and Traces. The three themes will now merge into a single exhibition with the un- derlying themes of the community, and the ideological and cultural con- texts that form aspects of the Euro- pean identity, all under the umbrella theme of multisensoriality. The other two events forming part of the project's finale are also inspired by the senses. The first one is 'Peal', a synchronised church bell ringing event which will bring together vari- ous churches in Cospicua, Senglea and Vittoriosa, as well as the partici- pation of 25 ringers. This performa- tive event, directed by campanologist Kenneth Cauchi, will be a first in the history of Maltese campanology due to its size and nature. The second event is 'SensitIV', an in- teractive concert with a composition by Christopher Muscat, under the direction of Maestro Michael Laus, which will be presented in various spaces around Palazzo de La Salle, the seat of the MSA, by the Gold- berg Ensemble. The composition is a multi-sensory work that incorpo- rates an unorthodox combination of performers with live electronics and lighting effects, which will form an integral part of this work. The events have been directed by AMuSE's artistic director Roderick Camilleri, who has also been shaping the project from the very beginning: "The artist residencies in the three European countries were designed to give young and emerging artists the opportunity to work and collaborate within a community of fellow artists, and to experiment with new materi- als related to the senses. This approach is relatively new in the local visual art context and the collaborations between the 16 art- ists have created new connections and cultural dialogues with partners sharing similar objectives to those at the MSA." AMuSE's project leader and the manager of the MSA, Joe Scerri, is proud that "through AMuSE, the MSA has not only given an oppor- tunity to young local artists to cre- ate work, travel and collaborate with their European counterparts, but al- so a platform to all the participating artists from the partner countries to create work within their local com- munities, which was an important pillar of the project." The artistic work that was produced during the three residencies in Italy, the Netherlands and Lithuania will now be woven together in the collec- tive exhibition by the 16 participat- ing artists, namely: Matthew Attard, Keit Bonnici, Aaron Bezzina, Stefan Spiteri, Simone Mangione, Daniele Fabiani, Ivana Volpe, Carmela Cosco, Mark Buitenwerf, Laura Laasik, Vera Woldhek, Vilius Vaitiekunas, Mykolas Sauka, Julius Visakavicius, Kristina Gedziunaite and Roberta Vrubliauskaite. AMuSE closing events will kick off on Monday 23 September at 7pm with 'Peal', the synchronised church bells ringing performance at Dock- yard Creek (Dock No 1), and con- tinue with the concert 'SensitIV' by Goldberg Ensemble on Tuesday 24 September at 7pm at Palazzo de La Salle, Valletta. The final exhibition of artworks will be launched on Tuesday 24 Sep- tember and will remain open until 31 October 2019 at Palazzo de La Salle, Valletta. Entrance is free for all events. More details on www.arts- malta.org/events Creative Europe project 'AMuSE' closing events launched