Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1385129
8 maltatoday | SUNDAY • 20 JUNE 2021 INTERVIEW The 'de-Caravaggisation' of Caravaggio In its description of the Malta Pavilion, the Arts Council web- site envisages a 're-articulation of Caravaggio's seminal altar- piece The Beheading of St. John the Baptist'. Let me start with this: why Caravaggio? What is it, about this particular 17th century master, that is still rel- evant for an exposition of con- temporary art? It is a multi-layered question; and if you don't mind, I'd rath- er not give a complete answer, for now. Let's just say that we've been working on the pro- ject since 2018; but there's still a year to go, and – please don't take offence – there are some things I'd rather not reveal just yet. I wouldn't want to 'let the fascinating cat out of the bag', as it were… What I can say for now, how- ever, is that we will not merely be exhibiting, or showcasing, Caravaggio's 'Beheading of St John'. We are also trying to… 'challenge it'. In a sense, the idea is to 'de-Caravaggize' Car- avaggio. That's probably the best way to explain it. We are trying to tackle Caravaggio, by 'negating' Caravaggio; by 'de-iconising' the icon… and putting it in context of our contemporary world. But as for why we chose Car- avaggio, specifically… again, there are many layers to that. First of all, the theme is part- ly to celebrate the long cen- turies of artistic and cultural exchange between Malta and Italy, and between Malta and the rest of the artistic world of that time. And while there are other exponents of that cultur- al bond – such as Mattia Preti for instance: who lived here, worked here, and died here…. a fact which, as far as I'm con- cerned, makes him a 'natural- ised Maltese'… …but for the purposes of this undertaking, we felt we had to offer something that is not just pertinent, but absolutely essential to our own cultural identity. At the risk of being misunderstood: I am a firm be- liever in 'the export of ideas'. It is admittedly more of an eco- nomic, mercantile approach; but I am using it here only as a metaphor. To go onto the international fora, at this lev- el - to be recognised as having something to 'sell', on the in- ternational market - you really have to go with the best thing you have. And of course, I'm not saying we don't have a lot to choose from. It could have been Pre- historic art, for instance; but there can be no doubt that Caravaggio is one of the most important - if not the most im- portant – components of our artistic heritage: not just of the Baroque period; but arguably, for our national artistic identi- ty as a whole. And the 'Behead- ing of St John', in particular, is a masterpiece… I won't ask you to reveal any more secrets: but you yourself said you would be 'de-Caravag- gising Caravaggio'. This sug- gests a 'new' approach to what is ultimately a classical work of art. How, then, can a painting that has been so intensely and exhaustively dissected, for so many centuries, still yield per- spectives that are relevant to- day? That, to me, is the very ques- tion that has made this exper- iment so fascinating, over the past couple of years. How are we going to link our present, contemporary experience – in an age of great technological advances, yes; but also, vio- lence and brutality on a hither- to unimaginable scale - with a milestone of Maltese art histo- ry, such as Caravaggio Because Caravaggio is not the only aspect that we are try- ing to explore. We are coun- ter-challenging this master- piece with the metallic age of the 20th-21st centuries: 'the Age of Metal, or Steel'… Yes, that is in fact the theme of your own part of the project, 'Metall U Skiet': and the pro- gramme also notes that "steel [is] the material intrinsic to 20th century modernity… and impending doom." Could you expand on that? Why 'impend- ing doom'? The idea is that: metal – and steel in particular – has come to define the age we live in, in more ways than just the obvi- ous. One can relate with Ma- levitch, Stravinsky, Prokofiev, the Bauhaus school, and many others who believed that the era of metal gives superhuman force that would lead to some kind of global and universal domination. In fact, if I emphasise 'steel', but not only, so much, it's be- cause – apart from being a metal of industry, which has shaped the world we live in: everything from armaments, wars, genocides, to skyscrap- ers, transportation, Space exploration, etc… all of it is made, from the ground up, from industry metal - steel is also a 'cold' metal. Icy cold… the coldness of Dante's hell. And the 20th century – and now, the 21st – was beyond shadow of doubt a 'Century of Metal'. It was metal that pro- vided all the material for mod- ern technology - all the way down to the microchip - but the 20th century, in particular, also witnessed the coldness of steel: the gulags, the concen- tration camps… the weapons of war, that made atrocities possible… all that, too, was also built upon the most advanced technology of the time. And… this is what I meant, when I said that the experi- ment has been so fascinating. This is precisely where Cara- Malta's chosen entry for the 2022 Venice Biennale is a project called 'Diplomazia astuta'. GIUSEPPE SCHEMBRI BONACI - whose work (together with Italian artist Arcangelo Sassolino) forms part of the exposition - talks us through an artistic concept that promises to "resonate with current world cultural events' and 'offer viewers a visceral examination of justice and peace' JAMES BIANCHI