Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1405706
maltatoday | SUNDAY • 29 AUGUST 2021 6 ART Sister artists exhibit at the Malta Society of Arts Bulgarian sisters Nadya Peovska and Lilyana Ger showcase their artworks exploring their bond as siblings at Palazzo de La Salle in Valletta BONDS, an exhibition by Nadya Peovska and Lilyana Ger, and curated by Roderick Camilleri, will present 34 artworks at the Malta Society of Arts' (MSA) galleries at Palazzo de La Salle in Valletta. Showcasing a variety of media, the exhibition will pres- ent visual narratives revolving around the concepts of family bonding, memory and identity. The idea of a joint exhibition by the two sisters who have very distinctive styles and ar- tistic careers came about as they were both planning to put up a show, so they decid- ed to collaborate. Choosing Bonds as the title, originating from the bond they experience as siblings, their works then progressed to explore a vaster meaning of the word. While Ger is based in Malta, her sis- ter Peovska works in Bulgaria, so they each prepared for the show in their country of lo- cation, helping each other by discussing, providing feedback and being critical of each oth- er's work. "The process of preparation for the exhibition has been a very interesting and emotional journey, and one of the works by my sister Lilyana called 'Growing together' symbolises it all," remarks Peovska. "While creating the paintings, I ex- plored the connection between my sister and myself, the bond with the family and the roots and other associations related to the topic of the bond in its various expressions. I found inspiration in memories from my childhood and family pho- tos. The exhibition will include some physical collages that are based on these images, and I al- so prepared a small installation which includes 150 old family photos sewed onto traditional Bulgarian crochet," continues the established Bulgarian art- ist. As for Ger, seeing some of the works produced by her sister provoked very emotion- al responses. ''Seeing Nadya's work 'Meeting I' made me cry. It touched me on a deep per- sonal level because meeting my family or saying goodbye to them at the airport has always been deeply emotional," recalls Ger, as she explained her cre- ative process for Bonds. "As with all my work, preparation for Bonds started with brain- storming through reading on the topic, observing various images related to the topic, and in this case - just like my sis- ter - I was also looking at family photos. Some of the ideas I had were turned into photos which I then reworked into new dig- ital artworks. In many cases the time between the first idea