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maltatoday | SUNDAY • 13 AUGUST 2023 4 ART This article is supported by Arts Council Malta Malta Society of Arts launches its 2023 members' exhibition Titled The Archive: Memories & Recollections, the collective show features over 40 works inspired by the Society's own archive at Palazzo de La Salle. THE Malta Society of Arts (MSA) organises an exhibition for its members every two years in the form of a collective show inspired by a common theme. The 2023 exhibition, titled The Archive: Memories & Recollec- tions, features over 40 different artworks in various media by more than 50 artist members who worked either individu- ally or as part of a group. The inspiration for this collective exhibition is the Society's own extensive archive of documents: a well of letters, meeting min- utes, sheet music, and anecdotes chronicling hundreds of years of the Society's rich history. The Archive was the chosen title and theme to connect to the MSA's ongoing celebrations of its 100 years at Palazzo de La Salle. During 2023, the Society is organising a special programme of events linked to themes of identity, history, and memory, all epitomised through its ar- chive. Although the physical archive was the primary starting point for the show, the idea of an 'archive' is being borrowed and envisioned by the artists as a generative concept to trigger new ideas, experimentations, and creative approaches. Most of the artworks were gen- erated through a series of meet- ings, discussions and workshops that were held at Palazzo de la Salle. The notion behind this collaborative process was to fos- ter and encourage a creative and productive atmosphere between different artists and members of the Society. Roderick Camilleri, The Ar- chive's curator describes the whole process as "a unique context that has become a spe- cial place where the members can find a sense of community within the institution through cooperation, collaboration, and creativity." Camilleri's role was to bring to- gether all the various inputs into one coherent fabric. "Another important aspect was to filter all the creative content from these 50 artists to be able to design an exciting multi-media show that can be read and enjoyed by dif- ferent audiences," he says. "I thoroughly enjoyed see- ing our members run with the idea of the archive: some art- ists zoomed into their personal recollections such as childhood memories, others developed work linked to the general his- tory of the palace, whereas oth- ers still developed concepts and visual tropes linked to the idea of 'chronicling' or the act of re- cording data." One artwork worthy of men- tion is an installation created by a small group of members, which will be installed in the Palazzo's courtyard. It consists of a huge rope sculpture in the form of a large organic chamber made from connected jute ropes. This collaborative work ex- presses the organic intercon- nective, interrelated and intri- cate elements and relationships which were generated during the workshops. "As the MSA we believe that collaboration between different artists in the right context always yields unexpected results. This is why I encourage the public to visit The Archive and allow their own memories and recollections to take over," concludes MSA President Arch. Adrian Mamo. The participating artists in The Archive: Memories & Recollec- tions are: Joseph Agius, Fabiola Agius Anastasi, Carmen Aq- uilina, Kamy Aquilina, Joanne Azzopardi, Noel Azzopardi, Jo- sian Bonello, Carm Borg, Dione Borg, Clint Calleja, Dave Calleja, Daniela Camilleri, Josette Ca- sha, Adrienne Cassar, Matthew Cassar, Alex Dalli, Patrick Dal- li, Maria Rossella Dalmas, Katel Delia, Jessica DeMers, Damian Ebejer, Margaret Farrugia, Jason Fenech, Censu Fenech, Mari- ta Fenech, Michelle Gialanze, Daniela Guevska, Eman Grima, Marion Gruebl, Josephine Hi- li, Sun Hui, Eric Kaiser, Yuexin Kong, Edward Micallef, Leanne Lewis, Jordan Muscat, Gabri- ela Nicolaescu, Audrey Pace, Nadya Peovska, Roberto Pres- tigiacomo, Joseph Pulo, Quinn Salter, Ethan Salter, Valerio Schembri, Josianne Spiteri, Lu- cienne Spiteri, Stefan Spiteri, Darren Tanti, Elena Tonche- va, Audrey Vella, Tanya Vella, Isaac Warrington, Robert Zahra, Charmaine Zammit, and Alison Zammit Endrich. The MSA members' exhibi- tion The Archive: Memories & Recollections opens from 17 August until 7 September at the Art Galleries of Palazzo de La Salle, Republic Street, Valletta. On Thursday 17 August at 7pm, the Malta Society of Arts is or- ganising a joint event to launch both the exhibition as well as its newly-published book titled Palazzo de La Salle: Genesis & Evolution. Both events form part of the celebrations of its cente- nary at Palazzo de La Salle. For more information email info@ artsmalta.org or call the MSA on 21244339 / 21244400. Josian Bonello, TO BE OR NOT TO BE Mixed Media Damian Ebejer, She passes though the Veils of Night, Oil on Canvas