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maltatoday | SUNDAY • 1 JUNE 2025 6 INTERVIEW Edith Devaney: 'MICAS bill should be as strong as those in London or New York' WITH years of experience at London's Royal Academy of Arts, and a long-stand- ing relationship with David Hockney, Edith Devaney's next project is Malta's newest contemporary art space. As artistic director, Devaney wants excel- lence. To her, it's the only way that MICAS can really grab the attention of the inter- national art world. And her artistic vision could not be clearer. "When we're putting on exhibitions here, the programme should be as strong as a programme I would deliver in London, Paris or New York. It should be as good as that," she tells me as we sit down inside the beautifully-transformed space within the Floriana bastions where MICAS is situated. This commitment to excellence applies both to bringing international artists to Malta and to showcasing Maltese artists. Devaney says she wants to bring Maltese artists who are operating at a particular standard of excellence to MICAS, provid- ing them with a window onto the rest of the global art scene. MICAS's second exhibition is testament to this. The Space We Inhabit, which launches on Saturday 14 June, will feature works from six established Maltese art- ists—Caesar Attard, Vince Briffa, Austin Camilleri, Joyce Camilleri, Anton Grech and Pierre Portelli. "What I was looking for is Maltese artists who were just at the top of their game and who were creating work of such interest and significance that the majority of them already have international recognition," she says. Devaney says MICAS will not have a per- manent collection, instead featuring rotat- ing exhibitions to maintain vibrancy and relevance to social changes, a model she be- lieves will be well-received and allows the museum to be responsive to contemporary art trends, citing other institutions that op- erate similarly. The museum's unique architecture helps serve this function. Housed in a massive, 17th century fort, the space integrates the old with the new while presenting a crea- tive challenge. "When I first got my head around what these galleries were, I have to admit I had a moment of slight panic. I've never worked in a space that's not a white cube," she says. What started off as a challenge turned in- to a source of inspiration for international and local artists. "The space has actually inspired them to think about how to make new work to fill it, how to gather some of their collection to show here. All of these things have informed how I feel about it." Another exhibition set to launch later in the year is one that celebrates American modernist Milton Avery and his contem- porary influence. Devaney says this would be a big exhibition anywhere—Avery is an important modernist colourist who was famous during his lifetime and celebrated by other artists. His influence on other art- ists was profound, particularly on figures like Mark Rothko, Barnett Newman, and Adolph Gottlieb. Devaney, whose subject is abstract ex- pressionism, argues that Avery's influence on colour field painting was such that ab- stract expressionism would have turned out differently without it. The exhibition will feature a group of Avery paintings, specifically just over 20 works covering his entire career. The ex- hibition will also include responses from seven international contemporary artists from Europe and America, including his daughter March Avery, who will each show around three paintings. MICAS artistic director Edith Devaney has a vision of excellence for Malta's newest art space and tells Nicole Meilak she won't settle for anything less.