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9 maltatoday | WEDNESDAY • 22 APRIL 2026 CULTURE Steven Xuereb Haber exhibition to open at the Malta Society of Arts THE launch of Steven Xuereb Haber's debut graphic novel will open the associated exhibition on 1 May, at the Malta Society of Arts, where his work will be on display, allowing audiences to peer further into the murky depths of the novel's world, as well as giving insights into the be- hind-the-scenes process. At the centre of the exhibition is the graphic novel itself, a 200-page hardcover volume in full colour. Visitors will be treated to behind- the-scenes material that reveals the artistic journey towards the book, including original works in charcoal and ink as well as print- ed pieces showing the phases of production, such as: early sketch- es, preparatory artwork, and de- velopmental pieces. A selection of these pieces - including pre- liminary sketches and character studies exclusive to this exhibition - will be available for purchase. "I have always been drawn to horror, because of the uncanny, almost alien way these stories from our past mirror our anxie- ties in the not-so-distant future," Xuereb Haber says. He finds the so-called Dancing Plague'of 1518 to be a "particularly haunting" in- cident. "What fascinated me most was how something intangible and unspoken could spread through a community with such intensity, almost like a social wildfire. I have always been deeply intrigued by social mania: the way people can lose themselves within a collective behaviour that defies logic." For Xuereb Haber, this historical incident "represents the moment when individuals stop acting in- dependently and become part of a shared rhythm." The exhibition thus explores themes of social mania, oppression, and the ways in which societies respond to trauma. Xuereb Haber describes St Vitus – the patron saint of dance, believed to be the source of the curse – as a "quasi-Pied Piper of Hamelin who puppeteered and drew a group of vulnerable people from all walks of life into a mael- strom of dance." Ideas of control and loss of con- trol became central to the project: "At its core, the work looks at how collective behaviour can emerge in moments of extreme pressure and how individuals can lose themselves within a larger, un- controllable force", as more and more people joined the dance, abandoning their willpower (to another?) without understanding the origin of, or reason for the compulsion. "As the period itself was deeply rooted in superstition, it felt fit- ting to represent that worldview in a more tangible way. The dance becomes more than a literal event, serving as a cry for help, a response to repression, and a way of dealing with trauma. It is an attempt to escape pain through movement, even if it leads to self-destruction," Xuereb Haber says. While these ideas are rooted in history, Xuereb Haber sees clear parallels with modern soci- ety, as "forms of social contagion still exist today," although these are "more subtle". The work al- so touches on self-destruction as "both a symptom of trauma and a form of expression", as people collectively seek "a way to cope with things they cannot fully ar- ticulate." Alongside developing the writ- ten scripts, Xuereb Haber works first in ink, an inscribing that is a very gestural and deliberate form of expression, facilitating the cap- ture of mood moment-by-mo- ment throughout the story. Care was taken to preserve this "gestur- al spirit" in the subsequent pro- cess of digital development. The design of the visual language progressed through dialogue with the illustrator Hassan Hameed Tabrizi, an intensive and trans- formative process in which the artwork "evolved and adapted". The story benefited from Astrid Thorvalsen's editing as both an award-winning film director and horror fan. The entire project took around two and a half years to complete. The exhibition at the Malta So- ciety of Arts shares several key emotional and visual moments of the story, specifically depicting pivotal scenes from the dancing plague. Xuereb Haber hopes that the exhibition will encourage peo- ple to more deeply engage with the medium and the processes of its production. Beyond this, this exhibition will ultimately appeal to anyone with a love for stories, and Xuereb Haber further hopes that visitors will "come away with a deeper understanding of human behaviour and of how individuals respond to pressure, trauma, and shared experience." The project is supported by Arts Council Malta and guided by writer Clare Azzopardi. "Xuereb Haber's exhibition showcases the collaborative jour- ney towards the production of his debut graphic novel, and is a tes- tament to storytelling through art. The MSA is pleased to support the growing local graphic novels scene," the President of the Malta Society of Arts, Joe Borg says. Dance of Death, an exhibi- tion by Steven Xuereb Haber, is on from 1 to 5 May 2026 at the Basement Vaults of the Malta Society of Arts, Palazzo de La Salle, 219 Republic Street, Val- letta. The exhibition is open Monday and Tuesday from 9am–3pm and Saturday and Sunday from 9am–1.30pm. Ad- mission is free. For further infor- mation visit www.artsmalta.org or www.facebook.com/maltaso- cietyofarts.