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2 maltatoday | SUNDAY • 10 MAY 2026 CULTURE Written by Claire Casha Silvio John Camilleri has un- veiled his fifth solo show, Vestiges, at the Wignacourt Museum in Ra- bat. In Vestiges, Camilleri departs from the dominant focus on the urban landscape evident in his last exhibition to explore instead the thesis of 'ecological identity', a term coined by Mitchell Thoma- show to refer to how persons per- ceive themselves in reference to nature. In the artist's own words, "This series represents a kind of shift for me – from depictions of external spaces to something more internal and symbolic." This shift could have been inspired by the passing of close relatives which sensitized him to the pow- erful metaphor offered by nature's cycles for the grieving process. The collection of 32 vibrant paintings has six main strands of works related to the theme of ecological identity, particularly to the concept of totemism: Totems, Totemantics, Rhythmic Pulsa- tions, The Horizon We Inherited, Kindred, and Primordial Lullaby. The artist uses a hybrid genre of surrealism and totemism. Pre- dominant amongst the leitmotif of totems are four animate objects deeply linked to the Maltese con- text: bulls, lizards, figs, and loquat. In the case of the bull, the link ex- tends to its strong representation in Maltese prehistoric art. In this article I explore how the genres of surrealism and totemism both align with the concept and title of Vestiges and discuss the artworks from both colonial and postcolo- nial standpoints. Totemism as a kinship system Totemism is a belief system re- lating to symbols or representa- tions of our connections with inanimate or animate objects in- cluding fauna and flora. The word 'totem' was first mentioned by John Long, an Englishman adopt- ed into the Ojibwa American In- dian tribe. As first discussed by anthropologist Lewis H. Morgan, the term originates from the Ojib- wa Indian word 'dodaim' and links to the concept of 'gens' (clan). The seminal work of various scholars including Wilhelm Wundt and Sigmund Freud, identified three major functions of totems: social (involving the establishment of kinship rules/belonging); psycho- logical (involving identification with, and belief in the protective power of, the totem); and spiritual (involving sacred worship of, or reverence to, the totem). As the fundamental tenet of to- temism, kinship is most evident amongst exhibits in the epony- mously named Kindred strand of works which depicts the connec- tion between humans and totems as kindred spirits and equally, the connection between humans and nature. The artist is concerned with foregrounding the innate, wild traits of humans as biological animals sharing deep evolution- ary, genetic, and behavioural con- nections with nature – traits often masked, minimized, or denied by contemporary civilization. Stylis- tically, he achieves this by the de- piction of a grotesque face, which he conceived of as symbolic of our wild nature, and by clever use of dark earth tones with luminous accents, symbolic of our oneness with human nature. Dualism in Human Nature A key feature of the collection is the overt or covert visual trope of dualism which can be reflective of the artist's attempt to navigate and reconcile different facets of his personality. The dualisms of structure versus chaos, self-con- trol/deliberation versus impul- sivity/spontaneity, and identity/ recognition (characters with fac- es) versus anonymity (faceless characters) are carryovers from previous work. Idiosyncratic to this collection are the dualism of horned animals versus lizards and the dualism of the solar and lunar cycles. As sacred symbols, totems bridge physical and spiritual worlds. Horned animals and lizards are therefore particularly apt totemic symbols as both are historically associated with the divine. Bovine animals – strongly represented in prehistoric art – were associated with power and fertility, with their horns being viewed as solar rays or lunar crescents. In many cultures, lizards were associated with the divine due to their regenerative abilities to shed skin and regrow tails. However, horned animals and lizards can symbolize the em- bodiment of contrasting features of nature and human psychology such as brute strength and power in the case of horned animals, and agility and adaptability in the case of lizards. This dualism is strongly associ- ated with the exogamous function of totemism. Moiety exogamy is a social regulatory system occurring in some indigenous societies. In this system, society is divided in- to two complementary unilineal descent groups (moieties), with each moiety having its own dis- tinct totem. Individuals are so- cially obligated to marry a mem- ber of the opposite moiety. This system, which has a number of functions including the reduction of inbreeding and the fostering of alliance and mutual reciprocities, is also symbolic of opposing forc- es that need each other to form a balanced whole. Totems as cultural vestiges As individual or collective sym- bolic representations, totems are cultural vestiges that encode and preserve meaning across time and space. This key feature of to- temism is beautifully captured in The Horizon We Inherited strand of works. The scenery as well as the expansive figures reminiscent of the style of Fernando Botero are at first glance suggestive of a timeless seam between past, pres- ent, and future. Yet this strand of works does not belie the threat that cultural vestiges can be lost. In The Horizon We Inherited No. 4, for example, the red tonality can be evocative of an awe-inspir- ing sunset or of an atmosphere of impending danger, and the am- biguous gestures of the figures can convey both troubled and untroubled countenances. The presence of fruit and the childlike figure may reference Adam and Eve as progenitors of humanity and serve as a metaphor for par- adise lost and the hope of it being regained. Scholars have read the Adam and Eve narrative as an allegory of humanity's transition from a pre-cultural, undifferenti- ated state into a structured world defined by binary oppositions – discussed earlier on – which em- anate from human transgression. Vestiges: A study in ecological