Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1545608
Melanie Erixon: 'An overdose of AI, will make people crave the real thing again' Freelance curator Melanie Erixon discusses Malta's contemporary art scene, including her efforts to bring art to Mqabba and establish il-Kamra ta' Fuq above the New Life Bar. She sits down with Laura Calleja to discuss the changing art scene, and the growing role of AI in the arts 4 maltatoday | SUNDAY • 28 JUNE 2026 INTERVIEW A village bar is not the place you would expect to go to for an art exhibition but that is what free- lance curator Melanie Erixon managed to do. Nuzzled above the New Life Bar in Mqabba is il-Kamra ta' Fuq; an exhibition space, Erix- on established after the COV- ID-19 pandemic. "It's a very strange exhibition space," she tells me when we sit down for this interview. "When I told him [the bar owner], what I wanted to do, he thought I was losing my mind. But then he slept on it and re- membered that on top of his bar there is an unused room," Erixon says. Il-Kamra ta' Fuq has become a sought-after exhibition space over the past six years and the frontline critics of any exhibi- tion are the elderly men who visit the bar downstairs. "Every exhibition, I take them upstairs, and explain the con- cept," she tells me. "At first, they were unsure of contempo- rary art, but over time they be- gan engaging with it and form- ing their own direct opinions." Erixon says this shows how art can become accessible when placed within everyday community spaces. Asked about the impact AI is having on the artistic world, she says artists are increasingly using AI as a tool for proposals and visualisation. But she re- mains cautious. "The artist has an idea and instead of sketching and doing, they create it with AI, which provides a perfect visual of what they have in mind, which is good. I use it a lot, for exam- ple, for proofreading," she says. However, she also notes AI's drawbacks, especially on how it is becoming more difficult to distinguish between real and generated work. "It gives peo- ple unrealistic expectations," she says, adding it can also create constant doubt about authenticity. Still, Erixon sug- gests that the amount of AI floating around may lead to a renewed appreciation for "the real thing".