Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/212250
28 THIS WEEK THIS WEEK CULTURE | TV | FILM CINEMA LISTINGS FOOD | WHAT'S ON The stones tell stories Being a French national fully integrated into Maltese life, the painter Zoe Chomarat talks about her passion for the island – and her enduring love of dogs – while also weighing in on the state of contemporary art, ahead of her upcoming exhibition at St John's Cavalier, Valletta HAVING lived in Malta for the past 12 years and showing no sign of wanting to leave the islands, the French painter Zoe Chomarat is clearly comfortable, and consistently inspired, by her adoptive homeland. Though she isn't a fan of "violence and war" as a rule – she tells me with a smile – Malta's history, especially that of the Knights of St John and most particularly the Great Siege, has spurned her to create impressionistic historical episodes. But on what is perhaps a more visceral – and even 'spiritual' level – it is the Maltese rock, whose "beauty and infinite variety" serves as a consistent inspiration for her, as she constantly keeps a sketchbook by her side to capture the impressions of the rock. The 'prep work' which her sketches serve for tend to be executed, quite often, while Chomarat is spending time on her boat during the summer. It is then during the winter months that she explores the colour schemes that would be suitable for her paintings – which are shaped just as much by her imagination as her surroundings. Exhibiting her work locally roughly every three years, Chormarat says that she was spurned to donate proceedings from her work to dogs after witnessing first-hand the conditions of some of the local animal shelters. "I immediately thought: how can I help with this? And just as quickly I figured out that yes, of course, I can sell my work. It's been something I've been proud to do ever since." During our conversation, Chomarat reveals herself to be very vocal about the contemporary art scene. Confessing that, at least in the local sphere, she works "in a bubble", she still remains aware of international artistic trends… which, however, doesn't mean she views the current scenario in a favourable light. Lamenting the fact that beauty has ceased to be a priority for contemporary artists, she says that wilfully obscure conceptual art – what is currently in vogue in the UK and America – has ruined the experience of art for many people. "I think it comes down to the way the Impressionists were first received at the turn of the 19th century. The establishment snobbed them off as clueless upstarts at first, but then the artists were vindicated by history. So now, everyone is wary of coming across as clueless, so we pretend we Zoe Chomarat. Photography by Rene Rossignaud Of death m coded info Having gained experience working in various media as a student at the MCAST Institute for Art and Design, young artist Jennifer Mallia drew attention during the collective exhibition Divergent Thinkers 2 at St James Cavalier with her 'memento mori' masks made out of human hair. She speaks to us about his evolution as an artist Zoe Chomarat's 'Triptyque' like and understand everything that gets exhibited…" Chormarat says that France, is "to blame" for this stagnant scenario, owing to figures like Marcel Duchamp – who famously exhibited a urinal as a work of art. But she qualifies this assessment, saying that "Duchamp was really treating it as a joke – he was poking fun at the way people perceive art. But now that attitude has cemented itself into the mainstream, and such works are taken entirely seriously." "Our definition of art nowadays is also I problem. For example, when I went to visit the Tate Modern I saw 'Mdina on a sunny day' by Zoe Chomarat a very interesting exhibition by an artist who collected the rubbish accrued around the Thames… it was certainly interesting to observe and experience, but I don't see why we call it art. Anthropology, ethnography maybe… but not art." As we round off our interview, Chomarat reiterates her simple but universally enduring manifesto. "Unfashionable as it may sound nowadays… I just think that art should be beautiful." Zoe Chomarat will be exhibiting at St John's Cavalier, Valletta from November 23-30. Opening hours: 10:00 to 17:00 TEODOR RELJIC "I heard of Divergent Thinkers last year from a friend of mine who participated in the first Divergent Thinkers exhibition. Unfortunately I had to miss last year's exhibition due to my studies and my dissertation work for my degree in Fine Arts. I heard very good comments and feedback regarding the organisation and the actual layout of the exhibition, so I decided that it would be worth participating in the next one. This collaborative exhibition is not my first one as at MCAST, as a class, we always participated in an end-ofyear exhibition, which made me feel experienced enough to work with other young and emerging artists. "I think, in my opinion, the fact that Malta is a small island, we are somehow limited. The distance between other European countries (being surrounded by sea) is influencing people on how to approach, critique, see and appreciate a work of art. On the other hand, Malta being limited but developing into a multicultural society, young and emerging artists are coming up with a new style of art which could be called 'contemporary' or 'conceptual'. In other words, when artists are faced with limits, their art flourishes. As a result Malta's art practice have evolved and solidified. "I have been collecting my hair, and that of my family, for about two years now. For the creation of 'Famiglia Lignum', I took casts of my family members onto which I covered with their real hair onto their casted face. This reminds me of death masks, or 'memento mori'. I was to use hair thanks to my mother's attitude 23 years ago, when she used to collect my first trimmed hair and the first fallen teeth. They are highly valuable, precious and sentimental to her. Then I noticed the hand gestures in relation to hair. Also, during the Victorian era the hair of deceased loved ones was also considered as very precious (in fact, it was used in their jewellery). Hair also has unique properties since it contains coded information. Through this work of art, I feel