Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/984659
5 maltatoday | SUNDAY • 20 MAY 2018 THIS WEEK PHOTOGRAPHY understanding of these quali- ties. Lower the threshold to make art more accessible, and encourage people from a very young age to discover instinctively, for themselves, the power of art. You've opted to go for the crowdfunding route with this project. How are you finding it, and would you recommend this option to other local artists? To be honest, I kind of fell into the crowdfunding way. This project escalated from, maybe donating one of my works, into a donation of ten works. To have a real effect on the place the works need to be printed big, and to withstand the rigours of hospital life, over decades, they need to be of excellent durable quality. Printing big and on durable material is expensive, and it turned out that there really wasn't the budget for this. At this point, I was already fully committed to donating the works and decided to take the plunge with crowdfund- ing, and to give it all I've got, to make it happen. It's been stressful but also very reward- ing. I did my research and got all the help I could get. I've been lucky to have a number of friends who offered their knowledge and skills such as graphic design, proof read- ing, consultation on quality and size of printing. Also, the team at ZAAR has been truly professional and helpful in every way possible. But every day, after work, I have to put together much of the content for the crowdfunding portal and then do all the promotion work. It has taken over all of my free time. So, regarding rec- ommending this route of crowdfunding, I would say you need to be 100% commit- ted to go into it, and almost forget about doing anything else with your free time, while you are crowdfunding. Right now, I'm a hustler 24/7, I wake up with it, and I go to sleep with it. Would you say that the Mal- tese cultural infrastructure has created a sustainable environment for photog- raphers? What would you change about it? Oh dear, tomes... books, could be written about this, but not by me. I'm not a pol- icy maker, I'm just trying to do my little thing in my little corner. I do know that there have been some efforts, so far unsuccessful, to establish a photography museum and centre. Maybe that could be a good start? A pop-up exhibition of pho- tographs by Rik Van Colen to be donated to the Sir An- thony Mamo Oncology Cen- tre will be held at The Mill in Birkirkara from May 31 to June 4. The exhibition will be launched on May 31 at 20:00. It will be open on subsequent days from 10:00 to 12:00 and 16:00 to 19:00. ART 4 WARD 2 is supported by the Gabriel Caruana Foundation and the Valletta 2018 Foundation. For more information on the project's crowdfunding cam- paign, log on to: http://www. z a a r . c o m . m t / p r o j e c t s / a r t - 4ward2/ Late Swim or Not? by Rik Van Colen