Updated 9pm

One of Malta's most ambitious art projects, the €30 million Malta International Contemporary Art Space (MICAS) is set to open on Friday as the country aims to make its mark on the world of modern art.

Set inside the 17th-century Ospizio complex of buildings and fortifications, the Floriana arts centre has been years in the making, originally slated to open in 2021.

During a tour of local and international journalists ahead of the official inauguration on Friday evening, MICAS Artistic Director Edith Devaney said she wanted to see the arts centre become a "global art space".

Explaining the centre had been "excavated into the fortification walls," she stressed the building benefitted from natural light and a spacious interior.

The large steel and glass-fronted building will house works by Maltese and overseas artists over the coming years.

Portuguese artist Joana Vasconcelos took journalists around her installation artworks that are the first to be exhibited at MICAS.

They included Garden of Eden, a maze-like arrangement of shimmering plants placed in a large dark room and Tree of Life, a 15-metre high knitted and embroidered tree.

Speaking to Times of Malta next to her centrepiece Valkyrie Mumbet – a sprawling octopus-like colourful fabric work suspended in the air – Vasconcelos said MICAS was a “very impressive and unique building."

MICAS is located in the restored 17th-century Ospizio fortress. Photo: Matthew Mirabelli.

“It’s really an honour and a privilege to open a new museum because it doesn’t happen often in an artist’s life... to be the one to be chosen to do so is a real privilege,” she said.

“I hope Maltese audiences are happy and feel glad to come here and have a new experience in their lives... This is a new place to come; it’s a sanctuary for culture, a temple to beauty and, I hope, for harmony.”

Explaining the arts centre had been "excavated into the fortification walls," she stressed the building benefitted from natural light and a spacious interior.

A sculpture garden is to be opened next year.

'Tree of Life' was made using 140,000 embroidered leaves. Photo: Matthew Mirabelli.

During Friday’s tour, Vasconcelos stressed the importance of “transcendence” in her works, pointing to an exhibition called Domestic - a collection of furniture showing how everyday items could be reimagined.

Emphasising the significance of the work being present for MICAS’ opening, she said it represented "beginnings, hope and the idea you can make a better world; if we can do this, we can do anything.” 

Nestled in a 8,360-square-metre campus among restored fortifications, MICAS comprises 1,400 square metres of indoor gallery space, a gift shop and a cafe.

Local and international press were given a tour of MICAS ahead of its inauguration on Friday evening. Photo: MICAS

 From May to August next year, the arts centre will feature works by Maltese artists Caesar Attard, Austin Camilleri, Joyce Camilleri, Anton Grech, Pierre Portelli and Vince Briffa as part of its Malta in Focus exhibition, with works by international artists Milton Avery and Reggie Burrows Hodges planned for 2026.

MICAS will open Tuesdays to Sundays, starting this Sunday at 10am.

'Malta should be a natural home for artists'

During the official inauguration late on Friday, Prime Minister Robert Abela said the opening of the space reflected the country's collective development. 

Through this investment, he added, the government was trusting artists with the country's identity. 

"Malta aims to be a Mediterranean centre for artistic creativity. I reiterated this recently when launching the first edition of the Biennale.art... Malta should be a natural home for artists."

Abela was joined by Vasconcelos, Culture Minister Owen Bonnici and the MICAS board, led by executive chairperson Phyllis Muscat.