For the many art lovers in Malta and Gozo, next weekend is an opportunity to find out how familiar names in the local art community make their work. A total of nine of the country’s most popular contemporary painters will be setting up their easels at pop-up open studios, hosted at eight separate cultural venues in the capital city. The Trail Valletta, presented by award-winning art organisation Allura, is a weekend-long visual arts experience at which visitors can meet leading artists and get a glimpse into the making of their work.

The organisers of this event are keen to point out that The Trail Valletta is not an exhibition, but an open studio experience following in the tradition of the many thousands of open studio events now firmly established in cultural calendars around the world as popular, recurring fixtures.

“Open studios are a more interactive and less formal alternative to the traditional gallery format,” explains Allura’s director Laura Swale.

“This type of event is all about creativity and tends to be more popular with a mainstream audience because it focuses on the process of making and not just the end result. That’s not to say that there won’t be finished artworks on display – there will be plenty of original pieces for visitors to enjoy.”

So, what is an open studio? An open studio is simply an artist’s workplace which is opened up to the public. The concept originated with the 17th-century salons of France and has remained popular ever since, perhaps the most famous example being artist Andy Warhol’s New York City studio – The Factory.

The popularity of open studios may be attributed to the fact that they connect artists with their audiences in a setting which is more relaxed than an exhibition and where more interesting and meaningful connections can be made as a result.

The Trail Valletta involves hosting temporary ‘pop-up’ studios at public venues, rather than at the artists’ own studios. Not only is the choice of public venues a practical one, due to COVID-19 precluding public visits to artists’ private studios, it creates a ‘cluster’ effect geographically, so visitors can easily cover the area on foot.

“As an artist in the UK, I took part in two studio trails,” says Swale, “arty people love to socialise around creativity and in Valletta they can also make a day of it, pause for a drink along the way or dine out before or after.”

The festival-style experience will be Allura’s second open studio event, the first of which took place as part of Valletta 2018 Capital of Culture. Although The Trail Valletta was postponed several times due to the pandemic, it is now possible due to the evolving situation and new regulations. Whereas the previous event included a broader range of artistic disciplines, this time around the focus is purely on fine art painting.

The guide map for ‘The Trail Valletta’, featuring nine artists at eight venues.

With this event and with its other activities, Allura seeks to identify the collectible artists of the future, while promoting and sharing their work. The artists featuring in The Trail Valletta are represented by the Allura Art gallery, which showcases some of Malta and Gozo’s leading contemporary artists.

The artists taking part include those featured in recent episodes of Allura’s new series, Artist Secrets. The event is an opportunity for those who enjoyed the series to now meet the artists in person.

The Trail Valletta involves both local and international artists, all of whom are Malta-based.

Debbie Bonello and Andrew Borg will both be hosted at Spazju Kreattiv, Andrew Smith will be at the China Cultural Centre, Jo Dounis at Iniala Harbour House, Natasha Dadush at the Russian Centre for Science and Culture, Vania Goshe at the German-Maltese Circle, Christine Porter Lofaro at the Malta School of Art, Christopher Saliba at the Valletta Design Cluster and Mark Schembri at the Undercroft at St Paul’s Cathedral.

Visitors can expect an informal and relaxed space, with artists busy painting and original artwork to photograph, discuss or buy.

The Trail Valletta will take place on Saturday and Sunday, October 30 and 31, from 1pm until 7pm on both days. For details, visit Allura on Facebook or www.allura-art. com/the-trail-valletta where the COVID-19 regulations indicated will be in place to ensure the health and safety of all concerned. Contact Allura on info@allura.mt or +356 9958 3389.