Mediterranean islands share a lot in common: blue skies, beaches, a laid-back lifestyle that can be noisy, long hot summers and mild winters. However, one can also identify their differences, in their geology, their history, their ecosystems, their different legacies.

Malta and Corsica have a very colourful past – the former has an important prehistory in the culture of its Temple Period, while Corsica, besides its own Neolithic Cardium pottery culture dating to 6,000 years BC, was a hotbed of the Etruscan civilisation, that mysterious culture that reached its apogee in the sixth century BC.

Both islands’ legacy in pottery owes a lot to the Phoenicians as well, as this sea-faring mercantile people traversed the Mediterranean from the east and interacted with both islands.

These two legacies, with their enviable holds of artefacts, contributed to the development of art in the two islands. The matriarchal fat lady and the glyphs etched on the menhirs and dolmens, besides the items of pottery, provided material that has influenced Maltese artists, much more so in the case of some of the pioneers of Maltese Modernism.

It is always interesting when a contemporary artistic discourse is instigated between islands, as is the Maltese participation in the International Biennial of Art Ceramics, held in the Corsican town of Bonifacio. Four Maltese artists ‒ Victor Agius, the late Gabriel Caruana, Paul Haber and Paul Scerri ‒ are participating in the 2022 edition, this year held at Espace Saint Jacques, Haute Ville, in the town of Bonifacio, on the island of Corsica, between August 1 and 31. All four chosen artists have Gozitan connections.

Bonifacio, the host of the exhibition, is a charming town, situated on the southern tip of the island

Bonifacio, the host of the exhibition, is a charming town, situa­ted on the southern tip of the island, with a bevy of churches, chapels and palazzi providing its historical context. It is located on a promontory, towering over the Corsican coastline, with the island of Sardinia a few kilometres away across the sea.

Untitled 1 by Gabriel Caruana

The late Gabriel Caruana (1929-2018) almost singlehandedly elevated the Maltese cera­mics into an artform, especially during the last decades of the 20th century.

A master of the medium, he was prolific and insisted on investigating the properties of clay, something which in our islands during those years was considered more of a craft, rather than an art. He expertly administered glazes on his pieces, creating the most colourful of vessels, sculptures and abstract compositions. His enthusiasm was unwavering; he wasn’t restricted to just one medium.

Untitled 2 by Gabriel Caruana

His CoBrA-style paintings, primeval, playful and elemental, demonstrate the exuberance of a child-like joy, of creating through pure colour and composing storylines whose humanoid protagonists interacted and coalesced into new narratives. Raffaella Zammit, on behalf of the Gabriel Caruana Foundation, has coordinated the loan of Caruana’s ceramics for this biennale. 

Gaining Strength by Paul Haber

Nature and its phenomena serve as major inspirations for Paul Haber (b. 1940). He is intrigued by the way the elements interact, how wind and rain can erode the globigerina limestone that is so abundant in our islands. He introspectively sees this as a reflection of the vulnerability of human life, and the inanity in trying to control that which is beyond our capabilities.

... this beautiful world by Paul Haber

He focuses on intimate details and interprets this via his organic ceramic sculptures; at times, other materials such as glass, metal and wood are also used. The organic forms of Haber’s sculptures invite the viewer’s interaction and communication through touch, thus eliciting reactions which are pertinent and personal to each individual.

The Swimmer by Paul Scerri

Paul Scerri’s artistic origins were similarly inspired by nature and its abstracted forms. This early abstract phase eventually gave way to the figurative, to his characteristic anthropological studies that ask universal anthropocentric questions. The human figure is central to these works, and Scerri (b. 1959) adds to it, through ‘escutcheons’, glazes and textures, to deliver comments about Maltese society and its stereotypes.

Of Thorns and Spines by Paul Scerri

Some of these observations are endearing while others cut deep into our society’s shortcomings – a society that is uneasy, judgmental, unpleasant, apathetic, and – in some cases – at the end of its tether. His concepts deal with the arrogance of power, the abuse, the exclusivity, the personal fears and insecurities. Scerri is also very interested in the viewer’s personal speculations as he feels that one of an artist’s responsibility is to pass on a message about society to members of that same society.

Genesis I by Victor Agius

Clay is a medium that Victor Agius (b. 1982) has been exploiting for years. He is a multidisciplinary artist who investigates themes associated with the empirical geology of Gozo, his island home. He has often collaborated with artists from other genres such as poets, musicians and authors in performances.

Primordia III by Victor Agius

The 2019 official inauguration of his Ħaġarna public sculpture in his hometown of Xagħra, a few metres away from the Megalithic temples of Ġgantija, reflected this inclusive approach. Earthiness and origins, the geology and the archaeology of Gozo are integrated in his studio work that is raw and intimate, a love affair in the moulding of primitive and parched earth, rocks, roots and branches into new forms.

The four artists are among the foremost in our country’s deve­lopment of ceramics as an art form. The perseverance and tenacity of Gabriel Caruana to persist on his path and transform local ceramics from craft to art has paid off; the Maltese islands have a contemporary legacy in the medium of which it should be proud.

This exhibition in the medieval town of Bonifacio in Corsica, is testament to this.

The International Biennial of Ceramics of Bonifacio is being held at Espace Saint Jacques, Haute Ville, in Bonifacio, on the island of Corsica, France, between August 1 and 31. An illustrated catalogue with artist interviews between the curator Olivier Plique and the artists has also been published.

The biennale is curated by Olivier Plique and Zani and is organised by the Mairie de Bonifacio and supported by The Ministry for Gozo ‒ VisitGozo.com, Ambassade de France a Malte, Tumas Group and the collaboration of Gabriel Caruana Foundation, Alka Ceramics and The Snop House.