A Healing Journey: Encapsulating the Aesthetic is an art exhibition organised by Mary Rose Saliba at the Cittadella Cultural Centre in Victoria.

The exhibition is part of an ongoing project with a group of senior citizens. The concept is to promote the natural environment and give a space for citizens to voice their concerns. 

A close relationship with the environment and love for nature lead Saliba as an artist researcher to explore, study, examine and analyse the deep connection between nature and human presence and its manipulation.

The study is a socially engaged art research project which highlights the lamentable divide between opposing poles – pitting nature’s delicately poised and aesthetically pleasing harmony against the widespread devastation of premordial rural areas.

“Nostalgic moments of the past raise awareness about past and present environmental deviations. Such frustration and nostalgia encourage collaborative action… to challenge the brutal assault by construction magnates on Gozo’s rural and urban environment,” the artist says.

A diverse body of volunteers have joined forces in a bid to create a heterotopic multisensory experience. The concept is aimed at triggering an impassioned reaction against the manipulation and degradation of nature stemming from construction moguls.

The exhibition is open Monday to Saturday, including public holidays, except on Christmas Day, from 8am to 5pm, until December 28.