Reviving a gallery in Mdina

Mdina is largely considered a tourist venue and a weekend hangout spot for the Maltese. The so-called Silent City and its surroundings are replete with cultural heritage - churches, chapels, convents, historic houses, museums, audiovisual shows and more are found at every other corner.

The fortified city might therefore not present an obvious choice when searching for a space to set up an art gallery or studio, nor might it be the kind of location artists would shortlist when choosing an exhibition venue... but against all odds, a young woman has gone out on a limb to follow a dream.

Sharon Borg Cesareo confesses that thoughts of setting up an art gallery had been swirling in her head for quite a while. When opportunity came knocking last September she decided to quit her job as a room stylist/interior decorator with a leading furniture manufacturing company, and finally focus her energies on what she really wanted to be doing - setting up a studio for herself which could be doubled up as an art gallery.

Enamoured with Taormina in Sicily, which she has visited some 10 times, Ms Borg Cesareo decided to take the sporadic artist galleries found in the elevated coastal town as a prototype for her own artistic endeavours.

This materialised into The Mdina Gallery, found in Triq Santa Sofia, a small space with a definite rustic feel which has only been open to the public since December.

The modest space already hosted an art gallery in the-not-so-recent past, which was founded by German artist Valentin Gerhard Braun-Dusemond in 1966 as a space to create his own works and through which he could promote his peers and contemporaries' work. Yet this venture only lasted 10 years, after which Mr Dusemond was expelled from the country by Dom Mintoff. The Mdina Gallery's doors consequently remained closed for 33 years.

The history and context of the space served a purpose however, and Ms Borg Cesareo retained the gallery's name as tribute to its previous founder and owner.

With all the paperwork and permits already in place, Ms Borg Cesareo says with a proud smile that it only took a week to get the space converted and everything in working order for the re-opening. In fact, the major investment were the lighting fixtures, in addition to the new flooring and the treatment of the walls, which have been left bare to expose the original masonry instead of opting for white plaster for a more neutral effect.

Although she uses the gallery as a studio in which to paint as well as to showcase her works, Ms Borg Cesareo also makes her space available to artists who can exhibit their works in the gallery for the duration of roughly four weeks.

Presently there are the paintings of Lucienne Gravino and Julianne Grima on show, while in the coming week Rupert Cefai will be setting up an exhibition of his paintings followed by those of Yasmin Modi.

The gallery's forthcoming cultural calendar shows that the space has already been booked till the end of the year (at least) and Ms Borg Cesaeo says that most of the artists she intends featuring approached her directly, while others she sought out personally offering and suggesting the possibility of a show.

She tells me that when faced with the selection process of artists and artworks to be featured in the gallery, she lets instinct and her personal sense of aesthetics dictate the way. However, she admits that the "business" of it all - a large part of which is determining what the clientele is after - is really still at an experimental stage. That is why she acknowledges the commercial aspects of the gallery and therefore knows the importance of following trends and fashions in art.

I ask Ms Borg Cesareo how she copes with the loneliness of working in a quiet and, at times, almost desolate place like Mdina: "An artist's world is lonely... it's something which I'm facing and getting used to...," she said. However, some 15-20 people venture into the gallery on a daily basis, and she's expecting it to pick up considerably in the summer months. She proceeds to tell me that although there might not be that many people who venture in at the moment, she has been quite happy with the number of sales made, considering that she opened her doors in the toughest of periods. As for the loneliness, Ms Borg Cesareo finds some solace in the company of her very vivacious terrier Molly... who accompanies her to work greeting many passers-by and animating the already colourful atmosphere.

The Mdina Gallery can be found at: 7A, Triq Santa Sofia, Mdina. It is open Monday to Friday between 9.30 a.m. and 4 p.m., and Saturdays between 9.30 a.m. and 1 p.m. The gallery is closed on Sundays and public holidays.