Songs to be used to promote art

A large-scale exhibition in Pinto Stores, Valletta, is set to reach a wider audience through in-depth footage which will be shown during the televised Malta Song for Europe Festival.

Contemporary art exhibitions are usually attended by only a small segment of society, so Maltasong and START, a group of artists, joined forces to reverse this trend and take art to people's homes.

The initiative, which has the full backing of the Malta Council for Culture and the Arts, aims to combine the two worlds of pop music and contemporary art.

Maltasong chairman Charlò Bonnici said that through this initiative, a number of short features on the artists and their work will be screened prior to every song during the festival being held at Ta' Qali between February 7-8.

Until a year ago this space was usually reserved for commercials. However, Maltasong this year felt it should provide the space to artists.

"Very often art may not be as popular as commercial music, but just the same, it can be appreciated by a wide audience. Apart from the audience of over 7,000 at Ta' Qali, more than 90 per cent of the televiewers are expected to watch the show on TVM," said Mr Bonnici.

Council chairman Joseph Zahra said that this collaboration fell in line with the council's mission statement to promote and support different forms of art and various cultural events.

He yesterday also announced that the council planned to launch its mission statement in the coming days.

The exhibition, titled Borders, has brought together 11 artists who have converted an area of 60,000 square feet in Pinto Stores with their work.

The exhibition includes paintings, sculptures, video projections and photography, among others, and will be spread over three floors.

The artists are Norbert Francis Attard, Ruth Bianco, Vince Briffa, Austin Camilleri, Savio Deguara, Patrick Fenech, Charles Gatt, Anton Grech, Mark Mangion, Pierre Portelli and Raphael Vella.

Richard Davies, from the Kent Institute of Art and Design in the UK, has been invited to curate the exhibition, which will be inaugurated on February 6.

It will be open to the public on Saturdays and Sundays between 10 a.m. and 5 p.m. until March 2. An 80-page publication will be launched during the last week of the exhibition.