Xlokk Kaħlani can be loosely translated as ‘The Blue Southeast’, maybe evoking the Maltese seaside villages of Marsaxlokk, Birżebbuġa and Marsascala. These three once idyllic villages have been pillaged almost beyond recognition.

One would think that the title of Kamy Aquilina’s first solo exhibition could be an ironic yet nostalgically loaded comment, referring to a national, somewhat Mediterranean complacency that allows the destruction of our habitats as long as we are blinded by the thralls of a big blue sea.

“Earlier on, when I started thinking about this project, and working towards an exhibition, its title was a direct reference to ‘The Blue Southeast’. Living a life surrounded by the sea, as well as everything Birżebbuġa brings with it, it is also true that one tends to learn how to almost ‘ignore’ what becomes an eyesore and focus on the more pleasing,” says Aquilina. “The creative process of the project itself indirectly uncovered this reality where, we seem to be alienated to the destruction of our habitats as long as we have our little joys or immediate satisfactions.”

Kamy Aquilina

A beautiful Mediterranean Sea surrounds us, in all tones of blue, lapping at the shores of what once used to be fishing villages and dreamy towns. The visual juxtapositions transcend mediums and add to the texture of the exhibition experience, this being both a multidisciplinary and a multisensorial one. The layering could refer to the gradual but regular onslaught of degradation and uglification. One feels that this is a documentation of loss that leaves us, common citizens, helpless, breathless and out of our depth as the destruction is done gradually yet systematically, mirroring a slow relentless erosion of our values and aesthetics.

“The multi-layering as well as double exposures are something I like working with. So, this playing around with the images is something I was always interested in. This same process however involves a large amount of images, which is turn was my own way of pushing myself to always be alert, have a camera or digital device with me and capture shots regularly,” maintains the artist as she explains the creative process.

“‘Regularly’ meant ‘daily’ and as I was continuously capturing my daily sights in Birżebbuġa, I was not only witnessing rapid changes but also noticing the regular assault on nature. The very obvious is Pretty Bay, which is everything but pretty. I also found myself being angered regularly by new notices of some other being demolished to be replaced by something atrocious like a crazily multi-storeyed building site. Through my very own frustrations, I wanted to find a way to find some kind of resolution between what is within our control and what is beyond,” she continues.

I was witnessing rapid changes and noticing the regular assault on nature

Aquilina at times favours the tondo format. The eye loses its focal point and moves around in search of a visual and conceptual grounding of sorts. One thinks that this all-encompassing format suggests that the problem envelops all strata of society, and we are thus all overwhelmed by this centrifuge.

“The tondo format is something I moved towards in these recent years of working with experimental photography, and from where I stood till now it literally represents my world. Disorientation is on the other hand something intentional,” the young artist remarks.

She further elucidates on the creative process: “When I was creating these works, I never wanted the specific sites in Birżebbuġa to be so evident, but wanted to play around with the layering, geometric and organic shapes in the images themselves as well as colour. As the work developed, I started aiming for the work to be a reflection of my experiences in my hometown, but also wanted the viewer to relate to these same feelings irrespective of the specific sites.”

The blue in some of the prints evokes the title of the exhibition itself. One might think that the artist is ‘blue-washing’ everything, beauty and ugliness, as an ironic comment and criticism of the politics of greenwashing that generally accompanies government projects, in a puerile attempt to disguise the grey and the bland. 

“Most of the works which seem to be ‘blue-washed’ are cyanotypes, which are in themselves blue through a chemical reaction, a true result of the process. In fact, there are a good number of cyanotypes exhibited in Xlokk Kaħlani as I intentionally chose this method as a main technique while working,” says Aquilina. “Creating cyanotypes involves quite a lengthy process which involves picture taking, developing through UV light, and washing until the images once captured (transformed into a negative) reappears as a cold, blue-washed imprint.”

She claims that artists Susan Philipsz, Christian Boltanski and Man Ray intrigued her and were, for a long time, Aquilina’s source of inspiration: “When it comes to multiple understandings and meanings of the work, I never start from a political perspective and never intentionally want to carry such messages.”

She continues: “However, the layering of the work itself, and being a documentation of a very personal journey within a specific social setting, one cannot rule out any political implications as the multiple interpretations will still lead to that. Art and politics will always remain intertwined in one way or other, intentionally, or not.”

The southeast has been saddled with the most visually degrading of projects. One debates whether art can shift public perspectives towards the environment, even at our country’s microscopic level. However, the young artist believes that this shift can happen.

“Perhaps my work can only do so on a very small level, but if the exhibition can change some of people’s perspectives on what is happening to our environment, imagine what multiple exhibitions like mine can do,” she enthuses. “Art has questioned worldwide decisions and created havoc multiple times. Visuals can be much louder than any sound. When it comes to the environment, maybe we are not doing enough globally, and thus we, as artists, cannot give up.”

Xlokk Kaħlani, curated by Carmen Aquilina, is open until November 11 at the Malta Society of Arts, Palazzo de la Salle, Valletta. Entrance is free but subject to COVID-19 measures.