Emerging artist Kim Sammut is currently showing her first institutional solo exhibition Amygdala at Blitz, Valletta, curated by Sara Dolfi Agostini.

The exhibition, running until February 9, is an intimate collective self-portrait delving into the quest for identity of young adults living out of sync with a commodified present which leaves no space for self-expression beyond money-making products.

Sammut is the recipient of Blitz Valletta’s open call for a Malta-based emerging artist launched in 2022.

Kim Sammut

As the chosen artist, Sammut was granted the opportunity to present a new project produced and exhibited by Blitz.

“This initiative is intended to give the successful applicant a curated platform to express themselves, an occasion to work one-to-one with an international curator on a new commission and improve their professional skills while promoting their artistic practice,” say the organisers.

The exhibition title takes its inspiration from the region of the brain that receives inputs from all senses and processes emotions.

Curator Dolfi Agostini explains how this region, which acts as the primary interpreter of images and sounds, can trigger a survival mechanism known as the “fight-or-flight” response in order to react quickly to life-threatening situations.

Through her works, Sammut intends to show the human body and its surroundings as stripped of all sociocultural references except for a few clues – “and yet we can feel its unsettling presence outside of the frame”, continues Dolfi Agostini.

“To protect the bare self, Sammut conceived a shrine-like space, disconnected from the hectic life of the capital city. Behind a heavy curtain, the visitor is invited to enter a dark room illuminated by spotlights, as if they were stars pinpointing a piece of a personal universe.”

Yielding

The exhibition includes four artworks, all never seen before – a drawing, two photographs and a video installation.

“Contrary to the generation of artists that preceded her, for whom the internet was often both subject and platform, Sammut focuses on real bodies and things,” says the curator.

“Her work is an attempt at visualising the existential gap between inner and outer worlds in order to explore the ephemeral sense of self, cognitive and sensorial disorientation, resistance and eventual drift – all intensified by the rise of the virtual self.”

Amygdala runs at Blitz, Valletta until February 9. For more information send an e-mail to contact@blitzvalletta.com or visit blitzvalletta.com. The exhibition is supported by Arts Council Malta.