Co-creative practitioner and conceptual artist Mary Rose Saliba is currently leading a project with a group of senior citizens around Gozo for the self-discovery of dormant talents as well as enriching the emotional well-being of minorities and marginalised people. This concept explores values such as freedom of expression, sustainability, inclusive social development while fostering peace and security.

Walking in the countryside will help the protagonists reflect on the beauty of the surroundings versus the changing environment. Working directly with nature moves the collaborators to gain a better insight into nature’s value, its presence, and its purity.

Artist Mary Rose Saliba

A spiritual connection with materials such as earth, soil, rocks, stone, dried leaves, tree trunks, etc., evokes a powerful meaning which affects our visual senses. This exhibition is a manifestation of this; the same natural material is integrated into a series of mixed media paintings.

Land art becomes an important visual platform to convey messages of social awareness while still appealing to our senses. This work is recorded and exhibited in the form of a video-art installation.

The study demonstrates that culture is not static, hence human beings with their collective data can transform it. Involving senior citizens in the project will help to show that age should not be a factor in social engagement and the arts. This process veers towards transformation, and the ability to work in solidarity with the oppressed to change the status quo and the real world around us.

The art exhibition by the SMART Team, A Healing Journey: Redefining Environmental Challenges, hosted by Banca Giuratale, Independence Square, Victoria Gozo, is open from August 5 to 28. Opening hours are weekdays from 7am to 2.30pm, and weekends and public holidays from 9am to 12 noon.