“To me it’s weird when animals pause because they seem so intelligent, but maybe that’s because I associate pausing with thought.” – Sally Rooney, Normal People

The contemporary Irish novelist’s words are certainly food for thought. In our rush to keep up with everything, many of us have lost that ability to stand and stare, to have time to reconcile events with our thought processes, to realise what determines our lives. Everything is in a blur; we just exist and go through our days with a frenzied haste. There’s an urgency to keep constantly updating ourselves with useless information, rather like automatons.

A cat lounging on a sofa, enjoying that comfort of idling hours away, sleeping and daydreaming, life pitched to slow-motion mod; those among us who are cat owners (or rather vice versa) envy that superior feline attitude and yet we do nothing to emulate it.

Before the Last Storm - Boat Houses and Fungus Rock at Dwejra Port

One can hardly catch glimpses of what’s around us, calling cards from the days of our predecessors in the wayside chapels and blind alleys, while running from one appointment to another.

Sadly, these remnants are being suffocated by towering blocks of hideous architecture; these ‘snapshots’ are driven out of their contexts, thus relentlessly depriving us from a legacy of which we can be proud. It’s on this disenchantment that the unscrupulous developers feed upon to get away with anything.

Marvic Muscat

In his current exhibition titled Pause2Save, Gozitan artist Marvic Muscat revisits an arcadian past, one that was investigated thoroughly by 20th-century artist Ġanni Vella. Vella reproduced what he was experiencing, embracing a genuine rural life that used to glow with inherent spirituality. In the space of a century, so much has changed in both mentality and topography, for the better or for worse.

The Gozitan artist documents life as if time stood still and the ravages of progress haven’t still impacted the peaceful well-being of whole communities.  This collection of 32 paintings exhibited at the Banca Giuratale, Victoria, look back to yesteryear.

The edifices in his paintings still exist, wayside chapels, Mdina bastions and all, although some of them are threatened by rampant construction.

The artist distils out contemporary contaminants, such as cars, shop signs, high-rise buildings and other atrocities, and concentrates on the redeeming factors of our architectural and natural heritage. These works have a postcard quality to them, maybe reflecting the author’s discomfort in representing the stigmata of progress.

Heading to Victoria, Xewkija Windmill

In his novel, The Little Town Where Time Stood Still, Czech novelist Bohumil Hrabal wrote these words: “I cannot live in the new time anyway, because I belong to the old time, which is dead.”

Although still a young man, Muscat yearns for the possibility to go back in time, his art being a balm for an existential soreness. A major percentage of these watercolours are about Gozo, the so-called ‘island where time stood still’. This held true up to some years back, when the inhabitants of the larger and more-developed sister island used to relish the short boat trip to some tranquillity in the serene and laid-back rural life.

These remnants are being suffocated by towering blocks of hideous architecture; these ‘snapshots’ are driven out of their contexts

Although some of this still persists, it is steadfastly being eroded away through the rampant construction mania that has been obliterating the Gozitan skyline and the quaintness of its villages.

Leaving Mġarr

A Typical Morning near St Joseph Chapel, Victoria and Fireworks at Mnarja Feast, Nadur relate to this. Through his choice of title for his exhibition Pause2Save, Muscat invites us to move a step back, take stock and appreciate what has trickled down through the centuries.

When walking through the streets of Victoria, one can still come across gentlemen wearing the waistcoat and the beritta, staples in the attire of years back. The ladies attend to their chores, the corner greengrocer offering its produce that they will use for their soups and pies.

Fireworks at Mnarja Feast, Nadur

The dog symbolises the faith and the obedience that were primary attributes in days of old. This work is a picture of sobriety and peace in which each member of the neighbourhood went about their daily life without the drama and exasperation, symptoms of contemporary life. This idyllic snapshot makes one despair at the folly of contemporary existence. It is about time that we pause, take stock and try to save what is necessary, steps towards a heart-warming way of life.

The titular feast, as in Fireworks at Mnarja Feast, Nadur, was one of the occasions when people used to let loose, make noise and let off fireworks in honour of their beloved saints. The sense of abandonment and merrymaking was not excessive; the feast was not the occasion for untoward behaviour.

Old St Julian's Bay

Nowadays, the national penchant for noise-making finds expression in the letting off of petards, without any consideration for those who are in no condition to join in.  The religious nature of the feast has been downgraded to a mere excuse for bedlam and vices. In the backdrop of 21st-century madness, towns and villages compete to be the loudest and showiest, without any restraint and decor.

Other paintings, such as Old St Julian’s Bay and Old Xlendi Bay, as well as Leaving Mġarr, achefully murmur with nostalgia. Two picturesque coves have been pillaged and raped mercilessly in these last few decades. The adjective ‘old’ is pregnant with a sense of loss. The ‘out with the old and in with the new motto’ has certainly not served well in these instances.

Old Xlendi Bay

In Muscat’s own words: “I invite the visitors of Pause2Save to take some time to escape from life’s hustle and bustle, and appreciate what our country still offers, through its beautiful architectural fabric and through a more authentic way of life, although much of this has been lost. We must do our utmost to save what the ancestors have left for us to cherish before it is too late.” This collection of 32 paintings is an exhortation to do this.

Pause2Save, hosted by Banca Giuratale, Pjazza Indipendenza, Victoria, is on until March 26. Opening hours are Monday to Friday from 8am to 2.30pm, Saturday and Sunday from 9am to 12pm. Entrance is free.