inKimika is a Maltese-French project intended to shed light on the art of lithography on stone. inKimika was conceived in 2020 by Jesmond Vassallo with the support of Elaine Falzon. The first phase of the project took place at Jesmond’s newly established printmaking facility, Atelier 10. Jesmond, together with Lino Borg and Justin Falzon, three Maltese artists-printmakers, have joined forces with French master-printmaker Laurent Nicolaï to experiment with and learn more about the technique of lithography.

The one objective of inKimika: Lithographic Lab-Malta, is clear enough: the reintroduction of lithography printing processes in Malta. Lithography is an ingenious printing method that was taken up right away by the Maltese artistic community in the early 19th century, but which was, by and large, abandoned by the beginning of the 20th century. The inexplicable abandonment of a perfectly successful printing technique was solely a Maltese phenomenon. Away from Maltese shores, lithography kept going strong without interruption, used for both artistic and industrial purposes.

Debbie Caruana Dingli at Atelier 10

Lithography revolves around the chemical axiom that oil and water repel each other. Any mark made by the artist using an oil-based medium on the lithographic stone is destined to leave an impression on the paper, once the stone and the paper are passed through the lithographic press. The rest of the stone, duly soaked in water, will not take up the oil-based ink (since oil and ink repel each other) and thus prints as white. It might sound easy but, in practice, though ultimately rewarding, the technique is quite difficult to master. Its invention is usually credited to Alois Senefelder, an actor and a playwright in the late 18th century.

During the early 19th century, artists such as Pietro Paolo Caruana, Filippo Benucci and the Schranz family had created some very interesting essays in the technique. This early positive take-up would keep up its initial energetic pace throughout the rest of the century.

By the turn of the new century, however, possibly because of the introduction of new practices that had started to change the technique almost beyond recognition, including the use of zinc plates rather than the eponymous stone, and the use of the offset printing rather than direct printing, the earlier enthusiasm started to quickly fade  away. P.Bonavia Litho Printers did soldier on with stone lithography up until the early 1950s, even if its products were usually meant for industrial or propaganda purposes (both religious and political), rather than as a work of art per see.

Laurent Nicolaï working at Atelier 10

Laurent came to Malta and worked with eight Maltese artists for 10 days, while Jesmond Vassallo, Lino Borg and Justin Falzon went to Cognac for a week-long workshop at ADN (Atelier D’estampe Nicolaï) in France. Since an integral part of the project also included the dissemination of the knowledge acquired, the project also roped in five Maltese artists who had never used lithography before and facilitated their introduction to the medium. Vince Briffa, Sue Flask, Debbie Caruana Dingli, Paul Scerri and Robert Zahra all produced interesting images which in different ways exploited the many possibilities inherent in the technique.  

Lithography revolves around the chemical axiom that oil and water repel each other

Two major protagonists during the project were the two lithographic printmaking facilities that made the project possible. These were Atelier 10, the facility run by Jesmond Vassallo, and ADN, the French printmaking studio run by Laurent Nicolaï. The monochromatic lithographs were produced at Atelier 10, Mosta, while the colour prints came to life at ADN, Laurent’s studio in Cognac.

As expected, InKimika: Lithographic Lab-Malta proved to be a strong learning curve for all those involved. Now that the seeds of re-establishing a healthy interest in the medium have been sown, we are hopeful that these seeds will mature into a robust tree that will branch out, rekindling an interest in the medium. 

(From left) Christian Attard, Lino Borg, Justin Falzon and Jesmond Vassallo at MUŻA

An interesting cross-section of the works produced during this two-year-long project are being exhibited at the Camerone, MUŻA, The Community Art Museum, Valletta, from March 11 to April 17. The exhibition will be open from Tuesday to Sunday from 9am to 4.30pm.

The core of the exhibition focuses on inKimika’s new collection, which comprises 16 editions amounting to a total of 208 original lithographs created by nine artists.

This is, however, more than an exhibition. It is an exploration of a visual language that has been abandoned for far too long. This exhibition, curated by Christian Attard, embarks on an informative voyage that gives the viewer a taste of the complexity of this fascinating visual medium. This voyage takes the audience through the history of lithography and its invention. It also delves into the history of the technique on the Maltese islands while also shedding light on the chemical principles that govern it.

Lithographic Press and other materials at Atelier 10

A very interesting section of this exhibition gives a well-deserved tribute to P. Bonavia Litho Printers, the printers who, under a slightly different name, are still very much in business today. Bonavia used stone lithography as part of their printmaking business. Often, they were involved with the printing of labels on an industrial scale but occasionally, they also collaborated with artists of the calibre of Emvin Cremona in the production of visually sophisticated posters. Two prints exhibited here were indeed designed by Cremona for mid-century religious activities.

inKimika exhibition is also giving honour to French artist-lithographer Laurent Nicolaï by presenting a selection of his large-scale lithographs, some of which are in colour.

A publication complementing this project and exhibition is also available.

inKimika Lithographic Lab – Malta, is sponsored by Arts Council Malta and FimBank and is endorsed by the University of Malta’s Department of Art and Art History.

Christian Attard is the curator of the inKimika exhibition at MUŻA.