Louisa Chircop’s artist residency for her exhibition, “Grotto Girl”, is making history as the central courtyard’s first installation and community exhibition.

“From the well of memory, a community rises,” says Chircop. “Grotto Girl is a celebratory love letter to Malta and its people, honouring their stories through hands-on art-making that is at once healing, expressive, and unifying.”

Chircop, the granddaughter of WWII Maltese immigrants raised in Sydney, Australia, returns to Malta with this emotionally charged project, melding psychoanalytic and feminist perspectives with traditional Maltese aesthetics.

Her artistic process has unfolded in real time at MUŻA through her four-month creative journey, residency and public workshops, culminating in a multi-sensory installation that includes ceramics, mixed media, and painting.

MUŻA, Malta’s National Community Art Museum, proudly presents Grotto Girl, an artist-led community outreach residency and solo exhibition by Louisa Chircop, hosted at MUŻA. The project explores identity and belonging, inviting both the Maltese community and international participants into a meaningful dialogue about heritage, connection, and shared experiences.

Her artist residency commenced on 19th May and will lead to an inaugural exhibition opening on the 11th June 2025 at 6.30pm, both running until 25th June 2025.

The project marks a first at MUŻA: Chircop is the first artist to ever conceptually and physically activate the museum’s 450-year-old central courtyard well as the centrepiece of the project.