From Playwright To Ceramic Artist: Alfred Buttigieg’s Exhibition Opens Today
In his latest exhibition, Figures Unbound, Alfred Buttigieg explores the human figure through both realistic and expressionist lenses.
Opening tonight at 7.30pm, at ‘il-Kamra ta’ Fuq’ in Mqabba, Figures Unbound will show until 1st September. Curated by Melanie Erixon, the exhibition will surely be one for the books.
Rather than relying on facial expressions, Buttigieg communicates the mood or emotion of his subjects through their dramatic bodily forms. A recurring theme is the blankness of the faces, with the true expression emerging from the remarkable twists of the body, elongated limbs, and the unique positioning of the head and torso.
Buttigieg’s background in theatre may have subtly influenced the intense expressiveness that resonates in each unsettling twist and turn of the figures.
Some pieces in the exhibition seem to reflect aspects of the human condition, while others evoke the presence of mythological figures like Atlas or Sisyphus. There are also works that create a surreal, almost dreamlike experience, reminiscent of a Hall of Mirrors.
Additionally, the exhibition includes realistic figures that exude confidence and boldness, capturing the essence of human audacity.
These figures, with their imposing corpulence, are reminiscent of ancient Maltese representations of the human form, blending the tranquil serenity of divine beings with a contented celebration of physical existence.
Born in 1956 in Malta, Alfred Buttigieg is a renowned playwright making his debut in ceramics with this exhibition. As a founding member of the avant-garde theatre group Ateatru in the 1980s, Buttigieg first gained attention with his full-length play Ir-Rewwixta tal-Qassisin, which premiered at the Manoel Theatre in 1986. His other works include Mela Hawn Xi Manikomju and L-Interrogazzjoni, the latter earning him the National Book Prize for Drama in 2022. Buttigieg is also the author of Dik il-Qtajra, a work that was considered obscene and subsequently banned upon its publication.
Alongside his artistic pursuits, Buttigieg enjoyed a long career in education, serving as the Head of School at San Anton Middle School and within the state education sector.
After retiring from education in 2020, Buttigieg pursued a course in ceramics at the Malta Society of Art under the guidance of Nadyanne Mangion.
This experience sparked his interest in figurative ceramics, which he finds to be a radically different medium from writing, though equally challenging. He enjoys navigating both the constraints and the creative freedom that ceramics offer, finding a new mode of expression in this art form.
Will you be heading over to this exhibition?