I Long To Hear Stories Of Your Past: Maltese Artist To Debut With Solo Show In Den Haag
Maltese artist Martina Farrugia is set to debut in The Netherlands with her first solo exhibition in Den Haag, dealing with Malta’s recent history from a personal lens.
Martina Farrugia (1998) is a designer based between Malta and the Netherlands. She has a background in art history, archaeology and digital art. Her current work tackles the importance of narrative, acts of collecting, archiving and reconstructive memory.
By observing family photographs, Farrugia has built an archive of images, recounting Malta’s historical narrative through these personal scenes within the family home and beyond.
This act of collecting visual artefacts unveils the activity of constructing history and our perception of it. Throughout the exhibit, you will notice a selection of images that contain people, places and objects.
The identification of these everyday items found inside the images play a crucial part in the design methodology. They serve as inspiration for new ceramic forms and a means of referencing objects made during that period.
During 2024, Malta will commemorate several key historical milestones including the 60th year of its independence, its 50th year as a Republic, 45 years since the closure of military bases and two decades as a European Union Member State.
The exhibition seeks to capture the spirit of Malta from the 50s until the 80s, through the lens of Martina’s family photos, which together with the accompanying ceramic art forms provide a more tangible experience of our islands’ historical timeline.
Farrugia’s work recreates a singular item present in each image. Each ceramic piece mirrors an interpretation of the original object, still trying to capture the essence of the everyday items, much like a blurred memory.
The objects also provide an insight into Malta’s changing social history, while also observing the many changes and milestones experienced by the Maltese population.
The show opens on 9th November at 6:30pm at the Embassy of Malta in Den Haag. This project was created in collaboration with the Embassy of Malta in The Netherlands.
Artist photographs shot by Justine Ellul
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