Luzzu Director Among Four Maltese Artists Taking Part In Epoch-Defining New York Exhibition
Luzzu director Alex Camilleri is among four Maltese artists currently taking part in a New York-based collaborative exhibition.
Un/mute is the brainchild of 28 international artists across multiple disciplines that started out as strangers, but ultimately became collaborators, after months of online conversations.
Artists had to recreate ways of collaborating and networking, and what began as abstract and digital art over a Zoom call are now 14 tactile and analog artworks.
Alex Camilleri and Terttu Uibopuu
The four Maltese artists that participated among other international artists were Mariella Cassar-Cordina, Tricia Dawn Williams, Aaron Bezzina and Alex Camilleri.
While each artist produced works in the medium they are most comfortable with, ranging from sculptures, installations, films, drawings, photographs, and performances, the common theme was the importance of language.
The title of the exhibition is a play on one of the many words that we have all become all too familiar with amidst this global pandemic. The language was reimagined in uncertain times, with words like “unmute” and “screenshare” being universally recognised due to the pandemic.
Aaron Bezzina and Kyle Hittmeier
Artists were forced to find a bridge across two points in virtual space, with cultures, countries, and differences acting as barriers between them.
Other limits such as miscommunication and misunderstandings also presented themselves, due to the virtual nature of the project, but in the midst of it all, they discovered a shared language around the creative process and a rethinking of the power of art.
“Un/mute aims to observe the transition into a new epoch, one that imagines an inclusive and diverse society, after the months of self-reflection that everyone underwent.”
The body of work is the physical culmination of an 18-month-old project that was launched in 2020, to provide European and NYC-based artists an opportunity for critical exchange and collaboration during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Mariella Cassar-Cordina, Tricia Dawn Williams and Nicola Ginzel
The international exhibition features works from 28 different artists, across multiple disciplines and media.
The participation of these four artists came about following public calls, and was funded by Arts Council Malta with the support of the Permanent Representation of the Republic of Malta to the UN.
Minister for Foreign and European Affairs Evarist Bartolo also attended the opening night over the weekend and delivered a speech.
The exhibition was launched last week and will be going on until January 2022, at the Austrian Cultural Forum in New York.
Photography credit: David Plakke
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