New Memorial Mural Honouring Paulina Dembska Unveiled In Sliema By Local Artists
A collaboration of local female artists together with the Sliema local council unveiled a new memorial mural honouring the memory of Paulina Dembska, in Independence Gardens in Sliema.
The collaboration of female artists and activists is comprised of Justine Peel, Melanie Vella, Elaine Wirth, and Julia Grech, collectively known as MARA – Malta Artivists Rise to Action.
On 2nd January, Malta woke up to the shocking news of the rape and murder of Paulina Dembska, a 29-year-old Polish woman that had been living in Malta for a few years. She was murdered inside Independence Gardens, which she would regularly visit to feed cats. Abner Aquilina has been charged with the rape and murder.
“This mural is a tribute to Paulina who dedicated many hours to feeding cats in the local gardens. It is also a colourful and powerful reminder to women and men stand together and call out harassment, threats and other injustices against women as a way to stop them happening and changing the culture,” says Justine Peel, the lead artist behind the mural.
Together, the group of women worked on the mural to help accelerate needed action towards respecting women, celebrating the connections women are forming every day to create positive changes in our culture, and ultimately ending violence towards women and girls.
The mural aims to create a positive landmark in the Independence Gardens, Sliema to turn the stigma of the incident into a positive space where the community can come together and spark a positive conversation that focuses on how women can support each other.
“As Mayor of Sliema, together with all the Councillors of Sliema, we share the sentiment of all the residents that we are shocked at such a crime in a most frequented and popular garden, and we are fully committed to support this initiative of having a mural at the site of the crime against a young female, to salute her memory and also to raise awareness against femicide,” Graziella Attard Previ, Mayor of the Sliema Local Council said.
“It is very unfortunate that such a crime occurred, and it is very sad that Paulina Dembska had to die at her favourite location in Sliema. This mural shall serve also as a call for justice with the hope that no other female victims face such a horrific fate,” she continued.
“Our aim is to use art to bring a message of hope, unity and empowerment for women. The message behind this mural project is that Paulina’s incident, like so many others, could have been any one of us. By seeing ourselves in other women’s experiences we can come together, offer support and shift our culture to one of respect and equality for women and take action toward this future,” Melanie Vella, the mural co-ordinator, said.
The names of NGOs who support women have also been added to the wall as a way of signposting people to where they can find help, including Women for Women (Malta), Women’s Rights Foundation, Kellimni and Dar Merħba Bik.
The artists behind the mural
The design and visuals of the mural were meticulously planned out to highlight a strong and positive message.
“The mural brings together the past, present and future, and aims to make sense of such a senseless act. The hummingbird, representing peace and prosperity is a tribute to Paulina Dembska. It is followed by a colourful Mandala, representing life beyond our physical form. As the mural unfolds to the present, where we see the female gender sign with flowers and plants wrapped around it. The mirror placed in the centre is an interactive feature that invites the viewer to take a picture and actually be part of the painting. The message here is to recognise that we are all the same in order to create positive change in our communities.”
“The ‘future’ is all about what’s coming next, changing the narrative and collectively taking our power back- it’s inspired by the popular ‘we can do it’ poster originally created as an inspirational image to boost female worker morale. We’ve updated this version to a female cat because we know how much Paulina loved cats.”
Process of the mural
A Facebook Group called MARA – Malta Artivists Rise to Action – was formed in order to continue encouraging women in Malta to connect with each other, collaborate on projects that help change the culture around harassment and take collective action to build a more balanced world.
Anyone visiting the mural is invited to feel part of the project by taking a selfie in the mirror and sharing it on social media using #ImEveryWoman to celebrate the strength, resilience and leadership of women in Malta.
Share to raise awareness
READ NEXT: Mask Wearing Rules For Malta's School Children Set To Be Scrapped After Easter, Chris Fearne Confirms
