Where Did She Go? New Valletta Chair Monument Puts Queen Victoria Statue Out Of Sight
A new temporary monument of an empty chair in the centre of Valletta has all but concealed a statue dedicated to Queen Victoria.
Siġġu is the work of Austin Camilleri, an artist known for provocative public artwork such as the three-legged horse Żieme and an eight-legged horse, and was erected as part of the first Malta Biennale.
It is a replica of the Queen Victoria marble monument but carved out of globigerina limestone that was quarried before 1974, the year Malta became a republic. Camilleri worked on a block of stone that was left unused by his grandfather, and in an act of artistic didacticism, worked on Siġġu in his grandfather’s studio.
Camilleri said he wanted to create an artwork that would “haunt our present, and function as a medium to the past”. Rather than dethroning the Queen, the artist sought to cast her into the shadow of a purposely unclaimed new seat, inviting people to think about a new future and question insular thinking.
More than absence, the vacant chair is an invitation to participate in forging our own identity.
The monument to Queen Victoria, who never visited Malta during her lifetime, was sculpted by Sicilian sculptor Giuseppe Valenti and erected in Republic Square, Valletta, in 1891 as part of her golden jubilee that was celebrated throughout the British Empire.
It has proven to be a point of contention over the years, with critics warning it is an unwanted remnant of colonialism and proponents counter-arguing that removing it would dishonour Malta’s history.
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