IB and IG Art Trip to
MALTA INTERNATIONAL CONTEMPORARY ART SPACE
or MICAS
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Vila Petrovic - Year 11 IB Student
MICAS is a legacy project dedicated to promoting international contemporary art through interactive exhibitions in what used to be a British fort made to keep strangers out but now being transformed to welcome visitors.
The main opening exhibition is entitled “connecting geographies”, the art inside the museum is very closely related to Malta and its culture. Additionally, the artists and curator incorporated their own culture into their pieces.
The first example was that of Ugo Rondione, “the Radiant”, 2018. When I first saw this piece, my reaction was that of confusion because I thought the sculpture was made in a childish manner. This was before I started questioning the relations as to why it was made that way. “The Radiant” implies something is bright, which immediately could be linked to the idea of children, as they make up our future, and are in a way, the brightest.
This piece also reminded me of the megalithic temples situated in Malta which are deeply embedded in Maltese culture. The title of the piece "the Radiant" could also be tied to this because in these temples the stones are used to measure the equinox. The artist used stone in order to make the piece resemble these heritage temples (hence the hole in the sculpture). Relating back to the actual style of Rondione’s pieces, he states that he makes his pieces look childish to make a real connection with people. “Public should embrace the people at every level, that is why my works are childlike”.