ART ADDITIVES is a series of talks, workshops, encounters and satellite events developed around the Spazju Kreattiv contemporary visual arts programme. All events are free of charge and open to a variety of audiences – from artists to students, children and families, and those with an interest in visual art. The events will feature a variety of speakers including, curators, practitioners, artists and educators.  

---

ONE | SIX  – Master of Fine Arts in Digital Arts Exhibition 2019 Date and Time: Wednesday 26th June, 2019, 6pm Venue: Space C, Spazju Kreattiv Students exhibiting in ONE | SIX, MFA Digital Arts Degree Exhibition will conduct a tour of the exhibition and explain their works. This will be followed by an information session on Art and Design postgraduate study at the Department of Digital Arts, short presentations by ex MFA Digital Arts students and light refreshments. 

---

 

Past Events

“Object, Objetc, Objecc, ”: Games in Art Date and Time: Tuesday, 4 June 2019, 7pm An Art Additive event and podcast recording where Letta Shtohryn discusses with Josef Florian Micallef the use of games in art and games as art. The discussion will explore the practice of utilising existing video and board games in art, interactivity, copyright issues and the question of authorship. The conversation will also look at the work of Letta Shtohryn who used the SIMS life-simulation video game in her works Crypto Heaven and Algorithmic Oracle as well as the works of other artists who recently used video games and board games in their practice. The event will be moderated by Andrew Pace. Julinu’s RadioActive Ravioli #2: Ravjul Imqarqaċ Date and Time: Saturday 18th May, 2019,  11am Venue: Space C4, Spazju Kreattiv Wordplay, manipulation of linguistic form and function for pleasure, comes under many different shapes and forms.  To name a few, we refer to riddles, puns,  rebuses, anagrams, and tongue twisters.  In this discussion, Michael Spagnol will show how Julian Mallia’s (Julinu) work can be understood in light of all the different ways one can play with language, be it in spelling, pronunciation, semantics, or grammar; and how Julinu takes advantage of this linguistic ambiguity transposing it to a dozen radioactive ravioli. Julinu’s RadioActive Ravioli #1: Date and Time: Wednesday, 8 May 2019 at 7pm Venue: Space C The first of two Art Additive talks for the exhibition of Julinu’s RadioActive Ravioli will delve into a conversation between Francois Zammit and Julian Mallia as Curator and Artist of this exhibition.

Wiki Loves Art 2019

Wiki Loves Art 2019 is a collection of activities occurring between January and April 2019 centred around documenting art in Malta. Four Art Additives events are occurring in this period that support the documentation and legacy of the works being displayed. These include a Wikipedia editing workshop on the 7th February, led by Dr Toni Sant; a Gabriel Caruana edit-a-thon on the 8th February; a discussion session on preserving and accessing the Fondazzjoni Kreattività art collection on the 13th February; and two Art+Feminism workshops held over the weekend of International Women’s Day 2019 on 8th and 9th March, led by Dr Toni Sant and featuring visiting Fulbright scholar, Dr Tracy Prince. These events are in association with Wikimedia Community Malta, the M3P Foundation, the Gabriel Caruana Foundation, and the US Embassy Valletta.

Wiki Loves Art 2019: Art from the Fondazzjoni Kreattività’s Collection – Artistic Director’s Tour

Date and Time: Saturday, 9 March 2019, 11am Venue: Space A and Space C, Spazju Kreattiv Join Spazju Kreattiv Artistic Director Toni Sant for a free 30-minute guided tour of works from the Fondazzjoni Kreattività Art Collection, currently on display in Spaces A and C at St James Cavalier in Valletta. While sharing interesting insights and amusing anecdotes about specific artists and their works in the collection, Dr Sant will also speak about the way Fondazzjoni Kreattività has given renewed attention to its collection since 2015 towards the publication of a comprehensive catalogue, which will be published in 2020.

Art+Feminism Edit-a-thon

Friday, 8 March 2019 (3:30pm – 6:30pm), Saturday, 9 March  2019 (10am – 4pm) Venue: Space A, Spazju Kreattiv As part of the international Art+Feminism project, Spazju Kreattiv is hosting a wiki edit-a-thon to bring together people who are interested in learning how to edit Wikipedia to create new articles and improve existing content about women artists in Malta and their works. This hands-on event is led by Dr Toni Sant and facilitated by Wikimedia Community Malta and the M3P Foundation. Please bring a laptop computer or tablet device. To register for this event, please fill out this form. There will also be a programme of talks by historian Dr Tracy Prince, a Research Professor at Portland State University’s American Indian Teacher Program. She has taught in Turkey, Canada, and the United States, with extensive research time in England, Australia, South Africa, and France. She is the author of four books – Culture Wars in British Literature: Multiculturalism and National Identity, Notable Women of Portland, two history books on the American West–and numerous articles in academic journals, chapters in academic books, and newspaper articles on history and politics.

Publishing Women’s Stories

Tuesday 5 March, 2pm – 4pm Venue: VC101, ICT Services Building, University of Malta In this talk, Prince will focus on publishing with both academic and trade publishers for books, journals, and encyclopedic entries, and amplifying those publications on academic versions of social media.

Changing the historic lack of women’s representation on Wikipedia

Friday 8 March, 3.30pm – 6.30pm Space A, Spazju Kreattiv Womens’ histories on Wikipedia are dramatically under-represented, which we are working to remedy with our edit-a-thon. Social media is another tool to amplify the online presence for women artists, which also leads to an amplified Wikipedia presence. Pinterest is the most overlooked social media tool, but is incredibly useful, as are: Facebook artist pages, Twitter, Instagram, and academic versions of social media. All of these tools help create content that can be sourced for Wikipedia pages, which require citations. This talk is part of the Art+Feminism wiki edit-a-thon, which also features research presentations by Nadette Xuereb (Suor Maria de Dominici), Caroline Tonna (Adelaide Conroy), and Letta Shtohryn and Andrew Pace (Early Women Photographers in Malta).

Art Residencies, Fellowships and Fundraising

Tuesday 12 March, 7pm Studio B, Spazju Kreattiv The world is full of residencies and fellowships for artists and writers that often provide funding, the space to work, and opportunities to create international connections. Dr. Prince will talk about how to find those opportunities and how to fundraise for your work as an artist.  

---

Preserving and Accessing the Fondazzjoni Kreattività Art Collection

Date and Time: Wednesday, 13 February 2019, 7pm Venue: Space A, Spazju Kreattiv In 2015 Fondazzjoni Kreattività embarked on a research project to evaluate its permanent art collection in a comprehensive manner, with an eye on long term preservation and and public access for the works of art acquired since 2000. This year, the research project is embedded in a collaborative effort to acquire contextual information about each work, so that a catalogue of the collection can be made available to the public in 2020. This event is a public meeting with the artists whose work from the Fondazzjoni Kreattività Collection is currently on display as part of an ongoing exercise to document works from 2013-2018 (Space A) or included in an exhibition of all the works by women artists in the collection (Space C).

---

Wiki Loves Art 2019: Art from the Fondazzjoni Kreattività’s Collection – Artistic Director’s Tour

Date and Time: Saturday, 9 February 2019, 11am Venue: Space A and Space C, Spazju Kreattiv Join Spazju Kreattiv Artistic Director Toni Sant for a free 30-minute guided tour of works from the Fondazzjoni Kreattività Art Collection, currently on display in Spaces A and C at St James Cavalier in Valletta. While sharing interesting insights and amusing anecdotes about specific artists and their works in the collection, Dr Sant will also speak about the way Fondazzjoni Kreattività has given renewed attention to its collection since 2015 towards the publication of a comprehensive catalogue, which will be published in 2020.

---

Gabriel Caruana Legacy edit-a-thon

Date and Time: Friday, 8 February 2019, 5:30pm Venue: Space A, Spazju Kreattiv Gabriel Caruana (1929-2018) was a pioneer of modern art in Malta. He was active throughout the latter half of the 20th century and remained a significant reference point in the contemporary art scene in Malta throughout his life. This Wikipedia edit-a-thon follows on from a Wiki Loves Art initiative started in collaboration with the Gabriel Caruana Foundation in 2017, seeking to share knowledge about this notable artist in as many languages as possible. This time around, the edit-a-thon includes a consideration for collaborators, former students, and others somehow associated with Gabriel Caruana, thus perpetuating his legacy in years to come. Please bring a laptop computer or tablet device.

---

Wikipedia Editing Workshop, led by Dr Toni Sant

Date and Time: Thursday, 7 February 2019, 5:30pm Venue: Space A, Spazju Kreattiv The workshop will be an information session on how Wikipedia and wiki technology are being used to document the art scene in Malta. In collaboration with Wikimedia Community Malta and the M3P Foundation, Dr Toni Sant will explain how wikis are being used to catalogue art works and exhibitions, and how Wikipedia can act as a collaborative encyclopaedia of artist biographies and works that will preserve their legacies in the long term. Please bring a laptop computer or tablet device.  

---

Shifting Contexts

Date and Time: Thursday, 17th January 2019,  6.30 pm Venue: Spot A, Spazju Kreattiv Free Entrance 10 young artists are currently participating in Shifting Contexts – a collective art exhibition that invites all those who visit Spazju Kreattiv to explore how the chosen theme – Relocate has been presented in multimodal forms of artistic expression. During a closing event that will be led by the curator – Dr. Trevor Borg, the artists will be describing their work and how they appropriated the theme and steered it towards the direction and form they are presenting. The panel discussion will be followed by the adjudication ceremony of the winning artist/s. Shifting Contexts is a collective art exhibition created and organised by Agenzija Zghazagh in collaboration with Spazju Kreattiv and supported by Valletta 2018.  It runs until 20th January 2019. Participating artists: Kamy Aquilina, Isaac Azzopardi, Keit Bonnici, Chiara Cassar, Emma Fsadni, Sara Pace, Joanna Portelli, Thomas Scerri, Matthew Schembri, Stefan Spiteri.  

---

An Evening with Photographer David Pisani: Vanishing Valletta

Date and Time: Wednesday, 16 January, 2019, 7pm Venue: Space C, Spazju Kreattiv Free Entrance An informal Q&A session at Spazju Kreattiv with photographer David Pisani, currently exhibiting the Vanishing Valletta collection of 192 fine art photographic prints that document Valletta between 1982 and 2011. This is an opportunity to talk shop, get the insider stories behind the images or discuss specific issues related to Valletta and the Grand Harbour.  

---

Not Just The City – Artists’ Residencies Panel Discussion & Exhibition Tour

Date and Time: Tuesday, 15 January, 2019, 7pm Venue: Studio B and Space B, Spazju Kreattiv Free Entrance As the collaborative Artists’ Residency programme between the Valletta 2018 Foundation and Fondazzjoni Kreattivitá has now come to end and therefore at a time of crossroads for residencies, Spazju Kreattiv are inviting the general public to an open meeting discussing the National Artists’ Residency programmes and to participate in a tour of the current exhibition ‘Not Just The City – Documenting the Gozo Residencies’ happening in Space B, Spazju Kreattiv. Spazju Kreattiv Artistic Director Dr Toni Sant, Valletta Design Cluster Manager Caldon Mercieca and AIR Coordinator for Valletta 2018 Ann Laenen will be discussing the Artists’ Residency Project in Malta, the impact of this 3-year project and the legacy of a national Artists’ Residency. The general public will be able to gather information and participate in the discussion. Refreshments will be served.  

---

KantaKantun Bieb Bieb

Date and Time: Wednesday, 28 November 2018, 7pm Venue: Space A, Spazju Kreattiv Price: Free Speakers: Alex Vella Gregory & Charlo Briguglio ( Project Creators), Roderick Camilleri, Ritty Tacsum, Sarah-Marie Scicluna, Elisa von Brockdorff (artists) Lisa Gwen Baldacchino (curators) A round-table discussion on the development of the project and the process of linking music and architecture with visual arts.  

---

Narrating Exile: History and memory in displacement

Date and Time: Thursday, 25 October 2018, 7pm Venue: Studio B, Spazju Kreattiv Price: Free The talk will question how displacement operates on narratives of exile by the individuals involved, and will show that the same border crossing has relevance in structuring a memory of the exile, as argued by Marie-Caroline Saglio-Yatzimirsky in her research. The talk will also delve into the important role of The Archive of Migrant Memories. Alessandro Triulzi will explain how the Archive, which began as an informal teaching tool derived from the migrants’ own narrations, eventually grew into an experiment in participatory video and memory-telling, aimed at empowering migrant voices to be heard, and helping Italian society to confront its rapidly changing identity from mono-cultural to multi- and inter-cultural mixed settings. On his part, David Zammit will focus on the ambivalent relations to the topic that arise in a post-colonial context such as that of Malta, as it is expressed in literary and historical documents. The event is part of the exhibition to be [defined] at Spazju Kreattiv. With David Zammit (University of Malta), Marie-Caroline Saglio-Yatzimirsky (Inalco, Paris), Alessandro Triulzi (AMM, Rome). Virginia Monteforte (curator); Kristina Borg (exhibition designer); Alexandra Galitzine-Loumpet (cultural advisor). The exhibition is part of the Spazju Kreattiv programme and the Valletta 2018 programme.