On the 8th October,
the Ambassador of the Republic of Malta to Poland, Dr. John Paul Grech,
inaugurated an exhibition of paintings by Maltese artist, Gabriel Buttigieg, at
the Great Armoury, Academy of Fine Arts, Gdansk, Poland. The exhibition will remain open until the 24th
October 2019.
The Academy of Fine Arts in
Gdansk provides academic training to over 1000 students, at all academic levels
and houses over 150 academics specializing in the various fields of art.
Entitled: ‘The Beach’, the
exhibition was organised by the Embassy of Malta in Warsaw, in collaboration
with the Arts Council Malta, the Academy of Fine Arts of Gdansk, the honorary
consulate of Malta in Gdynia and other sponsors.
Professor Vince Briffa, Head of
the Department of Digital Arts and Deputy Dean, Faculty of Media and Knowledge,
University of Malta, was curator of the exhibition.
The exhibition catalogue
contained dedicated essays about the various aspects related to the exhibition,
contributed by Professor Vince Briffa; Dr. John Paul Grech; Dr. Greta
Darmanin-Kissaun, Head of Department of Psychology, University of Malta and Mr.
Joe Farrugia, Lecturer, Visual Literacy for Marketers, University of Malta.
In his opening remarks,
Ambassador Grech thanked Arts Council Malta, the Academy of Fine Arts of Gdansk
and the honorary consul of Malta in Gdynia, Slawomir Kalicki, as well as
private sponsors for their invaluable contribution in making this event
possible. He spoke about the need for
countries to engage in joint cultural and artistic projects in order to
generate a people-to-people approach and in so doing, raise mutual awareness
about each other’s artistic and cultural heritage. He emphasized how this
dove-tails with the cultural diplomacy segment of the work of the Ministry of
Foreign Affairs and Trade Promotion as well as the mission statement of the Embassy
of Malta in Poland.
The canvases - consisting of
original works done specifically for this exhibition – are large in size and
investigate human nature at its most intimate as well as its relationship with
the sea – elements which find commonality amongst communities living in close proximity
with a maritime environment, such as Gdansk and Malta.
Availing of the presence of
Professor Vince Briffa, the Rector of the Academy of Fine Arts in Gdansk, Prof.
Krzysztof Polkowski and the Vice-Rector, agreed to kick-start an exchange of
academics, specializing in the various branches of art, between the Academy and
the University of Malta, on the basis of an agreement which should be signed
between the two academic institutions.
In addition, once the exhibition is over, the Academy will be inviting
artist Gabriel Buttigieg, back to Gdansk, to deliver a workshop to the students
of the Academy with a view to share knowledge and experience about the craft.
The exhibition received an
encouraging press and media coverage both in Malta and in Gdansk.