A solo exhibition at the Bibliotheca — Malta’s National Library, Valletta, 2018
Ex Libris was my solo exhibition at the Bibliotheca — Malta’s National Library — in Valletta, presented as part of the city’s year as European Capital of Culture in 2018.
The centuries-old books held there, many of them devoted to metal, metallurgy, chemistry and alchemy, inspired me so completely that I set out to make my own. Working in copper, bronze and brass — aged through the kinds of chemical processes often described in those very books — I created metal “books”, scrolls and artefacts, many carrying text etched so deeply into the sheet that it seems suspended between permanence and disintegration, much like the fragile originals that inspired them.
I have always used words and text in my work, and Ex Libris was built entirely around that impulse: an exploration that bridges past and present, sets permanence against transience, and brings science and art into the same room. The finished pieces were shown among the Bibliotheca’s own shelves, my metal books in conversation with the old paper ones.
The exhibition opened on 5 May 2018 with a reception attended by close to 200 guests, and ran until 2 June. Endorsed by the Valletta 2018 Foundation, it received wide coverage in the Maltese and international press.
Film and television
Exhibition trailer
Lwien ta’ Belt
- Meander — Maltese cultural television
- MaltArti — Maltese cultural television
- My full artist’s talk at the Bibliotheca (about one hour, including Q&A)
