Constellation Malta
Group Show, 2018
13 October – 9 December 2018
Curator: Rosa Martínez
Organiser: Valletta 2018 Foundation
Artists: Austin Camilleri, Chiharu Shiota, Eulalia Valldosera, Forensic Oceanography and Forensic Architecture, Kyung-Jin Cho, Malta Fancy Poultry and Pigeon Club, Marina Abramović, Readymades in Malta, Saskia Calderón, Tania Berta Judith, Yoshitomo Nara.
Venues: GOZO: Ġgantija Visitor Centre, Ta’ Kola Windmill | MDINA: National Museum of Natural History | QRENDI: Ħaġar Qim & Mnajdra Visitor Centre | SENGLEA: Isla Arches | TARXIEN: Tarxien Temples | VALLETTA: Fort St Elmo, Church of St Mary Magdalene, National Museum of Archaeology | ŻEJTUN: Crypt of St Catherine.
Constellation Malta was a multi-site contemporary art exhibition presented across Malta and Gozo as the major closing visual arts exhibition of Valletta 2018 – European Capital of Culture. Curated by Rosa Martínez, the project brought together Maltese and international artists through a series of interventions in museums, archaeological sites, churches, historic buildings and public spaces, creating dialogues between contemporary art, cultural heritage and popular culture.
The exhibition took the constellation as both a metaphor and a method of navigation. Historically used to orient journeys across physical landscapes, constellations were reimagined as a way of navigating Malta’s cultural and geographical terrain. Individual exhibition sites became metaphorical “stars” or nodes, connected through artworks and interventions that encouraged audiences to move between different locations and encounter the archipelago through new routes and perspectives.
The concept also drew on the phenomenon of “dark cloud constellations”, dense areas of nebulae in which new stars and matter are formed. This image of emergence from darkness extended the exhibition’s interest beyond geographical navigation towards questions of interpretation and meaning. Rather than prescribing a single route through the project, Constellation Malta invited visitors and passers-by to become voyagers, constructing their own connections between artworks, places and the histories surrounding them.
Across the exhibition, contemporary artistic practices were placed in direct conversation with Malta’s physical and cultural landscape. Sites including Fort St Elmo, the National Museum of Archaeology, Tarxien Temples, Ħaġar Qim and Mnajdra, the National Museum of Natural History in Mdina, Ġgantija and Ta’ Kola Windmill became part of the curatorial framework rather than simply serving as exhibition venues. Through these encounters, the project connected local histories with wider social, political, economic and artistic contexts, moving from the local to the cosmic in addressing the complexities of the contemporary world.
PRESS
‘Giving public spaces new meaning’ — Times of Malta, 30 December 2018. Read more.
‘Costellazioni per un arcipelago. La mostra curata da Rosa Martinez a Malta’ — Artribune, 1 December 2018. Read more.
‘Creating new ‘constellations of meaning” — Times of Malta, 13 November 2018. Read more.
‘Constellation Malta: A Contemporary Art Exhibition at various Heritage Sites’ — Universes in Universe, October 2018. Read more.
Acknowledgements
Organised by
Valletta 2018 Foundation
Premium Partner
Bank of Valletta
Government Partners
Government of Malta
Valletta Local Council
Transport Malta
Malta Tourism Authority
Commission for the Rights of Persons with Disability
Local Councils’ Association
In Collaboration with
Ministry for Foreign and European Affairs and Trade
Ministry for Gozo and Planning
Ministry for the National Heritage, The Arts and Local Government