ALTERNATIVE PERSPECTIVES

Contemporary Art Collective

01 - 22 May 2022

This exhibition proposes the real identity of the Mediterranean island of Gozo as a platform for a conceptually-engaging artistic discourse. Gozo is presented as a source for a creative dialect which digs beneath the surface and which is, above all, current and intellectually stimulating. Twenty-nine selected contemporary art projects by a cross-section of established and lesser-known names, propose alternative perspectives to the artistic dialogue with Gozo and the immense yet untapped creative potential that it offers.

Many artistic representations of the island of Gozo have focused for a very long time on depictions of an idyllic island, a place where time stood still, and have largely represented the character of its church-dominated skylines and natural settings. This is however a utopic position which often disregards many other issues and phenomena which shape the identity of Gozo – issues which have been generally and conspicuously absent from artistic production which deals with Gozo. One of the aims of this endeavour is to break conventional formulas and concepts through which the island is generally represented.

Alternative Perspectives proposes itself as a platform for a contemporary artistic dialogue which engages with such issues like connectivity, insularity, immigration, greed and overdevelopment, work and rituals, the preservation of the urban fabric, the function of religion and politics, the role of the environment and sustainability, among others. Exhibited throughout the performance spaces of Teatru Astra and its newly-refurbished foyer precincts, the projects ponder, raise questions, and make statements about the identity of Malta’s sister island.

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