A Maltese artist has taken part, for the first time, in the International Arts Festival in Monastir, Tunisia. The festival, organised every year since 2002 by ABAM (L'Association des Beaux Arts de Monastir), brings together numerous artists from different countries. This year, about 60 artists from 22 countries participated and artist Francis Galea represented Malta.

Mr Galea is an active member of the Malta Society of Arts, Manufacture and Commerce that constantly promotes international art exchanges, which is why he decided to take part in the Tunisian art festival held last September.

The festival's aim was two-fold: first to promote Art by giving artists from all over the world the opportunity to meet and share their expertise; and second to reveal Monastir's diverse social, cultural and tourist aspects. The ABAM organised a rich and varied programme of activities that included visits to places of interest, conferences about art, evening shows and of course workshops. On the first day, a documentary film was shown about the different artists, their career and their works.

It was in a festive and relaxed ambiance that the artists were able to share their experiences with colleagues of different ages, genre and cultures and improve their knowledge and approach to art.

"The only proviso of the festival was to create at least two works and leave them to the association at the end of the festival," explained Mr Galea. When they arrived, the artists chose canvasses on which they were free to paint what they wanted using their own materials. Everyone tried to paint something that had to do with Monastir. Mr Galea said the artists only had five days to create their paintings. "It was a bit hard because you could not spend as much time as you wanted. But it was an interesting challenge."

The festival offered the public the rare treat of observing artists at work, which the inhabitants of Monastir took advantage of. These sessions were organised in the resort of Les Palmiers, which was transformed for the occasion into an authentic and huge animated painting. Everyone was painting everywhere - on the terraces, on the grass, near the swimming-pool, and so on. Mr Galea said some artists found it difficult to paint with people looking on, but as a teacher he was used to it so it did not bother him. However, it was an excellent way in which people could ask questions, exchange ideas and broaden one's knowledge.

Mr Galea executed three paintings depicting traditional Arabic architecture. He said the most exciting challenge was to create paintings that reflected Monastir's architecture, culture and beliefs. He also admitted that he felt quite privileged, as the Tunisians could more or less understand Maltese, which is quite similar to Arabic. "It was really easy for me to communicate with them and I had the opportunity to talk with a lot of artists and exchange ideas and skills."

Each work of art echoed the different cultural influence of the artist due to the colours and the forms they used. "Tunisia is beautiful. It inspired me a lot," Mr Galea said. "I usually paint Maltese landscapes in warm colours. But in Monastir everything is white and blue and I had to use cold colours to portray it in my paintings. It was rather new for me, but that was the fun of it."

Mr Galea painted with oils and acrylics, but many different materials and techniques were used during the festival. Some of the artists included earth or sand in their paintings, others scraped their paintings with grass. "Each artist has his own techniques and you learn a lot by watching the others," Mr Galea said. "For example, a famous Moroccan artist put small heaps of painting on his canvas rather than on his palette and applied them with a metal spatula. It was fascinating to watch him at work."

The festival ended with the launch of a collective exhibition of the works painted during the week at the Cap Marina Monastir Art Gallery. It was a beautiful display of different paintings, an exceptional range of colours and forms that was pleasing to the eye.

The pairing of ABAM with another French art association L'Association des Beaux-Arts de Grenoble was launched during the festival: "I would like to organise a similar festival in Malta," said Mr Galea. "But it is very expensive to put up and requires a lot of sponsors. Yet, events like this one should be promoted all around the world." He added that he was the only Maltese attending the festival, but hopes that there will be many more next year. "I

was like an ambassador. Now I can tell everyone how interesting and enriching it was."