Following the success garnered by the presence of a non-figurative painting by Maltese veteran artist Alfred Chircop at the Berlaymont building in Brussels, Belgium, this year, with the termination of the previous five-year agreement, Malta was requested to contribute once again to the prestigious Berlaymont Summa Artis Collection.

Following the issue of a public call, 33 works, including sculptures, paintings and photographs, were submitted for the consideration of the adjudication panel set up by the Malta Council for Culture and the Arts.

The works chosen to represent Malta at the Berlaymont building for the next five years were five: two paintings; Twelve Thoughts and Earth Energy by Anna Grima and three sculptures: La Vallette, Wignacourt, and Lascaris by Karin Grech.

The latter three form part of Grech’s Grandmaster series; a cycle of Remnants, mostly referred to as such due to the fact that they were created out of recycled stone, local limestone which was discarded from a building site or other. La Vallette, Wignacourt, and Lascaris actually used to form part of a Maltese stone balcony, and this character is still recognisable although they have now been given a new lease of life.

Anna Grima’s two paintings: Twelve Thoughts and Earth Energy are representations of the sacred in nature. They honour the earth, the heavens and humanity whilst expressing human values which are translated into a contemporary perspective. With an artistic language which includes the interaction of colours and their transparencies, Grima demonstrates competence and skill by creating varying moods. This results in an experience which inspires wholeness, a balance between the temporal and the spiritual; an art that captures the softness of ‘becoming’.