SkyParks Business Centre has announced the winners of an art competition it launched earlier this year. The winning proposal will be mounted on the outdoor terrace of the development, one of the leading corporate addresses on the island. With the collaboration of the Malta Council for Culture and the Arts, SkyParks Business Centre issued a call to artists last May inviting both established and new artists to submit their vision for an art project. This was one of the few calls for artists made by a private business and generated much interest on the local art scene. The winning project entitled “Skyscape” is a collaboration between Kane Cali, Neil Pace O’Shea and Vanessa Borg.
Over 25 applications were received and two proposals were shortlisted following the first judging session. Both entries were then asked to produce a scale model of their vision for the second judging session. After long discussions between an expert panel of judges, which included representatives from the local art scene, Heritage Malta and Malta Council for Culture and the Arts, one project was selected. The three artists who pooled their abilities brought a wealth of talent and interest in architectural design, sculpture and glass to their project. “With this concept we tried to exploit our various skills in the fields of interior architecture, sculpture and glass design to create a monument which would contain the soul of aviation,” said Vanessa Borg. All three have furthered their studies in the UK and have now returned to Malta to establish themselves here. This kind of highly visible project will certainly help them put their mark on Malta.
Alan Borg, general manager at SkyParks said, “The main aim behind this initiative was for SkyParks to give artists an exciting and challenging opportunity to create an innovative, contemporary public art project which will act as a future landmark for the airport and the Maltese Islands. We hope that other private companies will be encouraged to follow suit and include art initiatives as part of their CSR campaigns,” he concluded. Austin Calleja, MIA’s CEO ad interim added, “I’d like to thank our panel of expert judges who took time out of their busy schedules to give this competition the time and attention it deserved in order to choose what we hope the public will think of as a landmark as well as a monument.”
The artwork will be placed in the outdoor terrace on level 1, making it highly visible from the airport terminal, the ring road and car park at Malta International Airport.