Bank of Valletta is proud to announce that the protagonist of its upcoming exhibition will be none other than the internationally renowned Richard England. Around 150 panels featuring England’s work in architecture, sculpture, graphics and art will take centre stage at Bank of Valletta’s twenty-first retrospective exhibition.

The exhibition will be inaugurated by President Dr. George Abela and will run between the 18th May and the 19th July 2013.  BOV Centre offers plenty of volume and natural light and these are the ideal qualities that any artist would require for the successful set-up and presentation of his exhibition.

The BOV catalogue of the Exhibition carries an introduction by Renzo Piano “Richard England is a master builder, his walls breathe, yet they are walls which are anchored to the ground and their individual elements interact and merge perfectly.  It is from the articulation and the joints in an edifice that one recognizes the real maker of buildings, and it is thanks to this quality that England’s architectural work avoids appearing romantic.  It is an architecture which is local, but also global, for his language is the language of poetry”.

The exhibition curator, Charles Knevitt, former correspondent of the Sunday Telegraph and The Times, and former director of the Royal Institute of British architect Trust, is also the author of two monographs on Richard England’s works: “England has worked with Malta’s local tradition not against it, respecting mass over void, shade over direct sunlight, topography, climate, materials and the memory of place”.

These exhibitions are organised annually by Bank of Valletta. Over the years, BOV paid tribute to some of the most famous artists of our islands like the late artists Anton Agius, Pawl Carbonaro and Joseph Casha. Other household names include Luciano Micallef and Paul Haber.

Richard England holds professorships at various universities in the U.S.A, U.K. and Europe.   He is an honorary fellow of the American Institute of Architects, vice-president of the International Academy of Architecture, a fellow of the Royal Society of Arts and an officer of the Order of Merit of the Maltese government.  His buildings and designs have earned him numerous international prizes and awards.  Among his best known buildings in Malta are the Church of St Joseph at Manikata, the Central Bank of Malta Annexe, the Millennium Chapel and the St. James Cavalier Centre for Creativity in Valletta.

Richard England’s works may be viewed on www.richardengland.com