Emma Borg

Sina Farrugia Micallef is a talented ceramist and educator. She is as gentle as she is passionate. She was one of the many artists featured in the previous Mdina Biennale and will again be presenting her work in this year's APS Mdina Cathedral Contemporary Art Biennale.  The 2015 piece dealt with the personal topic of one's inner spiritual journey. A central ceramic sculpture representing a lotus was surrounded by a mantra inviting others to meditate, and surrounding that were a series of ceramic boats indicating the journey of the soul. The piece was well received as it was able to communicate with the audience on a very personal level.  I sat down with Sina recently to discuss the upcoming APS Mdina Biennale as well as the Malta's ever-changing relationship with art .

Sina has a very detailed resume. She studied art at the Malta School of Art and Ceramics at Tarġa Gap School and was a teacher of Art and Ceramics for many years. She is a part-time lecturer within the Faculty of Education (University of Malta). In 1984, Sina set up her own ceramics studio which is still active today. She continued to further her studies in ceramics in England. She has also has taken part in many collective exhibitions and has also had a number of personal exhibitions in  France, England, America and Malta.

Her relationship with ceramics  began at around the age of twenty by casually joining her friend to a class which was lead by Gianni Bonnici. I found the choice of ceramics to be an fascinating one. The medium is a very personal one as once the hands touch clay it can never be perfectly replicated. It is a medium that one can fully engage with. Other mediums require several tools yet the main and only necessary tools for ceramics are the hands.

When I met with Sina we discussed a series of subjects ranging from the APS Mdina Biennale itself to  how Malta is developing into a more art conscious island. We both agreed that much effort is being made locally to improve the standards of art. There are many fascinating events being organised, much more than there were previously.  The question of whether or not this is simply due to the Valletta 2018 European Capital of Culture project was inevitably brought up, yet Sina thought that the credit could not only be assigned to this particular happening.  According to her the Valletta 2018 project has had an incredible impact, but Malta's cultural development is also the result of the enduring and hard work of a series of people who have vision, who have endless energy and a genuine love for art. Malta, as she said , "is a very dense place. Malta is a bit like a small fruit but the taste is excellent.'' 

The theme of this years APS Mdina Biennale is  'The Mediterranean: A Sea of Conflicting Spiritualities'. In the previous edition, Sina tackled the subject of spirituality and morality, so this is definitely not new ground for her. When she refers to spirituality she does not let it simply reside in a world of religions but also as a personal relationship that one can have with any greater power or being . The idea of spirituality has a clear space in the Mediterranean. Sina speaks of the Mediterranean Sea almost in reverse as to her the sea itself is almost like the island and the surrounding land is the sea. And, in truth, the sea itself is often not elevated to the status that a country receives. This water, which has as rich a history as others in the world, if not more, unites as well as divides those that surround it and is simultaneously a home to all those that surround it, from Israel to Italy.  Sina acknowledges this and according to another unifying factor are the stories that belong to all the different countries and cultures.  Despite and irrespective of religious, linguistic, and cultural differences, it is common for folklore to mention the sea and the power it had on collective cultural memory.

The Mediterranean Sea was the site of religious wars and conflict. These rich waters are now not only a separating factor but one of commonality and this is best shown through the rich spirituality that the Mediterranean countries somehow magically all equally exude, in spite of all conflict in the region.

For more information on the APS Mdina Biennale, visit the official website: www.mdinabiennale.com