As far as I know the only art gallery in what is often referred to as 'the South' is the Contemporary Modern Art Gallery set up a couple of years ago by the energetic Rudy Buhler in Marsascala and which has been very active.  And now we have the latest outpost, The Seaside Gallery in 65, Triq il Mina tax-Xatt,  Senglea. These are not places where you go to look at old stuff made by dead people. Often, the artists themselves are present at least at the launch which was the case last week when The Seaside Gallery opened its latest exhibition Silence: Reflections and Shadows of the Soul: An Introspective Experience. I popped in for a glass of wine and out of curiosity since the list of artists was not at all familiar and an art gallery in Senglea? How interesting.

This is Alfie Gatt’s work and easily one of my favourites. He achieves this result by using tape 
https://www.instagram.com/reel/CVf1CgCgLz7/?utm_medium=copy_link

How did this latest gallery come to be? I spoke to artist and owner Rosanna Ciliberti. She and her husband, Edward Saliba, a lawyer,  had  bought a house for rent as a B&B, with the intention of having different local art exhibited even while it was being rented to holidaymakers. So the lights and interior were designed to be 'gallery like'. Rosanna goes on: "Due to COVID and a lack of tourists, coupled with my passion for art, we decided to transform it into an art gallery.  We have had two solo exhibitions, and two collectives up until now, but have different exhibitions lined up until June. We also organise short, relaxing art courses. My big love is Art and it is of great satisfaction to Edward and myself to see that the gallery is working very well so far.  People realize immediately that it is driven solely through a true passion for the arts." 

Photographer Therese Debono and her husband

Rosanna seems to be very confident in the power of art. She is doing her best to promote mostly artists who are new or simply have not had much exposure. "There is so much local talent... its impressive to say the least, but my forte and what really inspires me is giving that push to emerging and unknown artists." Yes, some artists simply do not push themselves enough, don't seek the limelight and are cast out, seemingly hiding their talent. Some works there transported us to other worlds embedded in their psyche and to which we are allowed to glimpse.

 Dr Edward Saliba and his scientist brother David

Because of its location I foresee that the gallery may also turn into a meeting place, an attractive location to hang out and meet artists. It is situated on one of the stepped streets in Senglea and there is no passing traffic, the bane of our lives today.  In summer especially, the restaurants on the pavement opposite are full of people and after a good (one hopes) meal all one has to do is cross the street, go up a few steps and you are in another world.

Ceramist Mauro Pace Parascandalo, his wife Anna and Julian Grech

Rosanna is obviously endowed with an aesthetic sensibility. She continues: "I strongly believe that art in itself is a passion, if there is no passion this will reflect in the works. Art is also diverse in those who view it, some are after the 'collection' some are after the price, whilst some are after what a particular piece of art invokes in them. The latter in my opinion is the purest form of acquiring art." 

The artists are exhibiting their works from ceramics to multimedia, resin, oils, charcoal, watercolour, photographs. Some canvasses are joyful paens to colour, others are part of the artist's rich internal life and visual vocabulary. Glad to say there were no urinals, piles of bricks, unmade beds.

Do pop in to look at these works. Consult the Facebook page for hours of opening.

One of the most important functions of an art gallery nowadays is to allow us, however briefly, to feel at peace within it while taking in the beauty displayed.   They also make our lives more beautiful. Isn't that what we need, now more than ever.

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