{"id":2116939,"date":"2026-08-28T12:12:50","date_gmt":"2026-08-28T09:12:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/?p=2116939"},"modified":"2026-08-28T12:12:50","modified_gmt":"2026-08-28T09:12:50","slug":"from-caravaggio-to-korea-how-maltas-artists-are-breaking-out-of-the-baroque","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/?p=2116939","title":{"rendered":"From Caravaggio to Korea: How Malta\u2019s artists are breaking out of the baroque"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>[analyse_image type=&#8221;featured&#8221; src=&#8221;https:\/\/images.euronews.com\/articles\/stories\/09\/88\/40\/24\/1200x675_cmsv2_bd48ea31-7a63-5a27-a881-6ef340bb889f-9884024.jpg&#8221;]<\/p>\n<article id=\"abe-2921384-pos1-c-latest-stories\" class=\"the-media-object m-modeMobile-1 m-modeDesktop-1 m-modeXL-1 the-media-object--has-video\" data-nid=\"2921384\" data-cid=\"9893396\" data-part-label=\"Partner content\">\n<figure id=\"abe-2921384-label-pos1-c-latest-stories\" class=\"the-media-object__figure\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"the-media-object__image\" src=\"https:\/\/images.euronews.com\/articles\/stories\/09\/89\/33\/96\/189x106_cmsv2_ddc9c191-3e38-5e54-8079-cd50a2790400-9893396.jpg\" loading=\"lazy\" alt=\"Mourners gather in the pouring rain to watch as King Harald V&apos;s remains arrive to the Royal Palace in Oslo\" height=\"9\" width=\"16\"><\/figure>\n<div class=\"the-media-object__content\">\n                    No Comment<\/p>\n<div class=\"the-media-object__title  \">\n<p>    Norway mourns king Harald V as crown prince Haakon becomes king\n  <\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/article>\n<article id=\"abe-2921403-pos2-c-latest-stories\" class=\"the-media-object m-modeMobile-1 m-modeDesktop-1 m-modeXL-1\" data-nid=\"2921403\" data-cid=\"9893523\" data-part-label=\"Partner content\">\n<figure id=\"abe-2921403-label-pos2-c-latest-stories\" class=\"the-media-object__figure\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"the-media-object__image\" src=\"https:\/\/images.euronews.com\/articles\/stories\/09\/89\/35\/23\/189x106_cmsv2_657370fb-0eb8-5339-8a83-43f1e2783ec1-9893523.jpg\" loading=\"lazy\" alt=\"Norway&apos;s King Harald gives a speech during a gala dinner at the Palace in Oslo, 8 April, 2025\" height=\"9\" width=\"16\"><\/figure>\n<div class=\"the-media-object__content\">\n                    Europe News<\/p>\n<div class=\"the-media-object__title  \">\n<p>    Europe&#8217;s monarchs and world leaders mourn Norway&#8217;s King Harald V\n  <\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/article>\n<article id=\"abe-2921401-pos3-c-latest-stories\" class=\"the-media-object m-modeMobile-1 m-modeDesktop-1 m-modeXL-1\" data-nid=\"2921401\" data-cid=\"9893497\" data-part-label=\"Partner content\">\n<figure id=\"abe-2921401-label-pos3-c-latest-stories\" class=\"the-media-object__figure\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"the-media-object__image\" src=\"https:\/\/images.euronews.com\/articles\/stories\/09\/89\/34\/97\/189x106_cmsv2_c4700f6d-725d-5d15-871c-2e627e7f61ce-9893497.jpg\" loading=\"lazy\" alt=\"Residents salvage their belongings from damaged houses after flash flooding in the Devighat area of Nuwakot district in Nepal, 28 August, 2026\" height=\"9\" width=\"16\"><\/figure>\n<div class=\"the-media-object__content\">\n                    Nepal<\/p>\n<div class=\"the-media-object__title  \">\n<p>    Number of missing in Nepal floods passes 2,400 as EU pledges aid\n  <\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/article>\n<article id=\"abe-2921232-pos4-c-latest-stories\" class=\"the-media-object m-modeMobile-1 m-modeDesktop-1 m-modeXL-1\" data-nid=\"2921232\" data-cid=\"9893458\" data-part-label=\"Partner content\">\n<figure id=\"abe-2921232-label-pos4-c-latest-stories\" class=\"the-media-object__figure\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"the-media-object__image\" src=\"https:\/\/images.euronews.com\/articles\/stories\/09\/89\/34\/58\/189x106_cmsv2_cbb616c5-b14e-5ccb-ad11-5b6eb696474a-9893458.jpg\" loading=\"lazy\" alt=\"Migrants who crossed from Morocco into Spain return to a beach after being expelled from the area the previous day, 21 August, 2026\" height=\"9\" width=\"16\"><\/figure>\n<div class=\"the-media-object__content\">\n                    Europe News<\/p>\n<div class=\"the-media-object__title  \">\n<p>    Ceuta &#8216;on the brink of collapse&#8217; as Spain seeks Frontex support\n  <\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/article>\n<article id=\"abe-2921384-pos1-c-latest-stories-sidebar\" class=\"the-media-object m-modeMobile-2 m-modeDesktop-2 m-modeXL-2 the-media-object--has-video\" data-nid=\"2921384\" data-cid=\"9893396\" data-part-label=\"Partner content\">\n<figure id=\"abe-2921384-label-pos1-c-latest-stories-sidebar\" class=\"the-media-object__figure\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"the-media-object__image\" src=\"https:\/\/images.euronews.com\/articles\/stories\/09\/89\/33\/96\/189x106_cmsv2_ddc9c191-3e38-5e54-8079-cd50a2790400-9893396.jpg\" loading=\"lazy\" alt=\"Mourners gather in the pouring rain to watch as King Harald V&apos;s remains arrive to the Royal Palace in Oslo\" height=\"9\" width=\"16\"><\/figure>\n<div class=\"the-media-object__content\">\n                    No Comment<\/p>\n<div class=\"the-media-object__title  \">\n<p>    Norway mourns king Harald V as crown prince Haakon becomes king\n  <\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/article>\n<article id=\"abe-2921403-pos2-c-latest-stories-sidebar\" class=\"the-media-object m-modeMobile-2 m-modeDesktop-2 m-modeXL-2\" data-nid=\"2921403\" data-cid=\"9893523\" data-part-label=\"Partner content\">\n<figure id=\"abe-2921403-label-pos2-c-latest-stories-sidebar\" class=\"the-media-object__figure\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"the-media-object__image\" src=\"https:\/\/images.euronews.com\/articles\/stories\/09\/89\/35\/23\/189x106_cmsv2_657370fb-0eb8-5339-8a83-43f1e2783ec1-9893523.jpg\" loading=\"lazy\" alt=\"Norway&apos;s King Harald gives a speech during a gala dinner at the Palace in Oslo, 8 April, 2025\" height=\"9\" width=\"16\"><\/figure>\n<div class=\"the-media-object__content\">\n                    Europe News<\/p>\n<div class=\"the-media-object__title  \">\n<p>    Europe&#8217;s monarchs and world leaders mourn Norway&#8217;s King Harald V\n  <\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/article>\n<article id=\"abe-2921401-pos3-c-latest-stories-sidebar\" class=\"the-media-object m-modeMobile-2 m-modeDesktop-2 m-modeXL-2\" data-nid=\"2921401\" data-cid=\"9893497\" data-part-label=\"Partner content\">\n<figure id=\"abe-2921401-label-pos3-c-latest-stories-sidebar\" class=\"the-media-object__figure\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"the-media-object__image\" src=\"https:\/\/images.euronews.com\/articles\/stories\/09\/89\/34\/97\/189x106_cmsv2_c4700f6d-725d-5d15-871c-2e627e7f61ce-9893497.jpg\" loading=\"lazy\" alt=\"Residents salvage their belongings from damaged houses after flash flooding in the Devighat area of Nuwakot district in Nepal, 28 August, 2026\" height=\"9\" width=\"16\"><\/figure>\n<div class=\"the-media-object__content\">\n                    Nepal<\/p>\n<div class=\"the-media-object__title  \">\n<p>    Number of missing in Nepal floods passes 2,400 as EU pledges aid\n  <\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/article>\n<article id=\"abe-2921232-pos4-c-latest-stories-sidebar\" class=\"the-media-object m-modeMobile-2 m-modeDesktop-2 m-modeXL-2\" data-nid=\"2921232\" data-cid=\"9893458\" data-part-label=\"Partner content\">\n<figure id=\"abe-2921232-label-pos4-c-latest-stories-sidebar\" class=\"the-media-object__figure\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"the-media-object__image\" src=\"https:\/\/images.euronews.com\/articles\/stories\/09\/89\/34\/58\/189x106_cmsv2_cbb616c5-b14e-5ccb-ad11-5b6eb696474a-9893458.jpg\" loading=\"lazy\" alt=\"Migrants who crossed from Morocco into Spain return to a beach after being expelled from the area the previous day, 21 August, 2026\" height=\"9\" width=\"16\"><\/figure>\n<div class=\"the-media-object__content\">\n                    Europe News<\/p>\n<div class=\"the-media-object__title  \">\n<p>    Ceuta &#8216;on the brink of collapse&#8217; as Spain seeks Frontex support\n  <\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/article>\n<article class=\"helper-site-row o-article-newsy\">\n<div class=\"helper-site-container o-article-newsy__container\">\n<div class=\"o-article-newsy__main\">\n<header class=\"h-grid o-article-newsy__main__header\">\n<nav aria-label=\"Breadcrumbs\" class=\"c-article-breadcrumbs\">\n<div id=\"adb-article-breadcrumb\" class=\"c-article-breadcrumbs__list\">\n<p>                          Culture<\/p>\n<p>                          Art<\/p><\/div>\n<\/nav>\n<h1 class=\"c-article-redesign-title\">\n                            From Caravaggio to Korea: How Malta\u2019s artists are breaking out of the baroque<\/h1>\n<div class=\"c-article-image-video u-position-relative \">\n<div class=\"js-superdiv u-aspect-ratio-16x9 u-position-relative \" data-controller=\"video-player\" data-sponsored=\"Partner content\"><img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"js-poster-img c-article-media__img\" src=\"https:\/\/images.euronews.com\/articles\/stories\/09\/88\/40\/24\/1536x864_cmsv2_bd48ea31-7a63-5a27-a881-6ef340bb889f-9884024.jpg\" width=\"1536\" height=\"864\" loading=\"eager\" alt=\"Julien Vinet and Sam Alekksandra, together &apos;Ponks&apos;, will represent Malta at the Gwangju Biennale\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"c-article-caption u-position-absolute\"><i id=\"article-caption-content\" class=\"c-article-caption__content\"><span class=\"c-article-caption__text\"><br \/>\n              Julien Vinet and Sam Alekksandra, together &#8216;Ponks&#8217;, will represent Malta at the Gwangju Biennale<br \/>\n                    <span class=\"u-color-white\">&#8211;\u00a0<\/span><span class=\"c-article-caption__copyright\">Copyright\u00a0<\/span><span class=\"c-article-caption__credit\">Edward De Gabriele<\/span><\/span><\/i><\/div>\n<div class=\"c-article-image-copyright c-article-image-copyright--novideo\">\n      Copyright\u00a0Edward De Gabriele\n  <\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/header>\n<div class=\"h-grid o-article-newsy__main__body u-article-content\">\n<div class=\"o-article-newsy__contributors-publication-date\">\n<div class=\"c-article-contributors\">\n  By&amp;nbspCraig Saueurs\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"c-article-publication-date\" data-timestamp=\"1787919170\">\n         Published on<br \/>\n            <time datetime=\"2026-08-28 14:12:50 +02:00\">28\/08\/2026 &#8211; 14:12 GMT+2<\/time><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"c-article-share-comment u-align-items-center u-display-flex\"><span 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loading=\"lazy\"><span>Telegram<\/span><\/span><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/static.euronews.com\/website\/images\/vector\/social-icons\/article-redesign-telegram.svg\" width=\"48\" height=\"48\" alt=\"telegram\" class=\"u-show-for-desktop\" loading=\"lazy\"><span class=\"u-display-flex u-gap-1 u-show-for-mobile-only\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/static.euronews.com\/website\/images\/vector\/social-icons\/article-redesign-vk.svg\" width=\"24\" height=\"24\" alt=\"vk\" loading=\"lazy\"><span>VK<\/span><\/span><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/static.euronews.com\/website\/images\/vector\/social-icons\/article-redesign-vk.svg\" width=\"48\" height=\"48\" alt=\"vk\" class=\"u-show-for-desktop\" loading=\"lazy\"><span class=\"u-display-flex u-gap-1 u-show-for-mobile-only\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/static.euronews.com\/website\/images\/vector\/social-icons\/article-redesign-bluesky.svg\" width=\"24\" height=\"24\" alt=\"bluesky\" loading=\"lazy\"><span>Bluesky<\/span><\/span><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/static.euronews.com\/website\/images\/vector\/social-icons\/article-redesign-bluesky.svg\" width=\"48\" height=\"48\" alt=\"bluesky\" class=\"u-show-for-desktop\" loading=\"lazy\"><span class=\"u-display-flex u-gap-1 u-show-for-mobile-only\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/static.euronews.com\/website\/images\/vector\/social-icons\/article-redesign-threads.svg\" width=\"24\" height=\"24\" alt=\"threads\" loading=\"lazy\"><span>Threads<\/span><\/span><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/static.euronews.com\/website\/images\/vector\/social-icons\/article-redesign-threads.svg\" width=\"48\" height=\"48\" alt=\"threads\" class=\"u-show-for-desktop\" loading=\"lazy\"><span class=\"u-display-flex u-gap-1 u-show-for-mobile-only\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/static.euronews.com\/website\/images\/vector\/social-icons\/article-redesign-whatsapp.svg\" width=\"24\" height=\"24\" alt=\"whatsapp\" loading=\"lazy\"><span>Whatsapp<\/span><\/span><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/static.euronews.com\/website\/images\/vector\/social-icons\/article-redesign-whatsapp.svg\" width=\"48\" height=\"48\" alt=\"whatsapp\" class=\"u-show-for-desktop\" loading=\"lazy\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<h2 class=\"c-article-summary\">\n        The BEJN pavilion connects Malta and Korea through poetry, sacred ropes, festa traditions and space data.<br \/>\n    <\/h2>\n<div class=\"c-article-content c-article-content--culture js-article-content\">\n<p>Julien Vinet wants you to picture twilight with him. <\/p>\n<div>\n<div class=\"c-ad u-show-for-mobile-only\">\n<div class=\"c-ad__placeholder\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"c-ad__placeholder__logo\" src=\"https:\/\/static.euronews.com\/website\/images\/logos\/logo-euronews-stacked-outlined-72x72-grey-9.svg\" width=\"72\" height=\"72\" alt loading=\"lazy\"><span>ADVERTISEMENT<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"c-ad u-show-for-desktop\">\n<div class=\"c-ad__placeholder\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"c-ad__placeholder__logo\" src=\"https:\/\/static.euronews.com\/website\/images\/logos\/logo-euronews-stacked-outlined-72x72-grey-9.svg\" width=\"72\" height=\"72\" alt loading=\"lazy\"><span>ADVERTISEMENT<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>The sun will lay itself like a crown atop the limestone buildings. Then rivers of red and orange will flood into the shabby studio he shares with his creative partner, Sam Alekksandra. As another day slips into night over Malta\u2019s Three Cities, the warm light will wash over faded pink walls plastered with posters for their pop-up poetry events. <\/p>\n<p>\u201cSunset is special here,\u201d Vinet says with conviction.<\/p>\n<p>The French artist, transplanted to Malta about a decade ago after eight years in Japan, has a knack for finding unexpected meaning in familiar moments. He likes to mine their depths until he finds a truth worth exposing \u2013 or what he calls \u201cobsolete beauty\u201d. <\/p>\n<p>It\u2019s why he and Alekksandra, the duo behind the collective Ponks, are drawn to liminal things caught in the in-between, like their sunset ritual. <\/p>\n<p>And maybe it\u2019s no coincidence that both have found creative freedom in a country defined by its own in-betweenness.<\/p>\n<div class=\"widget widget--type-image widget--size-fullwidth widget--animation-fade-in widget--align-center\" data-ratio=\"0.6666666666666666\">\n<div class=\"widget__wrapper\">\n<div class=\"widget__ratio widget__ratio--auto\">\n<div class=\"widget__contents\">\n<figure class=\"widget__figure\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"widgetImage__image\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/images.euronews.com\/articles\/stories\/09\/88\/40\/24\/808x539_cmsv2_fe48aff1-9269-5751-aa29-0634fd42b5f7-9884024.jpg\" alt=\"Ponks&apos; &apos;Poetry from the Future&apos; at Valletta&apos;s Rumi cafe during the 2026 Malta Biennale\"><figcaption class=\"widget__caption\"><span class=\"widget__captionWrap\"><span class=\"widget__captionText\">Ponks&#8217; &#8216;Poetry from the Future&#8217; at Valletta&#8217;s Rumi cafe during the 2026 Malta Biennale<\/span><span class=\"widget__captionCredit\">Vladimir Chistiakov<\/span><\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>For Vinet, Malta has given him time and space to pursue both sides of himself: the punk and the perfectionist. For Alekksandra, a Maltese journalist turned poet, it has given her a point of reference to develop her own artistic language.<\/p>\n<p>That kind of creative latitude is relatively new to the country.<\/p>\n<p>For years, artists in Malta had few galleries and even fewer pathways to show their work. Now, with new institutions like the <strong>Malta Biennale<\/strong> and a growing international profile, the arts scene here is beginning to look very different.<\/p>\n<h2>The space between<\/h2>\n<p>Malta is an oddity, a small group of islands in the Mediterranean that has spent millennia absorbing one culture after another. Its cuisine spans African, Mediterranean and British influences. It has the only Semitic language written in the Latin alphabet. It has Phoenician boats, Catholic churches and UK crests.<\/p>\n<p>Despite its plurality of influences, Maltese art for many years was stuck in one episode of the past. As a guide would later tell me in Valletta\u2019s Muza Gallery: \u201cBaroque this, baroque that \u2013 for many people in Malta, real art is only baroque.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Now, cracks in the baroque fa\u00e7ade are starting to show. <\/p>\n<p>Before meeting Vinet and Alekksandra, I go on a short tour of Valletta\u2019s art scene, starting \u2013 as most do \u2013 with Caravaggio\u2019s masterpiece, \u2018The Beheading of Saint John the Baptist\u2019 at St John\u2019s Cathedral. But there\u2019s more to Malta\u2019s art scene than saints and martyrs.<\/p>\n<div class=\"c-widget-related\" data-stories-id data-event=\"widget_related\">\n<div class=\"c-widget-related__title\"><b class=\"c-widget-related__title__text\" lang=\"en\">Related<\/b><\/div>\n<ul class=\"c-widget-related__list\">\n<li class=\"c-widget-related__item\">Tove, Frida and Schiaparelli: The 10 unmissable exhibitions and art events of 2026<\/li>\n<li class=\"c-widget-related__item\">Lobster dresses and unmade beds: The best exhibitions to see in Europe<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n<p>Apart from Muza and the new <strong>MICAS<\/strong>, Malta\u2019s first national museum dedicated to contemporary art, galleries like Valletta Contemporary have provided a space for more daring work \u2013 something many artists told me Malta had lacked for years.<\/p>\n<p>Founded by architect and artist Norbert Francis Attard, the gallery has transformed a 400-year-old warehouse in the city\u2019s lower east end into a two-floor showcase for Maltese and international artists. When I visit, it\u2019s showing \u2018Still Time\u2019, a 50-year retrospective of photographer Joseph P. Smith curated by Lisa Gwen Chetcuti.<\/p>\n<div class=\"widget widget--type-image widget--size-fullwidth widget--animation-fade-in widget--align-center\" data-ratio=\"0.6666666666666666\">\n<div class=\"widget__wrapper\">\n<div class=\"widget__ratio widget__ratio--auto\">\n<div class=\"widget__contents\">\n<figure class=\"widget__figure\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"widgetImage__image\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/images.euronews.com\/articles\/stories\/09\/88\/40\/24\/808x539_cmsv2_a7a7086f-366b-504b-b325-6b7928061a57-9884024.jpg\" alt=\"Norbert Francis Attard poses at his studio in Gozo\"><figcaption class=\"widget__caption\"><span class=\"widget__captionWrap\"><span class=\"widget__captionText\">Norbert Francis Attard poses at his studio in Gozo<\/span><span class=\"widget__captionCredit\">Edward De Gabriele<\/span><\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>\u201cIn Malta, there are very few private galleries, and they operate differently than they do in London or New York,\u201d Chetcuti tells Euronews Culture. The galleries often don\u2019t own the work, meaning they aren\u2019t taking on inventory they need to sell \u2013 and artists don\u2019t necessarily want them to, either. <\/p>\n<p>\u201cIn a small country, they don\u2019t want to put all their eggs in one basket,\u201d she explains. \u201cThis exhibition was all done through public funding.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Valletta Contemporary is an answer to the lack of galleries, but Attard\u2019s ambitions extend beyond exhibitions in the Maltese capital. He runs a residency at his home and studio in Gozo that brings artists from abroad and supports collaborative projects and exhibitions.<\/p>\n<p>He is now converting his Gozo home into a public archive, with a caf\u00e9 and garden. <\/p>\n<p>\u201cI\u2019m the kind of person who can stop being an artist during my lifetime as a conscious decision,\u201d he says. \u201cThat doesn\u2019t mean I stop being creative. There are a lot of ways one can create.\u201d<\/p>\n<h2>Breaking with tradition<\/h2>\n<p>Back at their studio, Vinet and Alekksandra are thinking about what comes next, too. <\/p>\n<p>They have met up with their friend and collaborator, the sound artist Michael Quinton, to discuss their contribution to Malta\u2019s pavilion at the Gwangju Biennale in South Korea, which runs from 5 September to 15 November. <\/p>\n<p>Called <strong>BEJN \/ In-Between<\/strong> and led by Vinet as artistic director, the pavilion brings together Attard, Ponks and Quinton in a project that connects Malta and Korea through three linked installations. <\/p>\n<div class=\"widget widget--type-image widget--size-fullwidth widget--animation-fade-in widget--align-center\" data-ratio=\"0.6666666666666666\">\n<div class=\"widget__wrapper\">\n<div class=\"widget__ratio widget__ratio--auto\">\n<div class=\"widget__contents\">\n<figure class=\"widget__figure\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"widgetImage__image\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/images.euronews.com\/articles\/stories\/09\/88\/40\/24\/808x539_cmsv2_4e40a0c4-6fab-5a98-aa0d-55fb4073132f-9884024.jpg\" alt=\"Sound artist Michael Quinton scours a Gwangju market for field recordings\"><figcaption class=\"widget__caption\"><span class=\"widget__captionWrap\"><span class=\"widget__captionText\">Sound artist Michael Quinton scours a Gwangju market for field recordings<\/span><span class=\"widget__captionCredit\">Malta Pavilion Gwangju Biennalie<\/span><\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>Attard is creating a spatial installation that draws on Malta\u2019s festa traditions and Korea\u2019s Obangsaek system, using colours, tension and balance to draw attention to conflict and collective memory. Ponks is building the &#8216;Rope Temple&#8217;, a five-kilometre web of rope featuring poetry by more than 140 Maltese and Korean writers. The concept draws on Malta\u2019s maritime traditions and geumjul, sacred Korean ropes used to ward off evil spirits.<\/p>\n<p>Beneath the temple, the &#8216;Base Polygon&#8217; will divide the experience into three rooms exploring different aspects of <strong>poetry<\/strong>. In the first, Quinton combines recordings from Malta and Korea to make a soundscape that changes as visitors move through the space.<\/p>\n<div class=\"c-widget-related\" data-stories-id data-event=\"widget_related\">\n<div class=\"c-widget-related__title\"><b class=\"c-widget-related__title__text\" lang=\"en\">Related<\/b><\/div>\n<ul class=\"c-widget-related__list\">\n<li class=\"c-widget-related__item\">&#8216;Serving Kant&#8217; no more: Malta\u2019s Eurovision entry faces censorship over &#8216;C-word&#8217; controversy<\/li>\n<li class=\"c-widget-related__item\">\u2018A better tomorrow\u2019: UK schoolchildren get the chance to rewrite the ending of the Bayeux Tapestry<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n<p>As Vinet and Alekksandra explain the temple, Quinton plays hauntingly beautiful music from data, of all things. Drawing on his background in exosolar science, he turns data collected in outer space into sound, making patterns invisible to the human eye audible.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe always look for the start and the end, but we don\u2019t hear the in-between,\u201d Quinton says. \u201cIt\u2019s really about enhancing that present moment.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Malta\u2019s creative scene is in an in-between of its own. It hasn\u2019t overcome the limitations artists have faced, but neither is it confined by them.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt\u2019s very active,\u201d Alekksandra explains, pointing to the Malta Biennale, which held its second edition this spring, as evidence of how quickly the landscape is changing. \u201cPeople make do with what they have. And we keep doing that and keep growing.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>She has seen it firsthand. Ponks\u2019 events began with little more than a microphone and a poster. Now more than 100 people regularly turn up to listen and share their work. <\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe just offered the space, and that hole was filled,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n<h2>Malta goes to Gwangju<\/h2>\n<p>The <strong>Gwangju Biennale<\/strong> is giving some of Malta\u2019s locally built practices a very different setting. For Alekksandra, the connection is particularly strong because Gwangju has its own history of writers using art to respond to political upheaval.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cGwangju is known as the city of resistance, and who is at the forefront of resistance? It\u2019s the writers. It\u2019s the poets,\u201d she says. \u201cThey\u2019re the ones who give people the courage to continue [fighting] and immortalising whatever happens.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Alekksandra knows what it means to reach for poetry after trauma. Following the 2017 assassination of Maltese journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia, she says poetry gave her a way to express emotions that couldn\u2019t easily be put into ordinary words. <\/p>\n<p>While reaching out to artists for the exhibition, she asked an older Korean poet to read his work to her. \u201cI couldn\u2019t understand a word, but I just started to cry,\u201d she recalls.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe underestimate how much we can talk to each other beyond language.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>It\u2019s a truth Vinet and Alekksandra say they have often found in Malta.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cMalta is already an in-between,\u201d Vinet says. Then he peers out the studio window. \u201cFor a few rocks in the sea, it has incredible diversity. And that\u2019s a strength.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>                                  Go to accessibility shortcuts<\/p>\n<div class=\"c-article-share-comment u-align-items-center u-display-flex\"><span class=\"c-article-share-comment__links u-align-items-center u-display-flex u-justify-content-center js-c-article-share-comment-share\"><span class=\"c-article-share-comment__label\">Share<\/span><\/span><span class=\"c-article-share-comment__label\">Comments<\/span><span class=\"c-article-share-comment__label c-article-share-comment__label--always\">Add Euronews on Google<\/span><\/div>\n<div id=\"adb-article-you-might-also-like\" class=\"perf-cv-auto c-article-you-might-also-like\">\n<h2 class=\"c-article-you-might-also-like__title\">\n        Read more<br \/>\n      <\/h2>\n<div class=\"c-article-you-might-also-like__container\">\n<article id=\"abe-2920917-pos0-c-article-you-might-also-like__item\" class=\"the-media-object m-modeMobile-1 m-modeDesktop-1 m-modeXL-1 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src=\"https:\/\/images.euronews.com\/articles\/stories\/09\/86\/88\/88\/480x270_cmsv2_c546db22-5495-52f0-a9bc-325e335fa863-9868888.jpg\" loading=\"lazy\" alt=\"Schiaparelli: Fashion Becomes Art at V&amp;A South Kensington \u2014 Marina Abramovi\u0107, from the series Balkan Erotic Epic \u2014 \" height=\"9\" width=\"16\"><\/figure>\n<div class=\"the-media-object__content\">\n                    Art<\/p>\n<h3 class=\"the-media-object__title  \">\n<p>    The best exhibitions to see this summer in Europe<br \/>\n  <\/h3>\n<\/div>\n<\/article>\n<article id=\"abe-2665672-pos2-c-article-you-might-also-like__item\" class=\"the-media-object m-modeMobile-1 m-modeDesktop-1 m-modeXL-1\" data-nid=\"2665672\" data-cid=\"8821962\" data-part-label=\"Partner content\">\n<figure id=\"abe-2665672-label-pos2-c-article-you-might-also-like__item\" class=\"the-media-object__figure\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"the-media-object__image\" src=\"https:\/\/images.euronews.com\/articles\/stories\/08\/82\/19\/62\/480x270_cmsv2_978ec519-ded3-5322-8fbc-ca8807aee48d-8821962.jpg\" loading=\"lazy\" alt=\"Joana Vasconcelos, Valkyrie Mumbet, 2020\" height=\"9\" width=\"16\"><\/figure>\n<div class=\"the-media-object__content\">\n                    Art<\/p>\n<h3 class=\"the-media-object__title  \">\n<p>    MICAS: Malta opens its first national contemporary arts museum<br \/>\n  <\/h3>\n<\/div>\n<\/article>\n<article id=\"abe-2921013-pos2-top-stories\" class=\"the-media-object m-modeMobile-2 m-modeDesktop-2 m-modeXL-2 the-media-object--no-label\" data-nid=\"2921013\" data-cid=\"9891320\" data-part-label=\"Partner content\">\n<figure id=\"abe-2921013-label-pos2-top-stories\" class=\"the-media-object__figure\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"the-media-object__image\" src=\"https:\/\/images.euronews.com\/articles\/stories\/09\/89\/13\/20\/320x180_cmsv2_ce781966-171e-5608-b625-290bc85abe97-9891320.jpg\" loading=\"lazy\" alt=\"Are these 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content\">\n<div class=\"the-media-object__content\">\n<h3 class=\"the-media-object__title  \">\n<p>    Barton\u2026 Jack Barton: Could this unknown British actor be the next James Bond?<br \/>\n  <\/h3>\n<\/div>\n<\/article>\n<article id=\"abe-2920723-pos4-mostViewed\" class=\"the-media-object m-modeMobile-3 m-modeDesktop-3 m-modeXL-3 the-media-object--has-related the-media-object--no-label\" data-nid=\"2920723\" data-cid=\"9889736\" data-part-label=\"Partner content\">\n<div class=\"the-media-object__content\">\n<h3 class=\"the-media-object__title  \">\n<p>    Why are Dolly Parton fans lashing out at Donald Trump?<br \/>\n  <\/h3>\n<\/div>\n<\/article>\n<article id=\"abe-2920766-pos5-mostViewed\" class=\"the-media-object m-modeMobile-3 m-modeDesktop-3 m-modeXL-3 the-media-object--no-label\" data-nid=\"2920766\" data-cid=\"9890060\" data-part-label=\"Partner content\">\n<div class=\"the-media-object__content\">\n<h3 class=\"the-media-object__title  \">\n<p>    Butter late than never: Paris gets its first boutique entirely dedicated to butter<br \/>\n  <\/h3>\n<\/div>\n<\/article>\n<div class=\"articleBody\" data-key=\"articleBody\">Julien Vinet wants you to picture twilight with him.The sun will lay itself like a crown atop the limestone buildings. Then rivers of red and orange will flood into the shabby studio he shares with his creative partner, Sam Alekksandra. As another day slips into night over Malta\u2019s Three Cities, the warm light will wash over faded pink walls plastered with posters for their pop-up poetry events.\u201cSunset is special here,\u201d Vinet says with conviction.The French artist, transplanted to Malta about a decade ago after eight years in Japan, has a knack for finding unexpected meaning in familiar moments. He likes to mine their depths until he finds a truth worth exposing \u2013 or what he calls \u201cobsolete beauty\u201d.It\u2019s why he and Alekksandra, the duo behind the collective Ponks, are drawn to liminal things caught in the in-between, like their sunset ritual.And maybe it\u2019s no coincidence that both have found creative freedom in a country defined by its own in-betweenness.For Vinet, Malta has given him time and space to pursue both sides of himself: the punk and the perfectionist. For Alekksandra, a Maltese journalist turned poet, it has given her a point of reference to develop her own artistic language.That kind of creative latitude is relatively new to the country.For years, artists in Malta had few galleries and even fewer pathways to show their work. Now, with new institutions like the Malta Biennale and a growing international profile, the arts scene here is beginning to look very different.The space betweenMalta is an oddity, a small group of islands in the Mediterranean that has spent millennia absorbing one culture after another. Its cuisine spans African, Mediterranean and British influences. It has the only Semitic language written in the Latin alphabet. It has Phoenician boats, Catholic churches and UK crests.Despite its plurality of influences, Maltese art for many years was stuck in one episode of the past. As a guide would later tell me in Valletta\u2019s Muza Gallery: \u201cBaroque this, baroque that \u2013 for many people in Malta, real art is only baroque.\u201dNow, cracks in the baroque fa\u00e7ade are starting to show.Before meeting Vinet and Alekksandra, I go on a short tour of Valletta\u2019s art scene, starting \u2013 as most do \u2013 with Caravaggio\u2019s masterpiece, \u2018The Beheading of Saint John the Baptist\u2019 at St John\u2019s Cathedral. But there\u2019s more to Malta\u2019s art scene than saints and martyrs.Apart from Muza and the new MICAS, Malta\u2019s first national museum dedicated to contemporary art, galleries like Valletta Contemporary have provided a space for more daring work \u2013 something many artists told me Malta had lacked for years.Founded by architect and artist Norbert Francis Attard, the gallery has transformed a 400-year-old warehouse in the city\u2019s lower east end into a two-floor showcase for Maltese and international artists. When I visit, it\u2019s showing \u2018Still Time\u2019, a 50-year retrospective of photographer Joseph P. Smith curated by Lisa Gwen Chetcuti.\u201cIn Malta, there are very few private galleries, and they operate differently than they do in London or New York,\u201d Chetcuti tells Euronews Culture. The galleries often don\u2019t own the work, meaning they aren\u2019t taking on inventory they need to sell \u2013 and artists don\u2019t necessarily want them to, either.\u201cIn a small country, they don\u2019t want to put all their eggs in one basket,\u201d she explains. \u201cThis exhibition was all done through public funding.\u201dValletta Contemporary is an answer to the lack of galleries, but Attard\u2019s ambitions extend beyond exhibitions in the Maltese capital. He runs a residency at his home and studio in Gozo that brings artists from abroad and supports collaborative projects and exhibitions.He is now converting his Gozo home into a public archive, with a caf\u00e9 and garden.\u201cI\u2019m the kind of person who can stop being an artist during my lifetime as a conscious decision,\u201d he says. \u201cThat doesn\u2019t mean I stop being creative. There are a lot of ways one can create.\u201dBreaking with traditionBack at their studio, Vinet and Alekksandra are thinking about what comes next, too.They have met up with their friend and collaborator, the sound artist Michael Quinton, to discuss their contribution to Malta\u2019s pavilion at the Gwangju Biennale in South Korea, which runs from 5 September to 15 November.Called BEJN \/ In-Between and led by Vinet as artistic director, the pavilion brings together Attard, Ponks and Quinton in a project that connects Malta and Korea through three linked installations.Attard is creating a spatial installation that draws on Malta\u2019s festa traditions and Korea\u2019s Obangsaek system, using colours, tension and balance to draw attention to conflict and collective memory. Ponks is building the &#8216;Rope Temple&#8217;, a five-kilometre web of rope featuring poetry by more than 140 Maltese and Korean writers. The concept draws on Malta\u2019s maritime traditions and geumjul, sacred Korean ropes used to ward off evil spirits.Beneath the temple, the &#8216;Base Polygon&#8217; will divide the experience into three rooms exploring different aspects of poetry. In the first, Quinton combines recordings from Malta and Korea to make a soundscape that changes as visitors move through the space.As Vinet and Alekksandra explain the temple, Quinton plays hauntingly beautiful music from data, of all things. Drawing on his background in exosolar science, he turns data collected in outer space into sound, making patterns invisible to the human eye audible.\u201cWe always look for the start and the end, but we don\u2019t hear the in-between,\u201d Quinton says. \u201cIt\u2019s really about enhancing that present moment.\u201dMalta\u2019s creative scene is in an in-between of its own. It hasn\u2019t overcome the limitations artists have faced, but neither is it confined by them.\u201cIt\u2019s very active,\u201d Alekksandra explains, pointing to the Malta Biennale, which held its second edition this spring, as evidence of how quickly the landscape is changing. \u201cPeople make do with what they have. And we keep doing that and keep growing.\u201dShe has seen it firsthand. Ponks\u2019 events began with little more than a microphone and a poster. Now more than 100 people regularly turn up to listen and share their work.\u201cWe just offered the space, and that hole was filled,\u201d she says.Malta goes to GwangjuThe Gwangju Biennale is giving some of Malta\u2019s locally built practices a very different setting. For Alekksandra, the connection is particularly strong because Gwangju has its own history of writers using art to respond to political upheaval.\u201cGwangju is known as the city of resistance, and who is at the forefront of resistance? It\u2019s the writers. It\u2019s the poets,\u201d she says. \u201cThey\u2019re the ones who give people the courage to continue [fighting] and immortalising whatever happens.\u201dAlekksandra knows what it means to reach for poetry after trauma. Following the 2017 assassination of Maltese journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia, she says poetry gave her a way to express emotions that couldn\u2019t easily be put into ordinary words.While reaching out to artists for the exhibition, she asked an older Korean poet to read his work to her. \u201cI couldn\u2019t understand a word, but I just started to cry,\u201d she recalls.\u201cWe underestimate how much we can talk to each other beyond language.\u201dIt\u2019s a truth Vinet and Alekksandra say they have often found in Malta.\u201cMalta is already an in-between,\u201d Vinet says. Then he peers out the studio window. \u201cFor a few rocks in the sea, it has incredible diversity. And that\u2019s a strength.\u201d<\/div>\n<p>[analyse_source url=&#8221;https:\/\/www.euronews.com\/culture\/2026\/08\/28\/from-caravaggio-to-korea-how-maltas-artists-are-breaking-out-of-the-baroque&#8221;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>[analyse_image type=&#8221;featured&#8221; src=&#8221;https:\/\/images.euronews.com\/articles\/stories\/09\/88\/40\/24\/1200x675_cmsv2_bd48ea31-7a63-5a27-a881-6ef340bb889f-9884024.jpg&#8221;] No Comment Norway mourns king Harald V as crown prince Haakon becomes king Europe News Europe&#8217;s monarchs and world leaders mourn Norway&#8217;s King Harald V Nepal Number of missing in Nepal floods passes 2,400 as EU pledges aid Europe News Ceuta &#8216;on the brink of collapse&#8217; as Spain seeks Frontex support No [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[90],"tags":[226,36],"class_list":["post-2116939","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-international","tag-crawlmanager","tag-euronews-com"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2116939","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2116939"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2116939\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2116939"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2116939"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2116939"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}