The urban context of Valletta as a bohemian and artistic hub in the twentieth century : with special focus on Strait Street

Abstract

The study of this dissertation continues on the footsteps of Nikki Petroni’s research on the Premier and Strada Stretta: the Maltese modern art and the Benjamin-Baudelairean idea of the urban consciousness, a talk which Petroni had delivered in 2015. Thus, this study is based on an attempt to trace a Bohemian artistic culture in the urban environment of the twentieth century Valletta through the presence of a notorious culture in Strait Street; by relating the Maltese culture with the writings of the modern cities of Charles Baudelaire and Walter Benjamin. The socio-economic and political environment had brought about a schism in Maltese identity and along with it a perception of modern art. The modern artistic endeavours and Antoine Camilleri’s exploration of Strait Street give an understanding of a Bohemian attitude in Maltese modern art. The first chapter is an introduction to the concepts of modernity and Bohemia, as well as the break from academism. Continuing to the social environment of Valletta that was undergoing drastic political changes due to the industrial developments and the Wars that changed the city’s urban topography to the urban context of Strait Street as a Bohemian street. The second chapter explores the cultural problem for a modern language in the first half of the century, and progresses to the artists’ interactions with the capital city as it became their artistic hub through its urbanised setting. The research progressed into analysing certain Maltese artists in a bohemian perspective. This chapter focuses somewhat on the artistic oeuvre of Antoine Camilleri, who according to this research is the artist that has come closest to the term of a ‘bohemian artist’. Thus, it progresses to the depiction of the Street from Camilleri’s various artistic interpretations and the view of the woman and prostitute which was an undeniable aspect of the bohemian culture.