Weaving words and history

Abstract

Maltese 20th century art history remains a by and large unwritten story. The publications on Maltese modern art, of which Malta: Six Modern Artists is perhaps a milestone, remain few and sparse. We thought that this project could inform this lacuna in new ways. By bridging artists and themes across styles and narratives, the project has sought to approach the topic in ways and means comparable to what Clement Greenberg describes as the continuity of art. ‘Nothing could be further from the authentic art of our time than the idea of a rupture of continuity. Art is, among many other things, continuity. Without the past of art, and without the need and compulsion to maintain past standards of excellence, such a thing as modernist art would be impossible’. [Excerpt]