Every two years, The Malta Society of Arts (MSA) organises an exhibition for its members in the form of a collective show inspired by a common theme. The years 2023 exhibition, titled The Archive: Memories & Recollections, features over 40 different artworks in various media.

Valerio Schembri 

The exhibition will feature the works of more than 50 artist members who worked either individually or as part of a group.

The inspiration for this collective exhibition is the Society’s own extensive archive of documents: a well of letters, meeting minutes, sheet music, and anecdotes chronicling hundreds of years of the Society’s rich history.

Stefan Spiteri

The Archive was the chosen title and theme to connect to the MSA’s ongoing celebrations of its 100 years at Palazzo de La Salle.

Damian Ebejer

During 2023, the Society is organising a special programme of events linked to themes of identity, history, and memory, all epitomised through its archive.

Although the physical archive was the primary starting point for the show, the idea of an ‘archive’ is being borrowed and envisioned by the artists as a generative concept to trigger new ideas, experimentations, and creative approaches.

Dave Calleja

Most of the artworks were generated through a series of meetings, discussions and workshops that were held at Palazzo de la Salle. The notion behind this collaborative process was to foster and encourage a creative and productive atmosphere between different artists and members of the Society.

Roderick Camilleri, The Archive’s curator describes the whole process as “unique context that has become a special place where the members can find a sense of community within the institution through cooperation, collaboration, and creativity.”

Darren Tanti 

The exhibition’s curator’s goal was to bring together all the various inputs into one coherent fabric. “Another important aspect was to filter all the creative content from these 50 artists to be able to design an exciting multi-media show that can be read and enjoyed by different audiences,” he says.

Clint Calleja

“I thoroughly enjoyed seeing our members run with the idea of the archive: some artists zoomed into their personal recollections such as childhood memories, others developed work linked to the general history of the palace, whereas others still developed concepts and visual tropes linked to the idea of ‘chronicling’ or the act of recording data.”

Josian Bonello 

One artwork worthy of mention is an installation created by a small group of members, which will be installed in the Palazzo’s courtyard. It consists of a huge rope sculpture in the form of a large organic chamber made from connected jute ropes. This collaborative work expresses the organic interconnective, interrelated and intricate elements and relationships which were generated during the workshops.