Peripheral alternatives to Rodin in modern European sculpture

Josef Kalleya is one of Malta’s foremost modern artists whose art is without comparison locally and internationally. Committed academic research on the artist and his oeuvre has fallen short of his historical significance, but this book marks a new turn for the study of his radical philosophical and theological explorations through art.

The publication of this collection of essays coincides with the 30-year anniversary of the newly-titled Department of Art and Art History at the University of Malta, first established by Prof. Mario Buhagiar in 1987 as the Art Unit. The Department has worked ceaselessly for the past three decades to expand the discipline locally and to make Malta’s voice heard on the international scene. As coordinator of the Modern and Contemporary Art Research programme, Dr Giuseppe Schembri Bonaci has dedicated his life’s work to analysing the recent historical development of Maltese art and its relationship with the wider European context. Thanks to his unflinching ambition and determination, international scholars and researchers have travelled to Malta to study and discuss the works of relatively unknown artists.

This selection of papers delivered at the Peripheral alternatives to Rodin in modern European sculpture conference, convened by Schembri Bonaci and held on 15 December 2015 at the University of Malta Valletta Campus, attests to the success of his endeavour to make Malta a centre of art historical research and debate.

The book is available from all Agenda bookshops. Edited by Giuseppe Schembri Bonaci / Nikki Petroni Published by Horizons