The Malta Independent on Sunday
‘Inspire Inclusion’: Celebrating female artists on International Women’s Day
International Women’s Day falls on 8 March. The theme for this year is Inspire Inclusion. To mark the occasion, Rudy Buhler is hosting a group art exhibition at his contemporary modern art gallery in Marsascala, featuring works by female artists Anna Galea, Jo Dounis, Jennifer Mallia, Caroline Said Lawrence and Michelle Mahoney.
“My vision is to find and promote emerging talents from Malta and abroad, to bring high quality and original art to the public space, and to provide artists with a platform to show their artistic skills to a wider public,” said Buhler, founder and owner of Rudy Buhler Art – The Colour Project.
Buhler hosts Maltese and international artists through six to eight separate exhibitions each year. The aim is to make a substantial contribution to the artistic and cultural environment, as well as the social life of Marsascala and beyond.
International Women’s Day (IWD)
Purple is one of the official colours of International Women’s Day, the others being green and white. Purple is a colour that represents dignity, power, creativity and hope.
According to the UN, the worldwide event blossomed out of the first-ever National Woman’s Day recognised in the US on 8 March 1909. Therefore, the antecedents for an international day to amplify the voices of women go back more than a century. Although International Women’s Day is an important event for many people worldwide, the broader international community did not formally observe the date until 1975. That year, the UN officially added International Women’s Day to its calendar of observances.
The IWD 2024 campaign theme is Inspire Inclusion. When we inspire others to understand and value women’s inclusion, we forge a better world. And when women themselves are inspired to be included, there’s a sense of belonging, relevance and empowerment.
IWD remains an important moment for working to advance women’s equality with the day belonging to everyone, everywhere. Individuals and groups can choose to mark IWD in whatever manner they deem most relevant.
IWD is about women’s equality in all its forms. For some, IWD is about fighting for women’s rights. For others, IWD is about reinforcing key commitments, while for some IWD is about celebrating success. And for others, IWD means festive gatherings and parties. Whatever choices are made, all choices matter, and all choices are valid.
Anna Galea
Anna Galea is an award-winning artist based in Malta and Rome, best known for her exceptionally large still life paintings and abstractions. Galea zooms into ordinary mundane subjects and dramatises them, reminding us there is beauty in every-day objects that we tend to take for granted. Her recent works venture into abstractions. Anna’s favourite painting medium is watercolour which she applies boldly and intensely in large scale works. Her watercolour work has in fact been honoured as masterful in Europe and the USA.
Jo Dounis
Jo Dounis is an acrylic and mixed media artist. The daughter of an architect, who also painted in his later years, she was born into a world of creativity and from a very young age has been passionate about colour and design. Jo has two distinctive art styles, through which she expresses her passion for light, texture and colour. One is fluid with an ethereal quality where colours blend and flow together to create organic shapes and designs, and the other is textural, creating a threedimensional, tactile experience for the viewer. Many of her textured land, sea and skyscapes have an abstract, dream-like quality through which she expresses a deep desire to transport her viewers into a natural Utopian environment, free from our turbulent and over-developed world.
Jennifer Mallia
Jennifer Mallia’s artistic odyssey began in her father’s wood workshop, sparking a fascination with woodwork and engineering that laid the foundation for her creative exploration. A pivotal shift occurred when she discovered epoxy resin, joyfully encapsulating elements of the natural world and creating art that captures life’s essence in unexpected ways. Each piece serves as a visual symphony, inviting viewers into Jennifer’s world, where emotions and concepts entwine. Her continuous experimentation with different mediums celebrates creativity, transcending boundaries and embracing profound connections between art and life.
Caroline Said Lawrence
Born in East Africa in 1957, Caroline spent an idyllic childhood in Nairobi and Mombasa. In 1969, her family relocated to the Middle East, and she was sent to boarding school in Surrey, England. Malta held a sense of familiarity, as Said Lawrence’s family had regularly spent summers here in Malta after leaving Africa. Ironically, it was during this time of moving forward that she felt drawn back to her African childhood. With three decades of experiences since leaving Africa, revisiting memories of her childhood came as a surprise.
Michelle Mahoney
Michelle Mahoney, a self-taught emerging artist, in the realms of abstract art, who gracefully navigates the vast landscape of creativity with paper as her chosen medium, by skilfully using mix media. Michelle’s artistic journey is a testament to her unbridled passion for self-expression. Tapping into her intuition, Michelle transforms art paper into mesmerising visual symphonies, each piece reflecting her free spirit, a harmonious dance of emotions, inviting viewers to explore their own perception and feelings through her art.
‘Inspire Inclusion’ exhibition of paintings and sculptures is being held between 8 and 31 March at Rudy Buhler Art Gallery, Quayside Court, 58, Triq is-Salini, Marsascala. Opening hours are from Wednesday to Sunday – 10am to 1pm and 5 to 8pm or any time by appointment. Gallery is closed on Mondays and Tuesdays