The Malta Independent on Sunday
FINAL YEAR SHOW BY FINE ARTS STUDENTS
In the autumn, the first group of undergraduate students who pursued the Fine Arts with History of Art course will be graduating after achieving wonderful results, and not simply in comparison to the young age of the course. The multidisciplinary approach that Professor Giuseppe Schembri Bonaci introduced within the Department of Art and Art History nurtured well-rounded students capable of discussing their practice within the general scheme of art throughout the ages. Knowledge on the beginnings of art history right until the present is primary to any artistic formation, together with theory and the vast variety of skills that are applied for artistic production.
Back in 2014, Schembri Bonaci, coordinator of the Fine Arts programme and lecturer in Fine Arts and History of Art, succeeded in opening the first postgraduate course in Fine Arts at the University of Malta as a taught programme. The students had a rigorous schedule combining lectures on art history, theory and philosophy, workshops, exchanges with local and foreign artists, exhibition organisation, and several other activities. The programme was a vibrant one wherein the students were invited to be continuously involved and encouraged to work during all hours of the day.
The concept of an art academy structure that integrates study and social life by having students work in a shared environment was implemented to bolster the learning experience and maturity of those enrolled in the course. This structure was something that Schembri Bonaci envisioned with the establishment of the course, but not without difficulty. Such a system was new to local art students, and also quite demanding.
To conclude the 2017-18 academic year, it was decided that the current Fine Arts students from all three levels of the undergrad course and those working on their master’s degree would organise a collective show to exhibit work produced during their painting modules.
The title chosen by the students for this exhibition was Misc, short for miscellaneous. Marie Claire Farrugia, a postgrad foundation student preparing for to enter the master’s programme, said that this specific title was chosen by the students when planning the entire show as it ‘was found to perfectly encapsulate the vast array of works and studies carried out by the fine arts students this year.’
She commented that ‘the setting up of the exhibition itself served as a tremendous learning experience for the students. This opportunity provided students a chance to understand and appreciate the full process involved, from the very start of creating the artworks from scratch to the hanging up of the works and co-ordinating a successful opening night.’ Exhibition organisation, from concept stage to the final logistics, is a challenging endeavour even for those with years of experience. What this group of students managed to achieve involved constant coordination and reliance on one another.
Some of the best works created by the Fine Arts students throughout this academic year are on show, all of which were executed under the guidance of lecturers and tutors; Schembri Bonaci himself, Dr. Mark Sagona, Noel Attard, Clint Calleja, and Robert Zahra. The final pieces were selected under the guidance of Schembri Bonaci.
During this academic year the students participated in a number of workshops and lectures which served as a platform that pushed and challenged the students into experimenting with difficult subjects and concepts. This can be clearly seen in the first room of the exhibition wherein the students were tasked with realistically depicting foil using the medium of paint, part of their first semester coursework. Conveying the material qualities of anything is a challenge to even the most experienced, and it must be said that the results are very promising. Foil is a prob- lematic material due to its reflective qualities; the understanding and representation of light was therefore a critical point of consideration.
Present throughout the exhibition is a common element which ties up the exhibition together; that of the female figure. The study of the female human figure also played an important role during the second semester for the Fine Arts students. A number of tasks and assignments tackled the depiction of the nude female figure, a case in point being the nude studies in the style of Tamara De Lempicka. This subject is a principal one in the history of art which makes it all the more complex to engage with. A number of landscape paintings created during plein air painting workshops are also exhibited at Misc.
The work of the lecturers, tutors and students must be commended as all are working to build strong foundations in the Fine Arts locally. Continuity is essential for a tradition to be formed, and also to be able to fulfil the goal of engendering active shared working environments. Creativity thrives within such collective spaces, and it is the students themselves who develop physical and intellectual sites of exchange. Misc is a noteworthy show because of the effort each student invested in setting up and managing the exhibition.
Misc is currently open at The Splendid in Strada Stretta, Valletta. This exhibition is organised by students from the Department of Art and Art History at the University of Malta. It will be open until Sunday 29 July from 3pm to 8pm.