Acclaimed Portuguese artist Joana Vasconcelos set for MICAS opening

The stage is set for the highly-anticipated exhibition of celebrated Portuguese installation artist Joana Vasconcelos at the Malta International Contemporary Art Space, set for its official opening by Prime Minister Robert Abela on Friday, 25 October.

The sheer scale of Vasconcelos’s gargantuan installations will bring to life the MICAS four-storey galleries, now Malta’s most ambitious restoration project for arts and culture.

“This opening exhibition will be both colourful and exuberant and presents a subject matter of wide resonance and relevance to the museum’s visitors,” says Edith Devaney, MICAS’s Artistic Director.

The iconic element of the new MICAS space is surely its new structure, capped by a monumental roof of welded steel beams

“Vasconcelos’s appropriation of traditional crafts in the making of many of her works will echo several cultures, including her own in Portugal, but also that of Malta. The decision to present her work in the ‘raw’ building,  before the internal museum structure is installed, thereby revealing the natural beauty of the excavated and historic walls, with the natural light freely flowing throughout, will also be a celebration of this new heritage project and its contemporary architecture.”

Set against four major signature works which resonate with the more contemplative side of human existence – Tree of Life, The Garden of Eden, Loft and Valkyrie Mumbet – this exhibition also presents a number of more conceptual works which focus on the quotidian and the home. 

Joana Vasconcelos, Árvore da Vida [Tree of Life], 2023, Sainte-Chapelle, Château de Vincennes, Paris, France

Like all Vasconcelos’s works, gender and cultural politics are in evidence – with the materiality of the work also playing a role in here. 

Constructed with everyday nonprecious materials, often associated with the domestic, Vasconcelos creates works of monumental scale and significance. The exhibition will illustrate the way in which the artist explores the challenging aspects of daily life and how this creates a desire and need to connect with more spiritual aspects of our existence in the quest for both solace and inspiration.

“With her ability to present conceptual art in a celebratory and sumptuous manner, and her deep commitment to engaging with communities and schools in the exploration of the visual arts, a Joana Vasconcelos exhibition presents the perfect opening exhibition for Malta International Contemporary Art Space as it invites visitors to step into her magical vision and in doing so, explore the museum and its campus,” Devaney says.

“Like all international contemporary artists Malta Contemporary works with, it is important that each engage with Malta and its culture and that this experience informs and inspires their approach to the selection and placement of work in the galleries and grounds. Vasconcelos formed a deep connection with Malta and its history while developing this exhibition with Malta Contemporary.