Human relationships and their aftermath | Matthew Attard Navarro

What was the main impetus to get this exhibition going?

Beyond Love, as a project created by Platinum Love, follows our creative decision earlier on last year to bring the focus of the Platinum Love brand back to the original Mediterranean roots.

Last year (2014) we started toying with new ways to tell stories other than what lives digitally on Platinum Love Journal, we still wished to do something that is sustainable however we wanted to bring this to a larger audience, so while with Platinum Love we’re trying to bring Mediterranean stories to our international following with Beyond Love we’re doing the opposite, creating a well-curated project that will hopefully bring our international audience to Malta.

What could be seen as an ambitious project, we saw this project as something that will grow independently alongside Platinum Love, while keeping close ties between the two.

How did you go about assembling the (substantial) gathering of contributing artists? What were the criteria that you used?

We approached photographers who have moved from a fine art background to being known for their more editorial work. We wished to explore their private body of work and create a story with this work holistically. We worked closely with a couple external curators and we slowly built a collection of artists who work well together.

What made you decide on this particular theme?

Fabrizio Mifsud Soler, our curator for this exhibition re-explored the theme Beyond Love and put together the story of Desolation & Devotion, we then explored each artists’ work and found the most fitting work, a lot of which has been new and unpublished work that is surfaced first for this exhibition.

Photo by Winter Vandenbrink

Why do you think Malta is an ideal place for this kind of exhibition?

Malta is surrounded by culture and stories, enriched with this (old) culture it makes a perfect setting for the new and unexplored. It is also a great destination to visit during the month of May-June and we wish for this festival of photography (should we call it that) to be something worth returning to.

How does this exhibition signify the evolution of Platinum Love as an ‘entity’?

Platinum Love was always growing. What used to be a small project now has a solid identity and focus. We have plans for 2016 for larger sub-projects carrying through the brand’s story: an exciting departure from being simply digital journal to more tangible (and sustainable) projects. Beyond Love is obviously still in it's infancy but we hope this will grow in a similar sustainable manner and leave an impression.

How would you describe the local visual arts scene? What would you change about it?

I think we should focus on preserving our Maltese past and similarly strive to create the new. We would love to thank Malta Arts Fund for their support on Beyond Love.

Desolation & Devotion will be on display at St James Cavalier, Valletta from May 8 to 31. The exhibition is supported by the Malta Arts Fund and Platinum Love and hosted by Bottega Gold. For more information log on to www.beyondlove.co