When Malta’s first contemporary arts museum opens its doors in October 2024, we will welcome you in a space that honours Malta’s past, present and future. This country has long been celebrated for its rugged natural beauty, history and heritage. And, now, with the Malta International Contemporary Art Space (MICAS), we are starting a new chapter – one that looks outward and connects with the international art world and brings the very best of modern and contemporary art to these shores but also looks within to celebrate the richness and diversity of contemporary art and practice in Malta.
Nothing could symbolise our international aspirations more than our grand opening’s exhibition from the visionary Portuguese artist Joana Vasconcelos, who was recently commissioned to outfit the stage for Christian Dior’s 2023-2024 Paris Fashion Week show. Vasconcelos’s exhibition will be colourful and exuberant, with a core selection of installations focusing on the ‘domestic’, presented alongside three major works which connect with the contemplative side of human existence – Tree of Life, The Garden of Eden and Valkyrie Mumbet. Like all of Vasconcelos’s works, gender and cultural politics will be in evidence, constructed with everyday non-precious materials, often associated with the domestic, to create works of truly monumental scale and significance.
With the excavated and historic walls visible and natural light flowing throughout the spaces of the restored 17th-cent.