For Malta International Contemporary Art Space’s first exhibition, Joana Vasconcelos was encouraged to explore the new building’s raw interior before the internal gallery walls are fitted, and to interrogate the far reaches of the entire area, taking advantage of the soaring roof and the terrace arrangement of the galleries.

Opening with an exhibition of the work of the celebrated installation artist Joana Vasconcelos, Malta’s first contemporary art museum will follow this with exhibitions featuring the work of Milton Avery and his contemporary followers, Reggie Burrows Hodges and more

“The title of this show alludes to its nature: a prelude and a harkening of things to come at MICAS, which opens next year. This also stands as a direct reference to the fact that while MICAS is set to open imminently, the new building is contained within the historic fortifications …”  — Conrad Shawcross

Building upon A.E. Housman’s (1859-1936) poem Between Sea and Land this virtual exhibition takes inspiration from our relationship with the sea and the fluid boundaries that are created, changed and re-made in the shifting sands in the area between the sea and land …

The Palm Goddess for Malta by American artist Michele Oka Doner is a work of art that embraces the figurative tradition of the ancient past. The sculpture also draws inspiration from the monumental leaves of Phoenix dactylifera, a palm that inhabits the Maltese archipelago.

The complex layering of cultural traces and memory permeating the Marsamxett harbourscape, St Michael’s bastion and Hastings Gardens are the dramatic backdrop to Cristina Iglesias’ exciting artwork.

The stone figure is the most archetypal representation of the human form; an elemental symbol of the human spirit, connected to the earth yet mythic in the imagination …