Malta Independent

The Changing tide of our Heritage: An artist Comments with his brush

This is the artist’s first exhibition

Mill-bieb íl barra is an exhibition of paintings by John Spiteri Gingell that seeks to explore the visual features which together capture the character of the façades of Malta’s vernacular buildings. For the façade of a house acts much like the face of a person with its particular facial features and expression­s. The front door, like the mouth, separates the inner world from the outer - from what is expressed in private and remains undisclose­d and what is public and open. The balconies resemble noses and the apertures, the eyes. Façades seem to shield, but at the same time, provide glimpses of the soul that animates the life within. The shades of the paint that are often applied to the walls are like mascara and the plants that sometimes drape them, as well as the door knobs and other fixtures, serve the same purposes as hair and ornamental jewellery.

Maltese vernacular buildings have acquired their own special facial qualities over the passage of time. Although their façades, in the great majority, follow a common grammar that reflects a certain humility, they, nonetheles­s, are still able to surprise and dazzle the eye with their individual­ity without losing anything from the beauty of the collective.

The 31 paintings on exhibit at the Rabat Volunteer Centre, executed by John in acyrilcs and oil paints over the course of the past few years, are all inspired by the simple and unadultera­ted aesthics of humble Maltese buildings that can be encountere­d in many of our village streets and across the countrysid­e. They seek to capture the characteri­stic features that define the essence of a simple beauty that is, sadly, increasibl­y being replaced by an ugly and soulless architectu­re in a blind quest for so-called ‘modern’ developmen­t – a tragic loss that only serves to make the country aesthetica­lly, and culturally, poorer. The exhibition also hosts a handful of pen and ink drawings which dwell on the same theme by John’s elder brother,

Stephen C Spiteri. • John Spiteri Gingell was born in 1971. He hails from Balzan and resides in Manikata. He works in Informatio­n Technology but has always had several other interests including painting, iconograph­y and the Maltese language. He is the founder and administra­tor of possibly the largest Maltese language resource site online and the author of the book “Ħal Maqtugħ u Kitbiet Oħra” which was ranked as a finalist in 2020’s “Premju Nazzjonali talKtieb. John is married and has a daughter.