“Adopting a research-led, process-based and collaborative approach, each work has been developed specifically for this project and for the Inquisitor’s Palace itself.”
With this, curator Elyse Tonna sets the tone for Moving with the Wind, Like Waves, her latest site-specific contemporary art project opening on Sunday 30th November at the Inquisitor’s Palace in Birgu.
The exhibition, which is supported by the Bank of Valletta Foundation, examines the building through what Ms Tonna describes as its “quieter layers” – the overlooked sensations, fragments and micro-histories that fall outside established narratives.
Rather than centring the Palace’s better-known episodes, the project focuses on the subtle traces that shape how the site is felt and understood. Ms Tonna’s framework encourages artists and visitors alike to engage with memory, movement and interpretation as living, shifting forces that continue to inform the space.
The exhibition brings together nine artists – Victor Agius, Laura Besançon, Ryan Falzon, Wioletta Kulewska Akyel, Julian Micallef, Jacob Saliba, Sheldon Saliba, Matthew Schembri and Tom Van Malderen – all of whom developed new works through an extended dialogue with the curator.
Their selection followed an open call that attracted 49 submissions, narrowed first to fifteen and then to the final group. The process was supported by the Inquisitor’s Palace curatorial team, who provided research and historical insight to help ground each contribution within the site’s layered context.
Ms Tonna explains that the project does not aim to “illustrate the site’s history,” but instead to make space for encounters that are often fleeting or undocumented. The works respond directly to the building’s sensorial rhythms, architectural gestures and overlooked narratives, inviting visitors to reconsider how they move through and perceive the historic space.
Moving with the Wind, Like Waves extends beyond the exhibition itself. A month-long public programme – running from 3rd to 27th December – will include free workshops, readings, performances, activator sessions and artist-led events connected to the project’s curatorial themes. Activities are scheduled for Wednesday evenings and Saturday mornings, with curatorial tours available on request.
Commissioned and supported by the Bank of Valletta Foundation and presented in collaboration with Heritage Malta, the project positions contemporary artistic practice within one of Malta’s most historically charged buildings, offering an alternative way of engaging with its narratives.
The exhibition opens on Sunday 30th November from 18:00 to 21:00 at the Inquisitor’s Palace, Birgu.
