The Mill is welcoming up and coming artists Abigail Agius, Martina Spiteri and Rhea Micallef Gavin, who have been selected as part of our SPRING programme. SPRING v1. launches on Friday 3rd September 2021, and will run until Friday 24th of September 2021, at The Mill – Art, Culture and Crafts Centre, Birkirkara.
The exhibition Inherent Dispositions, curated by Elyse Tonna, presents works by this trio of artists who are bound by aspects related to identity and self-expression. The works of Abigail Agius, Rhea Micallef-Gavin and Martina Spiteri are subtle interpretations of individual embodiment. In Inherent Dispositions, they challenge fashion-related narratives and interrelated notions linked to consumption, making, adaptation and appropriation. Beyond the commonplace definition of fashion as mannerisms resulting from or due to a particular context and culture, fashion (as a way of doing) is oftentimes a reflection of an individual’s behaviours and preferences interlinked to personal realities or societal norms and values, or both. Cultural transmission, awareness and embodiment play a vital role in its development, especially in the transmission of skills, values and style.
Venue: The Mill – Art, Culture and Crafts Centre
Dates: 3rd – 24th of September 2021
Wednesdays, Thursdays and Fridays between 17:00 – 19:30 (20:00 on Fridays)
Special opening hours: Tuesday 7th Septmeber 17:00 – 19:30 and Saturday 4th September 16:00 to 20:00
Closed weekends and public holidays unless stated otherwise (see special opening hours).
Walk-ins welcome.
Note on Health and Safety: The GCF volunteers will ensure implementation of health and safety protocols (registration at the door for contact tracing, mask on, sanitizer, temperature and 2m distance, if maximum capacity is reached, visitors will be kindly asked to wait outside).
WHAT IS SPRING?
SPRING is a programme by the Gabriel Caruana Foundation to support early career contemporary artists. Supporting artists and collectives by exhibiting at The Mill has been a core principle of the Foundation and also of Gabriel and Mary Rose Caruana, the founders of The Mill – Art, Culture and Crafts Centre.
Since 2017, the Gabriel Caruana Foundation has supported emerging artists by dedicating its exhibition space for solo exhibitions at The Mill. The process is varied and goes beyond simply supporting the set-up of an artistic showcase. The Foundation strives to support emerging artists/collectives in various ways through curation, ideation of projects, concept and project development, funding and sponsor support, sales of artworks, marketing and internationalisation.
This support has organically grown into SPRING, a programme that conceptually ties in with the notion of creating a platform for the promotion of work by emerging artists/collectives. This enables them to kickstart or further expose their work and artistic career giving them the space to investigate and intervene. The SPRING programme is evolving to support emerging artists/collectives through different modalities.
The SPRING programme is now two-pronged. We offer an annual month-long solo exhibition to an emerging artist/artist collective during the Spring season. We are also offering a dedicated exhibition space for emerging artists/artist collectives throughout the year through a rolling open call. The selected artists are also contributing towards the Foundation by dedicating some of their time to be actively involved in running the Foundation and The Mill.
