A festive weekend of art, activities, and culture at contemporary arts museum MICAS

The Malta International Contemporary Arts Space (MICAS) is celebrating its opening exhibition by the acclaimed Portuguese artist Joana Vasconcelos with a special open weekend on 7 and 8 December.

Art lovers, families, and visitors, young and old, will enjoy free access to the Vasconcelos exhibition, as well as the majestic MICAS Galleries, in a festive atmosphere that will include children’s gallery walks, educational activities, a guided historic trail, open-air games, and live music for everyone.

“We are planning a very special weekend for all families and those who have yet to experience the Vasconcelos exhibition, with a special two-day open weekend here at MICAS,” said executive chairperson Phyllis Muscat.

“This is a great opportunity for everyone to experience Malta’s newest cultural destination and admire the architecture that has reclaimed this once-inaccessible part of the historic Knights fortifications for the community, as well as the exuberant and colourful installations of Joana Vasconcelos,” Muscat added.

MICAS will be hosting tours of the Vasconcelos exhibition for children of all age groups from five to 15, as well as activity workshops.

Other tours include a historical architecture tour of the MICAS site, and tours for all ages of both the Vasconcelos exhibition and the works of British contemporary artist Conrad Shawcross.

Activities on the day will include open-air games, with a giant chess board, traditional Maltese games such as brilli, boċċi, and passju, giant Jenga blocks, as well as archery boards for all to participate in.

Young visitors and their guardians will also enjoy taking part in a MICAS ‘plant hunt’, where they will seek out matching plants from the many endemic species that line the museum campus, as well as a spot of seed sowing and even leaf painting.

MICAS board member and chair of its education committee, Georgina Portelli, said that visitors will see how over 6,000 square metres of this historic landscape in Floriana have now been reclaimed and repurposed as a space for art and culture.

“MICAS is essentially a contemporary intervention within Floriana’s historical landscape that reappropriates these outstanding bastions and rightfully democratises the space,” Portelli said of what has now become Malta’s calling card to the world of international contemporary art.

“Not only have we ensured their continued conservation and safeguarded cultural heritage and areas of high landscape value, but we are doing this by facilitating access to art.”

Visitors to MICAS will also be able to view acquired sculptures by the museum, such as Ugo Rondinone’s The Radiant and Conrad Shawcross’s The Dappled Light of the Sun (Formation 1) – a prelude to MICAS’s sculpture garden, set to be unveiled in 2025.

“These open spaces and terraces will provide the public with further access to new heritage trails, green areas, open spaces, and long-hidden seascapes,” Portelli said.

 Visit www.micas.art for more information