A Year in Review - 2025 by Fondazzjoni Patrimonju Malti

a year in review 2025

Introduction

2025 was an incredibly fruitful and satisfying year for FPM. The VP Gallery hosted two outstanding exhibitions – Emvin Cremona the Glass Collage Series which paid tribute to a giant of Maltese Modern Art and was the first of a series of exhibitions to shine a light on this period of local art. Burning Waters: Diplomazija Astuta Retold, curated by Keith Sciberras in collaboration with the Arts Council Malta was a retelling of the 2022 Malta Pavilion at the Venice Biennale through a series of works on paper by Arcangelo Sassolino.

FPM’s publishing sector worked at full steam on the quarterly magazine Treasures of Malta, Giovanni Bonello’s More Histories Vol III, the double volume Malta Royal Opera House: Power, Culture and the Stage, Titles to Talkies available in December on pre-order, as well as the catalogue for the Emvin Cremona exhibition.

Digitisation of archives continued this year, and FPM was also represented at the International Council on Archives (ICA) Congress in Barcelona, which provided fruitful insights on the development of FPM’s digitisation toolkit, ethical frameworks, and long-term vision for making Maltese modern art archives accessible for research and public engagement.

Palazzo Falson continued to provide educational visits and workshops for children, special occasion tours for members of the public and an exclusive trip to Naples was organised for

members of the museum. A series of talks on the changing nature of museums took place over the year with special guest speakers invited. Interns and volunteers continue to provide a great service to the museum.

As we look forward to the variety of projects ahead, we remain grateful to all our supporters without whose generosity these would not be possible.

Joe Grioli Chairman

January - March

The Open Mic sessions at the VP Gallery in collaboration with Inizjamed continued into the new year with a further two sessions – ON FOUND/FUQ MISJUB, exploring Pasmore’s poetry which he sometimes included in paintings and prints, and ON TRANSLATION/ FUQ ILSNA which took the form of a workshop for poets working on translations.

Via the Bloomberg Connects App, the VP Gallery launched Art for Wellbeing, combining art and mindfullness whilst viewing two of Pasmore’s paintings. Work was well

underway for the Emvin Cremona Glass Series exhibition as all exhibits were photographed and the exhibition was announced to the public as an forthcoming event.

Winter also saw the start of a new blog series titled

The Books behind the Man, inspired by a selection of books that belonged in Pasmore’s personal library and are now housed in the UOM library. In 2018,Victor Pasmore’s children, John Henry Pasmore and Mary Ellen Nice, donated over 500 books and exhibition catalogues to the University

of Malta, Archives and Rare Books Department.

FPM was grateful to receive a donation from HSBC in support of the Digitisation Program at the VP Galleryan ongoing journey to build a comprehensive digital archive making Maltese Modern Art more accessible.

April - June

The highlight for Spring was the opening of the Emvin Cremona: Glass Collage Series exhibition which aimed to uncover the artist’s intentions behind this fascinating series while also exploring the historical-politicaltechnological context in which he was working. Tours for the public were organised weekly and the gallery also hosted a number of academic visits. The exhibition closed in July after a short extension period. The catalogue accompanying the exhibition contains essays by Giulia Privitelli, Simone Azzopardi, Austin Camilleri and Kurt Borg.

Photography: Lisa Attard

A) Maurice de Giorgio portrait (detail) by Philippa Bianchi, 2009.

B) Artist Marie Louise Kold next to the pedestal she created for the Kantilena at the Notarial Archives Foundation.

Also published in Spring was Treasures of Malta Easter 2025. In this issue we included a special dedication to Maurice de Giorgio on the 10th anniversary of his passing. The article consists of excerpts written by friends and colleagues as well as a selection of images of his own paintings and drawings. More Histories Vol III Made in the Image by Giovanni

Bonello was also published, generously financially assisted by the Francis Miller Memorial Fund.

Palazzo Falson in collaboration with FPM organised a series of talks, Dusk Dialogues, encouraging conversations on the roles, challenges and evolving nature of museums. Each session featured special guest speakers sharing unique

insights on relative topics. The talks were supported by Marsovin and continued until November.

FPM was honoured to commission a pedestal for the Kantilena, the earliest literary work in Maltese housed at the Notarial Archives Foundation. The pedestal is a bespoke metal piece, etched and patinated by hand by artist Marie Louise Kold.

A) A tour of the exhibition Emvin Cremona the Glass Collage Series at the VP Gallery.

B) Restoration of some of Pasmore's works with Kate de Cesare from the Eden Leisure Foundation,Valentina Lupo from Atelier del Restauro and Michael Lowell CEO of FPM.

July - September

Over the summer FPM worked on its second exhibition of the year set to open in October– a collaboration with the Arts Council Malta entitled Burning Waters:Diplomazija Astuta Retold, which revisited the 2022 Malta Pavillion at the Venice Biennale.

FPM is grateful for the support of the Eden Leisure Foundation who sponsored the restoration of select works by Victor Pasmore. These were inaugurated in Summer once Atelier del Restauro completed the work.

FPM continued to develop its digitisation programme,

focusing on archival material related to Victor Pasmore and key figures of the Maltese Modern Art Movement. Work progressed on the assessment and digitisation of family archives, including newspaper clippings, exhibition ephemera, and documentary material from long-term loans and family collections. This phase marked an important step in building a structured, accessible digital archive to support research, education, and future collaborations.

Palazzo Falson proudly accepted the TripAdvisor Traveller’s Choice Award

2025 and the Summer issue of Treasures of Malta was published in time for the summer break.

During September, the VP Gallery, on behalf of FPM, collaborated with Kolectiv Cité Radieuse to present an international retrospective on Maltese artist and architect Richard England. The project highlighted England’s creative vision and his enduring dialogue between architecture and imagination. The exhibition was held in Marseille.

A) Dusk Dialogues talks at Palazzo Falson

B) The inauguration of the restored works by Pasmore with Joe Grioli, Michael Lowell from FPM, and Kate de Cesare and Simon de Cesare from the Eden Leisure Foundation.

Photography: Lisa Attard

October - December

Burning Waters: Diplomazija Astuta Retold opened its doors in October at the VP Gallery. In this retelling, primarily through a series of works on paper, Arcangelo Sassolino’s process of creation and transformation of matter was placed in dialogue with the works of Victor Pasmore. A tour by curator Keith Sciberras, as well as a workshop for UOM Art and Art History students took place at the gallery.

FPM also organised a conference on Burning Waters that was held at UOM with Arcangelo Sassolino also present. In October 2025,

FPM was represented at the International Council on Archives (ICA) Congress in Barcelona. Participation in the congress enabled valuable networking with international archivists, researchers, and cultural institutions, while contributing to discussions on digitisation, access, community archives, and the future of archival practice.

After a two-year absence, Palazzo Falson once again organised an exclusive trip for its members in October. This time they visited Naples where they enjoyed a rich experience in art, history and culture. Possibly the

most ambitious project for FPM’s publishing division this year was the two-volume publication The Malta Royal Opera House: Power, Culture, and the Stage by Vicki Ann Cremona and photography by Daniel Cilia.

This publication, financially supported by the Farsons Foundation, RIDT –University of Malta, Teatru Manoel, and the MSSP (Missionary Society of St Paul) was sold out by November. Another noteworthy publication, Titles to Talkies by Charlie Cauchi was published and available for pre-order in December.

Photography: Kim Sammut

A) Looking for Richard - the international retrospective on Richard England in collaboration with Kolectiv Citie Radieuse, Marseille.

B) Shapes and Sounds - a children's workshop at the VP Gallery.

C) At the launch of The Malta Opera House, Power Culture and the Stage, with Vicki Ann Cremona, Daniel Cilia and Farsons Group chairman Louis Farrugia.

D) UOM Art and Art History students visit the VP Gallery for a workshop on Burning Waters.

E) Arcangelo Sassolino at the VP Gallery.

Treasures of Malta was also available in time for Christmas. FPM was proud to be a Premju għallArti 2025 finalist for the exhibition Curious Beauty: An Alternative Costume Exhibition that was held at Palazzo Falson in 2024.

The final activity of the year at the VP Gallery was a workshop for children called Shapes and Sounds which introduced young minds to the art of Victor Pasmore. Through playful activities, children explored his use of shapes and artistic methods in a fun and engaging way as they connected to shapes and sounds and created their own mobile.

School Visits and Children’s Workshops at Palazzo Falson

Palazzo Falson welcomed students of all ages throughout the year from both local and international schools. Students from University of Malta, MCAST and EDUMaH course students visited the museum as part of their course or as a placement. A yearly visit from students of Luther College, Iowa, USA were treated to an educational tour of the museum assisted by Dr Emanuel Buttigieg, whilst 36 young children from Institution Notre Dame des Minimes, Lyon, France visited as part of an Erasmus exchange with the Newark in Malta school.

Other special visits included: 25 Mosta Girl Guides who played the Augmented Reality

Game; students from Budding Artists Malta who organised drawing sessions at the museum during their summer camp; a group of students from the I Belong program – a unit that seeks to assist all persons of migrant background residing in Malta. Finally, Insight Vacations organised several private tours over the year with particular focus on the Pollinator Haven.

A Journey through Time was the first children’s workshop of the year that took place in March, encouraging imagination as children interpreted different roles inspired by Gollcher’s life. For the Love of Poetry targeted teens as they wrote their own poetry in a personalised journal after viewing Gollcher’s poetry

books. Little Explorers, My Tiny Garden and Decorate your Canvas were all Spring workshops for different ages inspired mainly by the Pollinator Haven.

October brought about Spooky Spells – a family activity that involved solving clues and riddles throughout the Palazzo that was transformed into an academy of magic. A further two workshops took place at the VP Gallery – The Glass Collage, during the Emvin Cremona Glass Collage Series exhibition and Shapes and Sounds that introduced the children to the art of Victor Pasmore. In December, the Festive Companions workshop invited children to discover the Palazzo’s tiniest residents – Gollcher’s pets.

2026

Following the success of Emvin Cremona: Glass Collage Series, FPM continues its exploration of Malta’s modern period with an exhibition dedicated to Gabriel Caruana (1929–2018), one of the most innovative and influential figures in Maltese Modern art.

Recognised for his radical embrace of ceramics, his commitment to art in public life, and his playful approach to form and material, Caruana represents a vital strand of Maltese modernism that expanded the possibilities of what art could be and whom it could serve.

Through a carefully selected group of works, the exhibition will also

trace moments of exchange, parallel thinking, and creative affinity between Caruana and Pasmore, highlighting how their friendship and shared intellectual environment shaped Caruana’s evolving visual language. The exhibition is set to open in Autumn.

2026 will see the preparations and research for the next major exhibition on Prehistoric Art and Architecture. Working alongside experts in the field, and in collaboration with Heritage Malta, FPM’s next major endeavour seeks to readdress, challenge, and propose alternative ways of thinking, seeing, and engaging with the cultural material of Malta’s neolithic past. The project will primarily take

the form of an exhibition at the Museum of Archaeology,Valletta, in October 2027, but will also include a programme of events in the run up and during the exhibition, as well as a satellite display focusing on Maltese modern art and prehistory, at the VP Gallery,Valletta.

FPM Publishing has another busy year ahead – Titles to Talkies by Charlie Cauchi which was published in December will be officially launched in February. A further two books in the series More Histories by Giovanni Bonello will be published in May and November respectively and a catalogue will accompany the Gabriel Caruana exhibition. Treasures of Malta will also be published quarterly.

Our archives have been growing steadily as more material, mainly from families of artists, is entrusted to us. Digitisation not only aids preservation but will eventually provide a valuable research database on the Maltese modern artists and the period they worked in. We are also collaborating with the National Archives to create an educational pamphlet/toolkit about the digitisation and archival project. We hope to begin publishing and sharing the project online for research access towards end of 2027.

The team at Palazzo Falson will continue to organise their dedicated children’s workshops, specialised museum tours and lunchtime tours during the

summer. The series of talks that took place last year, Dusk Dialogues, will continue. These sessions, presented in collaboration with FPM, encourage conversations on the various roles within museums. So far specialised speakers have tackled the topics of Community, Collections, Accessibility, Discoveries and Memory. A further five talks are planned for 2026. The popular exclusive trip abroad for members will also take place.