The Ten Beyond & The Last Mime

The Ten Beyond
Photography Exhibition at Aldabra Gallery, SmartCity Malta

THE TEN BEYOND is a photographic project which brings together the outstanding work of ten of the Malta Institute of Professional Photography (and Malta’s) top photographers; they are ten artists who excel in a particular genre. It is high time to acknowledge these passionate artists not only for the work they constantly regale and inspire us with, but for clearly demonstrating that we have local photographers who are more than a match for top international photographers.

The exhibition,  an idea by curator Kevin Casha and directed by Gabriella Mallia, is being held at Aldabra Gallery at SmartCity, will be a showcase for the best that local photography can offer. The fifty prints (five from each author) have been printed by MIPP main sponsors ILAB Photo and PhotoInk who, for this project, have admirably joined forces so as to jointly give their usual professional service to the project; no matter how good an image is, high-end printing is imperative in order to bring out the best quality possible. All the photographers selected to participate are resident in Malta and their names are synonymous with top quality photography. During the selection, the curator looked at consistency, passion, creativity and track record. The AV Warehouse provided the setup of the gallery in collaboration with Think 1st while Brincat Piano’s made possible the presence of a Baby Grand Kemble where Ms Kristýna Babuliková will be playing Chopin on the inauguration of the exhibition.

Guido Bonett’s nature work is second to none, whilst the consistent high level of sports photography shown by Domenic Aquilina has been proven time and time again. Keith Ellul and Samuel Scicluna are both major exponents of the landscape but their work shows that there are many different paths towards producing engaging photography with this genre. Ramon Curmi’s passion with astro photography has enabled most of us to view and marvel at images that we would not have dreamed of, whilst Veronica Busuttil takes us into the wonderful realm of underwater photography. The photojournalistic work of Darrin Zammit Lupi needs no introduction and again he continues to show his mastery not only by telling a story with a single image but by adding design, aesthetics and composition – elements that take his work to another level. Johan Siggesson’s amazing wildlife work is very different from what we usually encounter; he not only documents his subjects but his creative input gives his images that Fine Art feel. Joseph Lungaro is a talented all-rounder who excels in travel photography, again not only by documenting what his camera captures but by using his keen visual sense and skill of captivatingly capturing the moment when the light is at its best. Duncan Cauchi, on the other hand, painstakingly creates artistic images using the difficult medium of water and is capable of freezing instances in time in order to give us a glimpse of how a passionate photographer can produce engaging work from the simplest of subjects.

This exhibition brings together some of the cream of top local talent together in one gallery. All the exhibitors are Malta Institute of Professional Photography members. ArtMalta invites Special Guest Hristo Rusev to launch his book ‘The Last Eternal Mime’. The documentary which will be presented in Malta is a photo essay (2014-2018) on the subject of pantomime art in which Hristo Rusev is telling the story of Guerassim Dichliev and Marcel Marceau and their struggle.The exhibition will be open to the general public at Aldabra Gallery, in Smart City from the 11th of February to the 25th of March between 9am and 6pm.



L-Għaxra Lil Hinn (The Ten Beyond)
Wirja ta’ Fotografija fil-Gallerija Aldabra, SmartCity Malta


‘L-Għaxra Lil Hinn’ huwa proġett fotografiku li jgħaqqad ix-xogħol eċċellenti ta' għaxar fotografi mill-aqwa. Il-fotografi li huma membri tal-Istitut tal-Fotografija Professjonali ta' Malta (MIPP), huma għaxar artisti li jisbqu f’ġeneru partikolari. Wasal iż-żmien li nirrikonoxxu lil dawn l-artisti passjonati mhux biss għax-xogħol li bih kontinwament jispirawna u jaffaxxinawna, imma biex nuru biċ-ċar li għandna fotografi lokali li tabilħaqq iħabbtuha mal-aqwa fotografi internazzjonali ewlenin.

Il-wirja li oriġinat minn ħsieb tal-kuratur Kevin Casha u taħt id-direzzjoni ta’ Gabriella Mallia, u li qed issir fil-Gallerija ta' Aldabra fi SmartCity, se tkun qiegħda twassal l-ifjen xogħol li l-fotografija lokali tista' toffri. Il-ħamsin ritratt (ħamsa minn kull awtur) ġew stampati mill-’ILAB Photo’ u ‘PhotoInk’ li ingħaqdu b’mod eċċezzjonali għal dan il-proġett biex flimkien jagħtu s-servizz professjonali tagħhom sabiex toħroġ l-aqwa kwalità possibbli permezz tat-teknoloġija superjuri fl-istampar. Il-fotografi kollha li ġew magħżula biex jipparteċipaw huma residenti f'Malta u isimhom huwa sinonimu mal-fotografija tal-aqwa kwalità. Waqt l-għażla, il-kuratur ħares lejn il-konsistenza, il-passjoni, il-kreattività u l-kisbiet ta’ unur. ‘The AV Warehouse’ ipprovdew l-arranġament tal-gallerija b'kollaborazzjoni ma' ‘Think 1st’ filwaqt li ‘Brincat Pianos’ għamel possibbli l-preżenza ta' Baby Grand Kemble fejn Kristýna Babuliková se tkun qed idoqq kompożizzjonijiet ta’ Chopin waqt l-inawgurazzjoni tal-wirja.

Ix-xogħol tan-natura ta’ Guido Bonett huwa xogħol mingħajr paragun, filwaqt li l-konsistenza fil-livell għoli ta’ fotografija sportiva muri minn Domenic Aquilina ġiet ppruvata għal darba wara l-oħra. Keith Ellul u Samuel Scicluna t-tnejn huma esponenti ewlenin tal-pajsaġġ, imma x-xogħol tagħhom juri li hemm ħafna toroq differenti fil-produzzjoni tal-fotografija involuta f' dan il-ġeneru. Il-passjoni ta’ Ramon Curmi bil-fotografija tal-astronomija ppermettiet lil ħafna minna biex aħna wkoll naraw u nħarsu lejn stampi li ma stajniex noħolmu, filwaqt li Veronica Busuttil teħodna fid-dinja meraviljuża ta’ taħt il-baħar. Ix-xogħol fotojurnalistiku ta' Darrin Zammit Lupi m'għandux bżonn ta' introduzzjoni u għal darb'oħra jkompli juri l-ħakma tiegħu mhux biss billi jgħid storja b'immaġini waħda imma billi jżid id-disinn, l-estetika u l-kompożizzjoni - elementi li jieħdu x-xogħol tiegħu f’livell ieħor. Ix-xogħlijiet mill-aqwa ta’ Johan Siggesson dwar il-ħajja selvaġġa huma differenti ħafna minn dawk li aħna normalment niltaqgħu magħhom għaliex mhux biss jiddokumentaw s-suġġetti tagħhom imma l-kontribut kreattiv tiegħu joħloq arti fina fl-immaġini tiegħu. Joseph Lungaro huwa fotografu versatili li jeċċella fil-fotografija tal-ivvjaġġar. Hu wkoll, mhux biss jiddokumenta dak li taqbad il-kamera imma juża s-sens viżiv qawwi tiegħu u l-ħila li biha jaqbad il-mument meta d-dawl ikun fl-aqwa tiegħu. Duncan Cauchi, min-naħa l-oħra, joħloq b'attenzjoni l-istampi artistiċi bl-użu tal-ilma li huwa mezz diffiċli u kapaċi jiffriża l-istanzi fil-ħin sabiex jagħtina ħarsa lejn kif fotografu passjonat jista' jipproduċi xogħol ta' impenn anki mill-aktar suġġetti sempliċi.

Din il-wirja tiġbor uħud mill-aqwa talent lokali flimkien f' gallerija waħda. L-esibituri kollha huma membri tal-Istitut tal-Fotografija Professjonali ta' Malta (MIPP). ArtMalta tistieden lill-mistieden speċjali Hristo Rusev biex iniedi l-ktieb tiegħu “The Last Eternal Mime”. Id-dokumentarju (2014-2018) li se jkun ippreżentat f'Malta huwa dwar is-suġġett tal-arti tal-pantomime li fih Hristo Rusev qiegħed jgħid l-istorja ta' Guerassim Dichliev u Marcel Marceau u l-ġlieda tagħhom. Il-wirja se tkun miftuħa għall-pubbliku ġenerali fil-Gallerija ta' Aldabra fi Smart City mill-11 ta' Frar sal-25 ta' Marzu bejn id-9 ta' filgħodu u s-6 ta' filgħaxija.

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Text by Kevin Casha, President of the MIPP
Translated to Maltese by Gabriella Mallia, Co-founder of ArtMalta