Malta’s Arts Scene Shines with TAPE: Sade (ARTE)

Picture this: a chilly January evening in Valletta’s historic St. James Cavalier. The air is thick with anticipation as art enthusiasts, both local and foreign, gather, their breaths visible in the cold air. They’re not here for the usual suspects – Caravaggios or Mattia Pretis – but for something entirely different. Tonight, Malta’s contemporary arts scene is the star of the show, with the opening of TAPE: Sade, an ARTE production.

TAPE: Sade is an immersive, site-specific audio-visual installation by Maltese artist and filmmaker, Adrian Abela. It’s a love letter to the late, great Nigerian singer Sade Adu, but it’s also much more. Abela weaves together Sade’s music, his own film footage, and Malta’s unique landscapes to create a sensory experience that’s equal parts haunting, mesmerizing, and thought-provoking.

But why Sade? “Her music has a certain melancholy that resonates with me,” Abela explains. “It’s universal, yet deeply personal. I wanted to explore that duality, that tension between the global and the local, the universal and the specific.”

TAPE: Sade is part of ARTE, a European cultural initiative that supports innovative, collaborative art projects. Malta, through its participation in Creative Europe, is one of the 41 countries involved. The installation is hosted by Spazju Kreattiv, Malta’s national centre for creativity, located in the heart of Valletta.

For those who’ve never been, Spazju Kreattiv is a vibrant hub of creativity. Housed in the former Sacra Infermeria, a 16th-century hospital, it’s a stunning blend of old and new. It’s the perfect setting for TAPE: Sade, which uses the space’s unique architecture to create a sense of disorientation and wonder.

But TAPE: Sade isn’t just about the art. It’s also about the experience. Visitors are led through a labyrinth of screens and speakers, each one playing a different snippet of Sade’s music, each one showing a different film clip. The effect is disorienting, immersive, and deeply moving.

TAPE: Sade is only running until February 28, so there’s not much time to catch this unique installation. But if you’re a fan of art that challenges, provokes, and inspires, it’s well worth a visit.

And if you’re interested in Malta’s contemporary arts scene, this is just the beginning. With initiatives like ARTE and Valletta 2018, our little island is punching well above its weight in the global arts scene. So, keep your eyes peeled. There’s plenty more where this came from.

As Adrian Abela puts it, “Malta’s arts scene is vibrant, diverse, and full of potential. It’s an exciting time to be an artist here.”