It will be a bumper year for Malta and Gozo in 2024 for contemporary arts housed in historical heritage and cultural localities

The Maltese Islands being so small, the history of heritage and culture in areas and events tend to intermingle – the bad with the good.

Let me for example cite Strait Street (Strada Stretta in Maltese) in Valletta.

For centuries it was a street for sword fights in armed duels and further deteriorated into a street of brothels and the presence of scores of prostitutes – mainly serving to cater for thousands of foreign soldiers and sailors.

Simultaneously it was also renowned for having the best restaurants and providing the best of "clean" entertainment in singing and dancing – yet of course no reputable Maltese person would admit having eaten or been entertained there.

Imagine plush restaurants in Mayfair in London also housing brothels and prostitutes and being a general "red light district"!

For similar but vastly diverse reasons the Balzunetta region in Floriana (which is just out of Valletta but has to be passed through to enter the capital city) also has a fascinating history.

The Knights of St John of Jerusalem had their gunpowder factory in the heart of highly-populated Valletta but in 1634 the factory exploded, killing 22 people and damaging a nearby church.

The manufacture of gunpowder was of course essential and new premises were built on barren land in 1665 in Floriana which overlooks Marsamxett Harbour rather than Valletta's Grand Harbour.

By 1667 the factory had three windmills for the grinding and manufacturing of gunpowder.

However, by 1730 the manufacturing process had been taken over by private entrepreneurs and the building fell empty.

Grandmaster Antonio Manoel de Vilhena reacted by enforcing the original function of the Order of St John for hospitaliering.

The vaults were converted to host a state-run institution for the care of the elderly and the infirm and became known as "The Ospizio" (The Hospital).

However, the building was dark and gloomy and de Vilhena ordered new extensions to internal ramparts and a fountain, and the building went on to host 380 residents and later included reformed prostitutes and those suffering mental problems.

Floriana's Balzunetta also sullied part of its reputation when the British Government ordered barracks for some of its regiments in between the two World Wars and this attracted shady bars and prostitution.

Although the Ospizio was hit several times during German and Italian aerial bombing, all came to an end at the termination of World War II and today Floriana is a highly reputable area with a beautiful public garden and houses the Malta Police General Headquarters.

The Malta International Contemporary Art Space

In 1997 the Malta International Contemporary Art Space known as MICAS was allocated the Ospizio as its headquarters and by 2017 all its offices became housed there.

With the Ospizio not then rendered to be ready commissioned art works by Ugo Rondinone, Pierre Huyghe, Cristina Iglesias and Michele Oka Doner had their works displayed in nearby Valletta.

The official opening will take place in October 2024, but the museum campus has already welcomed the inaugural permanent display by the celebrated artist and London-born Academician, sculptor Conrad Shawcross, on the theme "What is to Become is Already Here".

This was inaugurated last month between 27 and 29 October during the MICAS International Art Weekend and is now open to public viewing by appointment from MICAS through This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

An elated Shawcross said "I am honoured to be the first artist to exhibit at the new MICAS campus.

My theme chosen alludes to the harkening of things to come. MICAS will celebrate its new contemporary setting in an environment of historic fortifications and having witnessed the most breathtaking of histories"

This November's introduction was chaired by Phyllis Muscat with speeches also by lecturer Timothy Rub, George Widener who is Emeritus Director of the Philadelphia Arts Museum and Artistic Director Edith Devaney.

The year 2024 is heading for a bumper year of contemporary arts, combining old and historic buildings to blend with the latest of contemporary arts.

In March 2024 of next year Malta will be holding its first-ever Biennale, an international event to which 12 countries have been accepted from all over the world and scores of stands will be erected throughout Malta and Gozo.

October 2024 will be followed by this MICAS event.

There is no way that contemporary artists, sculptors, designers and photographers can miss these events, representing the modern world of art in Malta's historic and cultural settings once described by Queen Elizabeth I of Great Britain in 1565 as "the Saviours of Christendom in Europe".

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