For a week, from March 31 to April 6, designers, artisans and makers across Malta and Gozo are opening their studios to visitors and welcoming you in to watch them in action, to get an insight into their methods and materials and to see their latest creations, including some surprising characters! It’s part of a Europe-wide initiative, the European Artistic Crafts Days (EACD), organized by the Malta Crafts Foundation, now in its third year.
While Ta’ Qali and Ta’ Dbiegi craft villages are known as hubs of creativity, visitors will also uncover hidden art spaces in unexpected locations.
Max Spiteri, for example, is inviting visitors into his spacious yet homely artisan workshop in Attard. It’s filled with machinery, paints and intriguing creations that he makes with a plastic filament material used for 3D printing (PLA), resin, and acrylic paints. These include replica weapons and helmets, and other pieces that Max has designed himself. Expect superheroes and monsters, mythological creatures and more.
During the event, Max will be demonstrating his techniques including the 3D printing, sanding and polishing processes. He also plans to custom make keychains on the spot for interested visitors. As 3D printing becomes increasingly used in everyday processes, Max hopes to contemporary artisanal craft into public consciousness. He looks forward to explaining the technology, the considerations, challenges and pitfalls.
Max will also showcase his responsible waste-management ethos, as he finds a new purpose for PLA scraps and general waste, melting them back down into silicone moulds for ashtrays, paper weights and maybe even dice, this latter of which is still in the experimental phase.
“I’m also hoping to show people that you don’t need to overspend on statues or collectables from big corporations when there are cheaper, local alternatives,” says Max. “Everything made here has a story; everything on my shelves is for sale but was made with love, passion and the hope that it will take even a single person’s day a little bit better.”
“I will be offering a live miniature painting class for beginners too, for anyone who wants to attempt any form of miniature painting. It’s great relaxation!” he adds.
Also participating, Ioulia Chante, architect and ceramicist creates pieces from functional tableware to innovative sculptural pieces. “However, what I enjoy the most,” she says, “is blending these two practices, creating playful items and visual illusions with surreal elements. This approach allows me to develop both my wheel-throwing and sculptural skills simultaneously, while expressing a type of story or concern. These works often come out in forms of monsters, which usually represent our other selves or aspects of our personalities.”
“I only use stoneware clay, which is fired at very high temperatures—slightly lower than porcelain—and tends to become vitrified. It is the material I started my practice with, and since there is a vast range of stoneware clays with different properties and colour results, there is still so much more to explore.”
“Stoneware is also a high-quality material in terms of food safety, hygiene, and durability. It is less porous than lower-temperature clays, becomes vitrified during firing, and additionally allows for beautiful glaze combinations.”
“I really enjoy using green, red, white, or brown glazes. However, rather than focusing on the colour itself, I pay a lot of attention to the texture of the glazes. I prefer using matte glazes, as they give a more natural and raw finish to the final piece. While matte glazes may not be the best option for simple tableware, I believe that for sculptural pieces, they highlight the level of detail in each piece, giving a bit of life to the monster features.”
At the Golden Threads craft day, Ioulia will be showing some statement pieces, including a ”Anger” which embodies this feeling in a monster-vessel and a big pieces called ”Burnout”, a brain with a skull on a plate that is also a diffuser and was a part of the exhibition ”What’s Bugging You”, a show at Malta Society of Arts in 2024 that explored exploring the mental struggles of our society in the post-Covid Era.
Ioulia is looking forward to having visitors to her studio during the EACDs event because she draws much of her inspiration from talking to people. “Since I use my practice as a form of self-expression and communication, listening to different perspectives and critiques helps me see my work in new ways and allows space for fresh emotions and ideas to grow and develop,” she explains. “I feel that I improve every time I expose both my pieces and myself to the public, whether the feedback is positive or negative. I enjoy seeing how people interact with them, as it feels like a form of communication without words. It’s a very rewarding experience.”
Other venues include the tiny artisan boutique Heartwork which can be found opposite the Inquisitor’s Palace in Birgu. A collaboration by 3 artisans, they will be present upcycled fabric bags and purses, art and handmade costume jewellery in a blue-green colour palette inspired by the sea.
See lots more about the EACD, the artisans and where you can visit them.
