The vase: a curve, a hollow, that waits. It has cradled water, flowers, the breath of a room. It has held histories, passed from hand to hand, whispering through its ceramic skin.
On Thursday, MUŻA, Malta’s National Community Art Museum, opens its doors and invites visitors into their new exhibition Healing Vessels: Vases and Art. It’s an exhibition that does not simply present objects but asks questions.
What does a vase hold beyond its physical contents? What stories linger in the folds of its design, in the cracks of its surface, in the careful strokes of colour that define it? The art reflects these questions as the hidden eye surfaces to the top.
From April 24, the past and present will sit side by side. Traditional Maltese Maiolica vases, thick with colour and story, lean towards contemporary artworks by Michelle Gialanze (Mixa); listening. The conversations between them are silent yet resonant. The old whispers, carrying the voices of artisans long gone, while the new answers with reinterpretation, deconstruction, and innovation. What does the old say to the new? What does the new say back?
These vessels, shaped by fire, bear memory in their glazes. They are artifacts of necessity, of creativity, of endurance. The hands that made them—centuries apart—reach toward each other, crossing time.
The vase is not just a container. It holds more than flowers, more than air. It is a keeper of wounds and of healing, a silent witness to rituals of care. It stands on tables, on shelves, in the background of lives lived fully and quietly. It is touched, lifted, admired, filled, emptied, broken, and restored. Its curves invite hands to trace their form, its surface speaks of craft and tradition.
Here, in the quiet of MUŻA, the vases and art, wait for you to lean in, to hear what they know. To acknowledge that, like them, we are both fragile and resilient, shaped by experience and time.
Fragility and resolve
There is beauty in what lasts, and beauty in what is vanishing. The world tilts, the climate shifts, the past threatens to slip from our fingers. Healing Vessels: Vases and Art is not a lament but a gesture of hope.
These works − both old and new − remind us that art is a way of paying attention, of holding on. The earth gives us clay; the artist shapes it, fires it, offers it back. A cycle, a rhythm, a responsibility. Each vase in this exhibition is more than an object—it is a symbol of survival, adaptation, and the deep human need to create.
And so the Maiolica vases speak of the island’s history, its traditions and customs, its connection to trade and influence. Their vibrant hues reflect the Mediterranean light, their patterns echo the flora and fauna of their surroundings.
Meanwhile, the contemporary works push boundaries, experimenting with form, material, and meaning. They present questions too: what does it mean to preserve? To evolve? To exist in a world where everything is in flux?
The juxtaposition of past and present forces us to consider our role as stewards of history and nature. If we revere art enough to preserve it, can we do the same for our environment? If we value the hands that shaped these vessels, can we also value the hands that plant trees, that restore ecosystems, that protect the fragile balance of the earth?
Art and nature are intertwined, one influencing the other, both dependent on care and attention. You are invited to recognize that interconnectedness, to find meaning in fragility, and to honor resilience.
To look at a vase is to look into a mirror, to see what we choose to value. Can we be as careful with nature as we are with art? Can we hold the world as tenderly as we hold these vessels? In the face of destruction, Healing Vessels: Vases and Art chooses creation. In the face of silence, it speaks.
Step inside. Walk through history, through memory, through reinvention. See the past held in delicate, painted surfaces; see the present in bold, defiant forms. Each piece here tells a story − of artistry, of continuity, of survival.
The conversation has already begun, stretching across time, across space, waiting for you to listen. The question is not just what these vessels and art contain, but what they offer: a moment of reflection, a reminder of the delicate balance between creation and loss, a call to nurture what we still have before it slips away. The vases wait. The art listens.
Article by Michele Galianze
Healing Vessels: Vases and Art runs at MUŻA until June 1, and is accessed via the new entrance from Zachary Street, Valletta.
This exhibition is sponsored by APS bank, Azzopardi Jewellers, Laferla Insurance, MUŻA and M. Demajo Wine and Spirits.
