Through vibrant paintings and expressive sculptures WALK in the city by husband and wife duo Danish artists Rune Bo Jakobsen and Keely Jakobsen invites you to pause and reflect on what it means to move freely through our cities — not in cars, but on our own two feet.
Inspired by the streetscapes of Valletta and the contrasts in Malta’s built environment, this exhibition of work celebrates the beauty, confidence, and human connection that walking can bring. It highlights the joy of slowing down, of noticing, of truly being present in Valletta’s streets. At the same time, by envisioning a future where streets are shared, where movement is mindful, and where the city belongs to everyone, WALK in the city questions the ethos and wisdom of the island’s car-driven planning.
It is Jakobsen’s first artistic collaboration with his wife Keely, ‘a special milestone’, and the exhibition includes a mixture of plein air and studio paintings by Rune Bo and a series of sculptures by Keely, sculptures that stand – or ‘walk’ within the space between the wall art. Her pieces focus on the bodily movements of walking – the healthy human body twisting as one leg moves forward and the hips shift as the back of the walking lady arches sensually, for example.
“The idea of the human body moving freely, walking and exploring within the street space is also explored in the paintings,” adds Rune Bo, “where people are perfectly safe and ‘car-free’ against the backdrop of Valletta’s cupolas of Valletta and the surrounding harbours.”
“Valletta is one of the few spaces here where one can walk without being at the mercy and danger of cars, and the idea for this show came from our personal exasperation of not being able to safely walk the 25 minutes it takes from where we live in Lija to our Art Studio & Gallery in Birkirkara!”
“We believe it should be a human right to be able to walk in the city, and yet this route has dangerous crossings and narrow pathways right next to heavy bypass traffic. In Malta, we complain about stifling traffic and the rudeness of drivers, yet we continue to design and build multi-lane roads and flyovers for cars through built-up areas. and disregard the simple alternatives of walking or cycling. Narrow streets that were built hundreds of years ago for horses and pedestrians are now too dangerous to walk in.”
“As an architect and urban designer, I am intrigued by the almost cinematic experience one can have meandering on foot through the city. The design of the city can be interpreted as a scenography – a glimpse of a cupola in the distance or a cosy glow of a green space beyond makes us want to walk further and explore. The commute or errand to get from A to B is no longer a chore – instead – like life – it is about the journey not just reaching the destination,” he smiles.
And as a contrast to the reality of rush-hour in Birkirkara, evokes the pleasure of meandering freely through an urban environment and of the wonders of Valletta’s historic streets.
“I have lived and worked as an architect for two decades in and outside Valletta, regularly crossing the harbours by ferry, commuting and walking and I am inspired by the cityscapes I see in the environment: I see beauty and I also see potential.”
“There are several cupolas in Valletta only a few of which are visible from the street.
In preparation for this exhibition – whilst working on a streetscape of St Paul’s Street which comes to a dead end view of a blank wall and conditioning units over the Mediterranean Conference Centre – I finally took the liberty of envisioning a new cupola, a focal point adding interest to the lower end of Valletta. Today it’s artistic licence – but maybe one day in the future the conference centre will be graced with an extrovert high-level public vantage point overlooking the entrance to the Grand Harbour!”
“Like other Maltese cupolas, the iconic Carmelite cupola crowning the city of Valletta has featured in numerous of my paintings over the years,” adds Jakobsen. “The city is ever-changing and the oval Carmelite cupola in its form today is not ancient – it was actually only built in the 1960s.”
Jakobsen’s views depict ever-changing skies and the golden light reflected in the Maltese Limestone streetscapes in which he likes to “see the colours in the shadows.”
Over the past few years Jakonsen’s colours have become lighter – vivid and almost electric a transition which is clear to see in this show.
“Purposefully changing the dark shadow values to much lighter blues and greens, ‘overexposes’ the shadows in the painting as if the light sky, sea and harbours almost match the intensity of the Mediterranean Sun, an approach I call ‘Reactive Impressionism,” he explains.
“During the painting process, layer by layer I change and react to painting as if the surface of the painting itself were a landscape transformed and patinated over time. Whilst I have the freedom to include and exclude what I see in historic town centres, I often include elements of modern society, cars, electrical wires spanning across the sky, connecting balconies and silhouettes of people – and in WALK in the city, I introduce a protagonist to take centre stage in the streetspace.”
Pencil drawn architectural lines cut through the paint adding another layer to the composition whilst hand written text inspired by grafitti and neon signs add a graphic poster-like freedom to Jakobsen’s work.
The collection is both bold and yet light and dreamy in a pastel palette including sage green and pink tones that it encompasses both raw and sensual elements. The texture of the painting is rough, shiny and golden, a contrast to Keely’s beautifully-glazed sculptures which have a smooth mirror finish that suggests that these characters are stepping out of the water. And it is humans rather than horses – her usual subjects – that she depicts in this show.
One of the sculptures is clearly the powerful figure depicted the painting ‘Marsamxetto in the Nude’: against a backdrop of the Green City and cupola in the background, this strong and healthy human figure is ‘liberated’ in the foreground, and seen walking both care- and car-free.
“Keely posed for me, both in the streets of Valletta and standing on our large table in the studio becoming protagonist in the paintings,” Jakobsen smiles.
At the base of her sculptures, finger marks give a feeling of energy, and the transformative Walk Marilyn’ sculpture captures the movement of the dress blown by an urban wind and the body twisting into a sensual torso. “Then ‘Walk in the Nude’ was the next step – showing the curvaceous torso in the act of walking – without showing the legs!” Jakobsen adds.
“The goal of the exhibition is to communicate the feeling of freedom and empowerment of walking in our city. We hope that visitors will then reflect on our car driven society and realise what we are missing, and that they will see what we can achieve by getting our decision makers to implement safe green cities in which people rather than cares can move freely. It is not just a matter of avoiding traffic congestion, but a matter of public health and wellbeing for more than half a million people living on this island – Malta is no larger than a small European city and could, with directed effort, be transformed into a green pedestrian-friendly jewel in the Mediterranean!”
WALK in the city runs from June 10 at Risette Restaurant at Casa Ellul, Old Theatre Street, Valletta. A changing selection of works will be on show throughout 2025.
