Times2 talked to Paul Caruana to find out more
Curated by Marika Azzopardi, the exhibition is made up of 32 new watercolours painted specifically for a new book by Caruana which is being launched at the exhibition. These paintings are merely a small sample of the book’s contents.
“Paul’s painting are all infused with delicate colours and speak of times gone by in a quasi-humorous manner tinged with nostalgia and reminiscence,” says Azzopardi. “They speak of a day and age which is not so distant time-wise but which is light years away from the reality of life today.”
The book Wrinkles is a personal recollection of the artist’s childhood and early youth during which he lived in Valletta, Rabat and Mdina (where relatives on his mother’s side lived) when he was 16 years old. Sadly, it stops there – in 1976 – as his father then passed away from cancer at the age of 54, and Caruana become the breadwinner for his family leaving no free time for art.
The book, says Caruana, “is not a history of a city, its people, events or anything; it’s simply my life as a resident growing up there, my will and testament of almost disappeared life.”
“One of the paintings depicts a scene where we used to play in our street, racing our home-made scooters, often unable to brake in time. Some street residents hated it!
Another depicts myself and my two younger siblings camping in our balcony, to escape from the boredom of our small apartment. This was when we were at age when we weren’t allowed to play in the street yet.”
Caruana’s style of both writing and painting are fundamentally similar, explains Azzopardi: “no frills attached, yet of great intensity, imbued with detail and a sensitivity that honours all the characters who live in his paintings or accounts.”
“The mood of the exhibition is one of mixed emotions, some happy, others very reflective of a life gone by so fast that it is impossible for us whilst in our youth to even imagine,” adds Caruana, who is delighted to be sharing his recollections of the real quality life he remembers from years gone by.
The exhibition of watercolours by Paul Caruana, entitled ‘Wrinkles’ by Paul Caruana runs from October 4-19 at Wignacourt Museum, 2, College Street, Rabat
