Whilst a new breed of Maltesers are initiating a process of peaceful activism and protest against the power of developers in the Maltese Islands, this artwork sentences the case as a closed affair.
A majority of the Maltese population is still very adamant about the Catholic religion and its traditions. Maundy Thursday and Good Friday are two days during which many people travel to Valletta to watch, participate or feel part of the various rituals that take place. Many people join in the prayers, visit themed exhibitions or collect holy pictures whilst participants in Biblical costumes, brass bands and others carrying statues representing the various stages of the passion of Christ, make their way past the crowds.
Consumatum Est was an installation of a digitally manipulated holy picture representing the dead Christ nailed to a crucifix-shaped tower crane. Tower cranes have populated Maltese landscapes and invaded skyscapes in the past years and protestors consider them as the symbol of destruction. The framed picture was set in a window display of a local grocery shop in Archbishop Street in Valletta. Set up in the morning of Thursday 18 April 2019, it allowed for passers by to stop and have a look at what seemed to be another holy picture.
The consumption of our environment, the exhaustion of our resources and the despicable abuse of our land have been going on for long leaving the country and the quality of life “nailed to death”.
A big word of appreciation goes to Spanish sculptor Juan Bautista who allowed for the picture of his sculpture to be reinterpreted for this cause, Sunny Psaila who allowed for the installation to occupy his shop window and photographer Carl Farrugia who’s been kind enough to immortalise the setup through his lenses.
