Past Continuous dates back to 2021, and started as a dialogue between Alex Urso and the Magna Żmien Foundation – an archive devoted to the collection of audiovisual material related to the Maltese community. The first exhibition of the project was curated by Margerita Pulé and it was presented at the St. James Cavalier Center for Creativity in Valletta. Its aim was to make the iconographic heritage of the foundation more accessible to the audience, especially to the youngest, by transforming the old images of the collection into dynamic and interactive elements. 

In order to do so, Urso has created several series of works including dioramas, videos, installations and interactive collages. The artworks presented at Fiumefreddo Photo Festival are part of this “archaeological” and iconographic operation, but they expand the first project by presenting works never seen before. 

Set up in the spaces of the Ex Caserma, the exhibition is a journey into the private memory of the community of Malta. A memory, however, that goes beyond the geographical boundaries to become a collective narration, familiar to each of us. 

The photographic works – belonging to the history of Malta and dating back to the second half of the twentieth century – stand at the core of the exhibition. In each of them, the human figures have been digitally cut-out. Their silhouettes remain in the photos as a “ghostly presence”, reappearing thanks to the augmented reality tool: by placing the device in front of the image, women, men and children “materialize” in the composition, coming back to life through the new technologies. The series invites us to reflect on the interconnection between past and present, and on the role of technology in the transmission of collective memory. 

Alex Urso is a multidisciplinary artist born in 1987. He graduated in Painting from the Academy of Fine Arts of Brera, Milan. He has multiple interests, and in his projects he applies different techniques: from sculpture to digital collage, from performance to the use of augmented reality. His works have been exhibited in public and private art spaces such as Casa Testori (Milan), Fondazione Brugnatelli (Milan), Spazju Kreattiv (Valletta), Magacin Cultural Center (Belgrade), Italian Institute of Culture of Krakow, Monopol Gallery (Warsaw), Estorick Collection of Modern Italian Art (London), Palazzo Malipiero (Venice). From 2012 to 2019 he lived in Warsaw, engaging in curatorial projects and critical writing. In 2017 he was co-curator of the Biennale de La Biche (mentioned by The Guardian as “the smallest art biennial in the world“, hosted on a desert island in the Pacific). He is currently editor of the art magazine Artribune. 

alexurso.com

Images subject to copyright of the author.