Proġetti Kreattivi is a collection of three exhibits that Federica Zahra produced during her Advanced Diploma in Art and Design course and her first-year Degree in Product Design. The collection comprises a coffee table constructed from American walnut and tulip wood; a diamond shaped floor lamp made from mahogany wood and having black accessories; and a flower-shaped table lamp. The latter is made from tulip wood, with a metal framework designed to allow the leaf petals – each incorporating resin and dried prickly pear leaves within their frame – to rotate.

Federica Zahra is an eighteen-year-old student at the MCAST Institute for the Creative Arts, pursuing a degree in product design. In addition to her education, she is also working part-time at a furniture manufacturer, where she designs furniture that meets practical and functional needs. Having always enjoyed creating things from a young age, she later drew inspiration from TV shows on house renovations that encouraged her to pursue a career in furniture design.

The collection is inspired by the shapes and lines found in nature, hence the name Deconstructing Eden. The concept highlights the intricate patterns and textures found in the natural world, from the delicate lines of a leaf to the rugged textures of a rock formation.

Having recently graduated from MCAST, Gabriel Grima is a fashion designer with a passion for exploring the intersection of nature and fashion. Through his work, Gabriel seeks to blend natural elements with contemporary design, creating pieces that are both innovative and deeply connected to the world around us.

The artworks were created for the album Perspectives by the band Decline the Fall, with a unique design being created for each song to visually interpret the deep meanings embedded in the lyrics. Each artwork is meticulously sculpted in ZBrush and rendered with Blender. A selection of these pieces is on display, providing in-depth explanations of the symbolism and themes depicted in each artwork, whilst also offering a comprehensive exploration of how visual art can enhance and complement the musical narrative of an album.

Captivated by the cool glow of a screen, weaving digital worlds on his Atari 130xe in the ancient tongue of QBasic, Etienne Bugeja spent his childhood in the company of pixels and code, discovering a passion for graphic design. His choice of macabre themes is more than just artistic; it mirrors the shadows that touched his life, having had to battle with severe health challenges. Alongside his digital artwork, Etienne has recently turned his focus to giving life to his creations through 3D printing, transforming his eerie visions into physical forms and adding a unique, living dimension to his work.

A walkthrough where clothes aren’t just clothes, but expressions of imagination and skill. James Dimech delves into the depths of creativity and imagination. Using innovative materials, he creates clothes that boldly challenge the boundaries of conventional fashion. These materials not only infuse his designs with a touch of charm and imaginative innovation, but also represent the eco-sustainability and versatility of paper and other upcycled material as an artistic medium. His wearable art varies in forms and employs diverse techniques, sharing a spirit of fantasy, craftsmanship, and commitment to personal vision. A showcase of awesome creations, pushing fashion to new limits.

James Dimech has been professionally involved in design for 30 years, with a vast experience ranging from residential to commercial property interior design and architecture. Artistically inclined, he achieved a BA Hons in Design and enhanced his skills, following specialized courses in Italy. This led him to a successful debut into the world of fashion design, creating beautiful garments using recycled and sustainable materials. The focus of his work follows the incorporation of three-dimensional sculptural forms into fashion, exploring and solving the relationship between the organic human form and the geometric forms handcrafted by a variety of paper folding techniques.

Saima Murtaza’s artwork reflects the legacy being left for future generations, contrasting the pure, abundant environment we inherited with the damaged world we risk passing on. It uses diverse techniques in sculptures, like leaves and drops, to symbolize various green initiatives combating global warming. The central hand-painted miniature landscape represents the beauty of our planet, which we must strive to preserve. Emphasizing the importance of sustainability, the piece urges individual responsibility to maintain a balance and protect our environment, rather than leaving behind a legacy of drought and degradation.

Saima Murtaza is a qualified art enthusiast with diverse experience and a history of developing solutions for theme-based projects. Using her initiative, design skills, and knowledge of fine arts, she has introduced various original ideas including metallic handcrafted sculptures that reflect both the contemporary and traditional cultural styles. She believes in bringing forth innovative, sustainable, and unique fine quality art pieces. Bridging the gap between past and present through her artwork, helping the audience to appreciate and experience the historical art forms, Saima wants to pay homage to cultural roots and preserve these traditions into contemporary forms.

As adults, we often overlook that we design a world for diverse people of different ages, abilities, races, religions, and backgrounds. Are we imposing our ideas of a good world on others, or are we genuinely inclusive? How does our design affect a 5-year-old’s view of life? These posters aim to reflect “designers’” thoughts through a child’s imaginative perspective. Children create freely, without concern for risks or rules. The posters also showcase how children challenge adults with their innocent, profound questions. This perspective encourages us to reconsider our designs and whether they truly meet everyone’s needs.

Luis Muñoz Jean Baptiste is the co-founder of Bureau105 and works as a graphic designer, certified brand strategist, and certified cultural intelligence facilitator. Luis works with brands and projects to redefine their visual identity as well as their brand strategy and how they interact with the world around them. Luis’s work is part of the permanent collection in the contemporary section at The Museun of Avant-garde in Switzerland. Outside of the office, he splits his time between comic horror graphic novels, heavy rock and music by Danny Elfman, and his vast collection of paint brushes to create and experiment with.

The Geometric Series is a series of five different paintings that allow the viewer to determine how the shapes fit together to maximise visual appeal. It was borne out of the business side of the artist, who is also an accountant and auditor by profession. Omnipresent in our daily lives, geometric shapes have different meanings. Squares and rectangles have been psychologically proven as the most peaceful shapes, indicating familiarity, comfort, security, and a sense of peace; whereas circles are the shape that make people happy, being seen as friendly due to their lack of angles, and representing unity and protection.

Marija-Evelina Spiteri is an abstract artist whose passion for art runs deep in her veins. From a very young age, Marija-Evelina’s exposure to art was encouraged to be a display of feelings and emotions, a part of herself and what she goes through, all depicted onto the canvas. Although acrylics remain her personal favourite, Marija-Evelina applies a variety of different mediums and textures creating mystery and depth to her paintings and leaving the artwork to the viewer’s interpretation.

Anton (ton-ton) Abela’s Sustainable Art is helping bring new life to discarded and salvaged items by taking inspiration from the past and from nature in order to create something innovative. The artist also takes inspiration from Maltese tile patterns, vintage wall-hanging ceramic bird vases, flowers, and butterflies – all of which are full of symbolisms. In creating what he describes as “art from the other side”, the artist uses a wide range of salvaged material to which he gives a new life, spanning from scraps of upcycled wood, string, fabric, cables, and sand, to jewellery findings, and bottle caps, amongst others.

Anton (ton-ton) Abela’s Art tends to delve into the realms of the real, imagined, unconventional, and the unknown. Inspiration comes mostly from the human form, nature, dreams, horror, literature, and his personal experiences. The artworks range from different media and techniques using the bright and dark colours so synonymous with the Maltese islands. Influenced by handmade Maltese tiles, his artistic and creative processes are focused towards breathing a new life to discarded and salvaged items: looking to the past and nature to create something innovative. The artist describes this as “art from the other side”.

The Xwejni Collection takes direct inspiration from the local traditional salt harvesting trade from rock-cut pans, romantically representing constituents of and processes from the 350-year old salt pans located in Xwejni, Gozo. The sun is represented by the fiery Carnelian Agates, the fluid silver parts with traditional Maltese filigree represent the Mediterranean waves, whilst the Labradorites carry the colour of the sea. The Chalcedony, Opals, Apophyllite, and Tourmalinated Quartz represent the drying of the salt crystals, whilst the pans, which are made from rough silver vessels, host raw sea salt enclosed in resin within these wearable structures.

Nadège Renée Cassar’s venture as a designer and producer of contemporary jewellery started in 2005, when she set up a small workshop named Nadège.Renée. The underlying concept of her jewellery is uniqueness, and she designs and produces her own lines of exclusive or limited-edition pieces, using gold and sterling silver as the core metals and combining them with various precious or non-precious materials. She has a flair for designing transformable jewellery – pieces that can be altered or adapted to suit different needs, tastes, and styles – and also enjoys creating bespoke jewellery by recycling her clients’ precious metals and stones.

Weaving the Unwoven is the result of a project that swimwear designer and producer Charlene Joan Sant, through her brand Churpina, undertook in collaboration with a traditional weaver, Antoine Vella. After a year and a half of research, they managed to successfully create a woven fabric out of spandex that is able to withstand the sand, sea, and everything in between, which fabric was then used in the creation of a collection of swimwear. The project was supported by the Malta Crafts Foundation after winning Category 2 – Inspiring Artisanship and Innovation through Collaboration at the Premju Ġieħ l-Artiġjanat Malti 2023.

Charlene Joan Sant is a Maltese designer and self-taught seamstress who furthered her skills through studying at the London College of Fashion and École Lesage in Paris. She created her brand Churpina more than 10 years ago. With a focus on swimwear, she creates a yearly collection of limited-edition pieces all beautifully influenced by the culture of the Maltese islands. Keeping the environment close to heart and incorporating sustainable practices at each step of the process, she aims to accentuate the beauty of free-spirited femininity.

Redefining perceptions through design, the Canotip and Slim Husk products, currently in development, offer innovative solutions aligned with modern wellness trends. Canotip, a premium non-alcoholic beverage, brings the sophistication of spirits, offering a refined, alcohol-free alternative perfect for mixing. Slim Husk, a natural slimming powder made from seeds, supports wellness and healthy living. Both products are presented with sleek, carefully designed branding to appeal to health-conscious consumers, making nutritious choices feel luxurious. The lightweight packaging, branding, logo, and names aren’t superficial; they reflect the products’ essence. Using onomatopoeic trade names, they evoke the nature of the products.

Justine Navarro is a British-Maltese artist and designer with a Bachelor’s degree in Design, Branding & Marketing from UCA, London, and a Master’s in Digital Art. Her practice includes creating photo-collage paintings and video visuals for DJs and installations, exploring themes of excess, consumerism, wealth, and gambling. With experience as a superyacht chef for high-net-worth individuals including Cristiano Ronaldo, Justine gained insights into global luxury tastes. She is now applying her expertise in branding and taste to launch her startup food and drink products, Canotip and Slim Husk, aiming to make them widely accessible and beneficial.

A prime example of Ray Aquilina’s unique technique of creating the effect of reflections with glass mosaic, Reflection of a Luzzu is inspired by his childhood memories of the sea and traditional Maltese luzzu boats. It features an illusory three-dimensional image with vibrant colors and dichroic glass, which shifts colours and hues based on lighting. Aged versus Contemporary contrasts the enduring beauty of old, battered wood with ultramodern stainless steel, enhanced by mosaic designs of marble resin tesserae and glass. Peeling Off… experiments with aluminium encased in wood, creating a three-dimensional effect of colourful shapes using glass and aluminium.

Raymond Aquilina is an artist who crafts mosaic, the art of creating images with an assemblage of small pieces of coloured glass, marble, stone, or other materials. A perfectionist who loves to work with details, Raymond succeeded to take the craft to the next level, where each piece is a work of art. Having always been enchanted by the beauty of the sea around the Maltese islands, Raymond portrays it in his art, expressing its colours that – like moods – change throughout the day.

Metamorphosis challenges conventional jewellery forms and reimagines jewellery pieces using the art of Origami. As inspiration is drawn from the natural world and transformable creatures, this fabric and silver jewellery piece echoes the adaptability seen in the natural world. Through delicate folds and intricate craftsmanship, the maker aims to invite contemplation, transcending the boundaries between the maker’s artistic nature and design abilities.

As a passionate product design student, Matthew Scerri excels in sketching and intricate detailing, transforming concepts from drawings into 3D realities. His forte lies in jewellery design and making, combining hands-on experience with detail to bring exquisite pieces to life. Working alongside a jeweller, he is currently honing his skills on traditional techniques, but is equally fascinated by the innovative methods emerging in the industry and eager to integrate them into his creations. While his primary focus is on jewellery design, he is also deeply interested in exploring other facets of industrial and product design, continually expanding his creative horizons.

At its heart, the Charles & Ron Fall/Winter 24/25 Collection is an homage to the beautiful and fragile tradition of glass blowing. It takes inspiration from the delicate artistry and vibrant hues of glass, translating these elements into a breathtaking array of wearable art. Charles & Ron have incorporated digitally manipulated images of glasswork into the fabric of the collection and also collaborated with Valletta Glass artisans to create unique hand-blown glass handbags. The collaboration showcases the exquisite craftsmanship of Maltese artisans and also highlights the importance of the interplay between tradition and modernity.

Charles & Ron is a contemporary Maltese lifestyle brand with a signature style that draws inspiration from the archipelago, featuring Mediterranean motifs, colours, and stories in all collections. Charles and Ron van Maarschalkerweerd Borg have now been partners for 30 years, and together turned Charles & Ron into Malta’s leading fashion brand. Brushed with a 1990’s fashion sensibility in its design yet still timeless and effortlessly commercial, their work is regularly featured in international magazines, Hollywood music videos, and red carpets. Among several career highlights, in 2018 they were selected to exhibit at Buckingham Palace for the Commonwealth Fashion Exchange.