It takes time to arrive. The time that it takes, is not only the journey made to the destination, but also the sensual arrival to a place different than the one left behind. As journeys can be of short or long duration, arrivals can be so, too. Arriving begins when one starts feeling the space around him/herself, when one starts to receive the specific smells to the place, when one starts to gaze at the surrounding with open eyes, when one starts to feel the place without the preliminary constellations. Arrivals immediately recall a presence: the presence of arrived. As a consequence, one might never arrive where (s)he has travelled to, if one does not have the time and space to allow himself to be where he is. It takes time to arrive to a new place as well as to where one lives after a short or long break of being away.
Exploration starts after the arrival. The pre-study of the features of a place is only a research taken beforehand, which cannot be called as explorations of some sort. It might be in the nature of human kind, to wonder upon the specificities of a new land, thus to explore what the new place has in store for him.
Currently, at Malta Contemporary Art a group exhibition of seven contemporary artistic positions on the notion of arrival and exploration, is taking place. The exhibition, formulates spaces in spaces through the variety of works, which use different mediums. Veronika Hauer borrows the voice of a friend, Nikola Hansalik transforms the room of display into an intimate space of encounter, Sabine Bitter and Helmut Weber creates a space within a space through architectural structures on display, Andreas Heller creates his own scenery through fragile but yet aesthetically pleasing sculpture, Nicole Six & Paul Petritsch display their former interrogation of ‘a’ room – the room they had as a studio in New York, as a mapping and on the course of the irregular and unexpected. Michael Gumhold intends to create an artwork through the physical practice of an artist who allows himself to follow the yellow pipe line as far as the physical conditions allow. Lastly Gerald Straub produces his personal space through the choice of using a boat in London as a vehicle for transport and creating his own sensuous space through the music that he chooses to listen to on the course of his journey.
The artistic conditions and explorations are put on display by the curation of Margit Neuhold. Neuhold has chosen distinct works, which co-relate on an invisible and sensual way. The choice of works and their placement in the premises of the gallery posit out a prolific curatorial work, which allows each artistic position to take their space in the exhibition and co-exist in a creative and productive way. The chosen works are of multi-layered nature that reflects on the production of the theme spatial explorations, which is furthered with a publication that has been published in collaboration with Centre for Intermediality Studies in Graz and available for take away at the exhibition premises. The publication is positioned as an exhibition guide and theoretical supplement for the audience who drives to explore further. Hence, the exhibition asks for what it conceptually suggests: the arrival of the audience in its premises where they can allow themselves to have the time and space to explore more than being a mere witness.