ART, FASHION & CINEMA: 1960 TO TODAY
08.11.2025 - 04.01.2026
SPAZJU KREATTIV
SPAZJU Ċ
ST JAMES CAVALIER, VALLETTA
EXHIBITION OPENING HOURS
TUES-FRI 09:00 AM - 09:00 PM
SAT-SUN 10:00 AM - 09:00 PM
MONDAYS CLOSED
1 Helmut Newton, Elle, Paris 1969
© Courtesy of Helmut Newton Foundation / Trunk Archive
GLAMOUR.
PERFORMANCE.
REALITY
An exhibition exploring how film inspires reality.
BLOW-UP charts the journey from Michelangelo Antonioni's 1966 film of the same name, to today's increasingly filmic reality. Sixty years later, much of what we live in feels like the inverse. Across three chapters, the exhibition unpacks artefacts from the decade alongside contemporary juxtapositions.
Film and photography reflecting on their own power remain a curiosity for artists everywhere. Transcending the frame, and inverting the lens, we are in closer confrontation between subject and object.
2 8 1/2 by Federico Fellini, courtesy of Intramezzo
PLAN YOUR VISIT
PROGRAMME
08.11.2025
EXHIBITION OPENING
IN CONVERSATION WITH FRANCESCA GRIMA
08.11.2025
06.12.2025
ACADEMIC SEMINAR & CATALOGUE LAUNCH
13.12.2025
VENUS IN FURS: FASHION INSTALLATION BY AZZOPARDI STUDIO
TICKETED EVENT
AZZOPARDI STUDIO, B’KARA
7:30 PM
TICKETS OUT SOON
FILM SCREENINGS SUPPORTED BY
29.10.2025
SPAZJU KREATTIV CINEMA
7:30 PM
TICKETS OUT SOON
BLOW-UP
28.11.2025
A GIRL OF NO IMPORTANCE
& VIVRE SA VIE
SPAZJU KREATTIV CINEMA
7:30 PM
TICKETS OUT SOON
12.12.2025
SPAZJU KREATTIV CINEMA
7:30 PM
TICKETS OUT SOON
CATCHING FIRE: THE STORY OF ANITA PALLENBERG
04.01.2026
SPAZJU KREATTIV CINEMA
7:30 PM
TICKETS OUT SOON
8 1/2
3 Photo of Veruschka by Unknown Photographer, Courtesy of Bridgeman Images
Michelangelo Antonioni's film follows Thomas, a fashion photographer based on real-life photographer David Bailey.
Iconic fashion model Veruschka plays herself on-screen.
Later, a photograph Thomas develops in a studio, captures a murder scene at a distance.
An intimate photoshoot between Veruschka and Thomas, is a recreated inversion of a photograph published in VOGUE of her with Bailey.
The party scene at the climax of the story, mirrors the energy and climate of Swinging Sixties London.
In a film which leaps between the gazer and the gazed, the zeitgeist of the 1960s is established. Lived reality suffered a shift — and with it, visual culture as a whole.
4 Scene from Blow-Up, Courtesy of Warner Bros Pictures
BLOW-UP is the official publication accompanying the interdisciplinary exhibition of the same name.
Structured in two parts, the publication brings together:
A visual catalogue of the works featured in the exhibition, ranging from photography, cinema, and performance to fashion, music, and archival material
A section of collected writings, composed of original entries by local and international contributors—artists, scholars, and curators—each reflecting on a concept, figure, artefact, or cultural phenomenon connected to the project’s wider themes
Designed as more than just a companion to the exhibition, BLOW-UP is a publication for interdisciplinary thinking across eras and mediums. It moves between the cultural energy of the 1960s and contemporary questions of visibility, power, and mediated experience—offering commentary on how we see and are seen today.
€40.00 Paperback
€55.00 Limited Edition & Numbered Hard Bound
—
Published by Impeached, a division of Von Peach GmbH
Suurstoffi 37, 6343 Risch-Rotkreuz, Switzerland
Edited by Maria Theuma
Designed by Mike Zerafa
Printed and bound in Malta by Polidano Press Ltd, Ħal Luqa
PARTNERS
Under the patronage of City of Art’s main patrons Jordi Goetstouwers and Valeria Limentani
PLATINUM PARTNERS
Spazju Kreattiv
Arts Council Malta, Arts Support Scheme
Virgata Group
GOLD PARTNERS
Office of the Deputy Prime Minister and Ministry for Foreign Affairs and Tourism
Festivals Malta
SILVER PARTNERS
Deloitte
Farsons Foundation
Holland and Barrett Malta
Charles Degiorgio Ltd
ASSOCIATE PARTNERS
Heritage Malta
MAPFRE
Alberta
The Phoenicia Malta
Base Ltd
Visit Malta
INSTITUTIONAL PARTNERS
University of Malta Faculty of Arts
Department of Art and Art History
Department of English
Department of French
Department of Italian
Master of Arts in Film Studies
University of Malta Faculty of Media and Knowledge Sciences
Department of Digital Arts
University of Malta Institute of Anglo-Italian Studies
Helmut Newton Foundation
Karlheinz Stockhausen Foundation
Archivio Joana Biarnés
Fundación Photographic Social Vision
Archivio Tazio Secchiaroli
Archivio Mario Schifano
Spazio Antonioni, Ferrara
THEMATIC PARTNERS
Grima Jewellery
Studio Semotan
OstLicht Collection
Studio Dawood
Pandemonium Films
At the Movies
Camera Eye Ltd
Bailey Studio
Edwards Lowell
Trunk Archive
CREATIVE PARTNERS
Philippe Garner
Jane and Albert Marshall
Simon Abrahams
Stefano Pocci
Kathinka Pasveer
Anya Camilleri
Lorenzo Agius
Stef Galea
COLLABORATIVE PARTNERS
Embassy of France in Malta
Embassy of Italy in Malta
L'Istituto Italiano di Cultura a La Valletta
Embassy of Spain in Malta
Embassy of Germany in Malta
Embassy of Austria for Malta
British High Commission in Malta
Valletta Cultural Agency
PATRONS
Sarah Muscat and Morgan Jones
Simon Abrahams and Francesca del Rio
Joanna Gatt
K. G.
SA Consult
Johanna Petreski
TEAM
PRODUCTION TEAM
Artistic Director
Lucia Micallef
Exhibition Curators
Andrew Borg Wirth, Charlie Cauchi
Exhibition Communication
Luke Azzopardi, Gillian Zammit
Exhibition Design
Andrew Borg Wirth
Project Manager
Michele Tufigno
Catalogue Editor
Maria Theuma
Catalogue & Marketing Designer
Mike Zerafa
Commissioned Artists
Alexandra Pace, Marlon Tabone, Marija Grech