In 1995, Gabriel Caruana placed fifteen painted wooden figures in a public square and called them a parliament—a quiet joke about authority that was also, in its own way, an invitation. Over six decades, his work spilled out into beaches, industrial sites, Carnival routes, gardens, international trade fairs, schools, and squares — his studio was only ever his starting point, never a destination. He moved fluidly between communities, spaces, and ways of life, meeting many different publics on their own ground.

Central to this was play — not as decoration, but as access and method. What often reads as simple, colourful, or disarmingly direct was, in Caruana’s hands, a way in; a means of lowering barriers and inviting people closer, blurring the boundaries between everyday life and art, public and private.

The VP Gallery invites viewers to follow this same trajectory, and to consider what it means to sustain openness today, in a climate where so much that was once shared has become increasingly contested or privatised.

Gabriel Caruana was a central figure in the Maltese modern art movement, known for, amongst many things, his role in shaping community-led art spaces.

PUBLIC – PLAY – PRIVATE will be on show at the VP Gallery between the 9th of October 2026 and the 23rd of January 2027

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"The artwork was not the collection of wooden blocks but the encounter itself — the conversations, curiosity, and creativity that emerged when people were given permission to touch, rearrange, and imagine.”

— Raffaella Zammit, Public Space Begins at Home