Marija

Marija is a collaboration between Graphic Designer Adrian Gauci and poet Glen Calleja.

A writing on the wall always heralds novelty or news, a detail that, in this case, reinforces the textual references to the 'Annunciation'. The 1.5m x 3m keyhole is an imposing invitation to peep into a future happening, a magical gateway that, through the evocative use of symbols - the mystical rose, winds and water currents, the oyster, the lotus, the cyclops eye - transports viewers into a promised new reality. There, subject and object are fused into one; the angelic herald is assimilated into the human womb.

The text places the events on one windy April night in an open bay where everything seems to be in conspiracy to allow two lovers to consummate the encounter. When it happens, it is through the acceptance to touch and half a word, the first being the human contribution to the encounter, the second the angelic part. The pathetic fallacy combined with the technology of opening and closing (keyhole) strengthens the divine-human alliance.

We then see two beings within each other in a complete symbiosis. Marija retrieves Gabriel's message only after touching (or perhaps feeling) him. Marija's womb is a crucible of improbable unity; the divine is to become flesh.