The project, initiated by the Valletta Notarial Archives Foundation, has been developed by photographer Alex Attard into an investigation about the role of memory, conducted through his camera and among the old documents found in what has been nicknamed
The investigation led to an exhibition, open to the public from the 5th October to the 3rd November at Valletta Contemporary, and to the production of a book, the latter being composed of two parts: the first one giving voice to the pictures, and the second one to the precious contribution of nine experts in their field, including ‘The Syllable of a Stammerer’ by AP’s Konrad Buhagiar and
The essay tackles the concepts of memory and time related to photography and its role in society. The value of photography as a ‘marker of memory’ is reconsidered since we are living in a moment where pictures are shared almost instantaneously and are corroborated by the intervention of other ‘users’. The relation between time and photography has been questioned since it ‘has disappeared behind the timelines of Facebook profiles and
As the authors wrote, “Alex Attard’s work is an abstraction of the archival records, where each fragment is meaningful beyond their text”, becoming a true piece of art for its inestimable value. A collection that stands the test of time “electing to choose photography to create a narrative around discarded