Take a Seat: Anna Horváth’s ‘SORĠI’ Collection is Here
ARTZ ID visited Anna Horváth’s most recent collection ‘SORĠI’, on show in the gardens of Phoenicia Malta for the current edition of the ‘Artist in Residence’ exhibition program. ‘SORĠI’ consists of 6 pieces of outdoor sitting pieces inspired by iconic Maltese buildings that are either endangered or have vanished completely in the wake of the booming construction industry and its effects on the island’s architectural heritage. ‘Sorġi’ in Maltese means ‘to sit down for a while’ and Horváth’s playful and colourful objects, which will later be placed in various public spaces around Malta, do just that: they invite the viewer to pause and take a seat.
More than simply being aesthetically pleasing objects (which they definitely are!), Anna’s pieces are designed with a critical eye and an attention to sustainability. Each piece refers to an iconic Maltese building – a slice of Maltese history, identity and architectural heritage – that already has, or might soon be lost forever to make way for a new and more profitable construction. Anna, having looked to Ta’ Rita Lapsi View Restaurant and Roxy Cinema, among other condemned places, makes sure that at the very least the loss doesn’t go unnoticed, maybe even managing to prevent a seemingly inevitable course of events just in time, before it’s forever too late. Each piece is made out of recycled construction waste too (such as limestone, marble offcuts and glass fragments), simultaneously promoting circularity and providing a tangible solution to the problem of accumulating pollutive waste. In this way, her ‘SORĠI’ collection is a powerful statement that speaks to and intervenes on Malta’s current political, social and environmental landscape (metaphorically and literally).
Some impressions of the ‘SORĠI’ collection on show at Phoenicia Malta.
The fact that ‘SORĠI’ is a collection made for public spaces with the intention to be sat on, is in itself highly significant. Along with architectural heritage, public spaces in Malta are also under imminent threat by ever-encroaching infrastructural projects and (controversial) private initiatives unfolding on previously public land. Anna’s sitting pieces, soon to be installed in several public spots across Malta, can be read as a commentary on the need to preserve such communal spaces and to occasionally slow down and pause in the face of a dizzyingly accelerating lifestyle and industry. It’s as. if the benches are saying, “A lot was allowed to happen while we were distracted and weren’t looking, but we’ll be sitting right here and we’re not going anywhere.”
Some impressions of the ‘SORĠI’ collection on show at Phoenicia Malta.
Anna Horváth is a narrative designer and architect working in various disciplines and with international experience. She is the designer and maker of ‘SORĠI’ and founder of AHA Objects. She graduated with a MA in Narrative Environments from Central St. Martins – University of the Arts London. Follow Anna and her work on Instagram @annahorv and @ahaobjects. ‘SORĠI’ is supported by the Malta Arts Fund and the ‘Artist in Residence’ exhibition continues at Phoenicia Malta until August 31, viewable daily between 09:00 – 19:00.
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