Description
This tragically mistaken attempt to convey the social changes through figurative art was magnified by Agius’s energetic though sincere drive to grasp the roots of his nation-in-being, to understand the embryonic nature of Malta, and thus to fabricate its spiritual identity in plastic form. Unfortunately this striving was weighed down by the dangerous concessions he made. His position may well have reflected Malta’s own position at the time. Turbulent times unfolding unheard-of transformations were violently bringing forth, mushrooming, a new Malta. The country was beginning to succeed in wedging its interests into world politics, creating more than a few international seismic points, out of proportion to its own size as an island. The Maltese nation was asserting its ‘beingness’ and its presence. Fundamental economic policies and the path towards republicanism upset traditional structures.
