Fleeting Memories

I designed this painting to celebrate the whimsy of Malta's iconic classic buses. Malta’s old buses had a unique aesthetic and were for decades one of the most recognisable icons of Malta. Mainly of British manufacture, with marques such as Bedford, AEC, Leyland and Ford, a large number of these buses date back from the 1970s and 1960s, with a few examples from the 1950s. The traditional Maltese buses were well known abroad, loved by tourists for their character and nostalgic value. With the majority of the fleet classified as antique, tourists often marvelled at the fact that these vehicles were still in operating condition up until 2011.While aesthetically stunning, this fleet’s technology and performance become outdated. The fleet of Malta's public transport service was updated in favour of more accessible, efficient and air conditioned models. With this artwork, I wanted to emphasise the aesthetic experience provided by the older buses to highlight what we have lost. The new fleet may be mechanically superior, but no effort was put to preserve the experience of riding a traditional Maltese bus, an experience shared by both tourists and locals, and one that injected colour and character into local streetscapes.While seemingly inconsequential in the span of a day, commute makes up a notable fraction of one's lifetime and in the case of public transport, provides one of the few remaining social spheres where people from different walks of life interact. In a manner akin to “A Nation’s Dim Eyes (?orus l'Hemm)”, this digital painting questions the direction of development in Malta, emphasising that while functionality is important, aesthetic experience is likewise integral to quality of life.In today's isolist rhetoric, the issue of national identity is crucial. What does it mean to belong? If you go by the book, you can argue that to be Maltese is to be Catholic, heterosexual and of South European ancestry. I argue that being an island nation between three continents and given our history of foreign occupations, to be Maltese has less to do with where you're from and more to do with what you love. To be Maltese is to spend your Sunday afternoon in a field with walls made of limestone rubble, it’s sharing ‘'?ob? bi?-?ejt' by the sea; and loud, heartfelt conversations that convince tourists into thinking we’re arguing. It is these experiences that, I argue, make up Maltese identity, and it is these physical spheres - our fields to our balconies to our busses - where these experiences manifest that we should protect and invest in. Identity is tied to the island's peculiar aesthetic, vivid colours, limestone masonry, our colourful balconies and until a few years ago, our beloved polychromatic buses made of converted war trucks. The bus is emblematic of the island's modern character, forged during a brutal time, and what that deserves to be reimagined.