The ‘Versatility’ of Joseph Barbara

JOSEPH BARBARA is well known for his sculptures and installations in which he recycles plastic mineral water bottles. He talks to Joseph Agius about his current exhibition, Versatility, that shows other aspects of his oeuvre.

JA: Your name evokes images of recycled mineral water bottles into works of art. From where did this propensity to recycle originate?

JB: I started creating installations from recycled materials in the 1970s when I was teaching sheet metal fabrication and welding at a trade school. I used to collect scraps of metal, burrs and anything else that I found interesting at the time and turn them into works of art.

In the 1980s, I realised that, in Malta, over a million plastic water bottles were used and ended up thrown away either in the streets, fields, the sea or the landfill. So I started creating installations from these plastic water bottles. The latest large installation using these bottles was Christ Face, having the dimensions of four metres by four-and-a-half metres, which was commissioned and erected in Gozo next to Ta’ Pinu church.

Over 4,000 litter-picked plastic water bottles were used and it took me six months to complete it. It is now in...