• Skip to main content
  • Skip to secondary menu
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer
  • Home
  • About Us & Contacts
    • About Us – RamonaDepares.com
    • Contact Us
  • Privacy & Cookie Policies
    • Privacy Policy
    • Cookie Policy
  • Affiliate & Advertising Disclosure
    • Affiliate Disclosure/Advertising Disclosure
    • Our Reviewing Process
    • Disclaimer Page
  • FAQs
  • Terms and Conditions

  • Home
  • FOOD
  • ARTS
    • BOOKS
    • THEATRE
    • MUSIC
  • FASHION
  • NEWS
  • Published Works
    • BELTIN: STEJJER MINN NIES MINSIJA
You are here: Home / ARTS / Oskur: Three Palaces Festival

Oskur: Three Palaces Festival

November 9, 2021 by Ramona Depares

Exploring Caravaggio’s chiaroscuro technique through music, electronics and imagery

How do you explore an artist’s technique using music and cinematography? There are many ways to do it, of course. But perhaps, few are as immersive as that conceived for Oskur, a video art production that premiered on November 8, opening this year’s online edition of the Three Palaces Festival with a bang – or more aptly, with a melodic performance that uses a specific architectural site to reinterpret Caravaggio’s technique of using light and dark.

The project is a collaboration between contemporary musician Gabi Sultana, electronic artist Koen Tryssesoone and film-maker Mark Dingli. Before you start viewing, make sure you give this production your undivided attention. The experience is immersive, to be approached holistically, enjoying both music and visuals as they play off each other.

From a technical point of view, the way Oskur works is ingeniously simple: as the music progresses, the site is portrayed during different times of day, using piano notes to trigger specific events. The visuals are represented as a sequence of mini clips split in time, with the audio information generated by a modular synthesizer also triggering a sequence that controls the imagery. 

The production presents three recorded live takes of improvised music as though it was performed within the Hal Saflieni Hypogeum through the use of a reverb imprint of the underground burial site. Each recording focuses on a different local space, creating an ever-changing experience of Maltese heritage as the visuals evolve according to the music and the triggers.

Caravaggio’s famed chiaroscuro technique is thus recreated via a live interplay between three mediums – music, electronics and imagery. The result drastically changes our perception of the sites being presented, presenting a series of glitchy visuals that alternate between light, dark, monochrome and saturation.

If Malta’s heritage were to be viewed through Caravaggio’s lens, is this what we would see? This is a question that cannot be answered with a simple ‘yes or no’, but the trio behind Oskur certainly succeed in making us delve deeper in a most enjoyable manner. A worthy curtains-up to this year’s online edition of Three Palaces Festival – bravo.

The Three Palaces Online Festival is organised by Festivals Malta.

Ramona Depares

Former Head of News at Times of Malta, turned freelance journalist and creative writer. Three books published, 2 journalism awards, 1 Arts Council Malta award, work published locally & internationally.

Filed Under: ARTS, NEWS

Primary Sidebar

  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • RSS
  • Twitter
  • YouTube

Theatre Highlights

blanket-ban-chalkline

Blanket Ban has succeeded in reopening the abortion debate on the theatre boards.

kif-tgħallimt-insuq

Must-see if you’re interested in theatre with difficult social themes.

Food Highlights

Zest is still leading the charge in Asian fusion on the local front.

the-bastion-pool-and-restaurant

A stunning oasis on the outskirts of the capital.

Fashion Highlights

a-curious-beauty-palazzo-falson

Delightful curatorial choices make this exhibition special.

handle-with-care-charles-and-ron

From statement pieces to survivalist chic, Handle With Care captivates our attention.

Books Highlights

book-teatru-tal-miskin

A fascinating look at how the production came about.

filli-ma-tcun-xejn-filli-titħol-fl-esistenza

A morose, yet hauntingly beautiful, journey.

Arts Highlights

kane-cali-i-dont-have-a-theory

A journey that sees the artist letting go of structure

it-teatru-tal-miskin

Excels on all fronts, a real game-changer

News Highlights

blanket-ban

Blanket Ban interview.

Is this the start of a revolution in Children’ Theatre?

Footer

  • Home
  • About Us & Contacts
    • About Us – RamonaDepares.com
    • Contact Us
  • Privacy & Cookie Policies
    • Privacy Policy
    • Cookie Policy
  • Affiliate & Advertising Disclosure
    • Affiliate Disclosure/Advertising Disclosure
    • Our Reviewing Process
    • Disclaimer Page
  • FAQs
  • Terms and Conditions

Copyright Ramona Depares © 2025

Manage Cookie Consent
We use cookies to optimize our website and our service.
Functional Always active
The technical storage or access is strictly necessary for the legitimate purpose of enabling the use of a specific service explicitly requested by the subscriber or user, or for the sole purpose of carrying out the transmission of a communication over an electronic communications network.
Preferences
The technical storage or access is necessary for the legitimate purpose of storing preferences that are not requested by the subscriber or user.
Statistics
The technical storage or access that is used exclusively for statistical purposes. The technical storage or access that is used exclusively for anonymous statistical purposes. Without a subpoena, voluntary compliance on the part of your Internet Service Provider, or additional records from a third party, information stored or retrieved for this purpose alone cannot usually be used to identify you.
Marketing
The technical storage or access is required to create user profiles to send advertising, or to track the user on a website or across several websites for similar marketing purposes.
Manage options Manage services Manage {vendor_count} vendors Read more about these purposes
View preferences
{title} {title} {title}
  • Home
  • About Us & Contacts
    • About Us – RamonaDepares.com
    • Contact Us
  • Privacy & Cookie Policies
    • Privacy Policy
    • Cookie Policy
  • Affiliate & Advertising Disclosure
    • Affiliate Disclosure/Advertising Disclosure
    • Our Reviewing Process
    • Disclaimer Page
  • FAQs
  • Terms and Conditions
  • Home
  • FOOD
  • ARTS
    • BOOKS
    • THEATRE
    • MUSIC
  • FASHION
  • NEWS
  • Published Works
    • BELTIN: STEJJER MINN NIES MINSIJA