MY FAVOURITE INSECT - Fenech expresses ideas of conflict induced displacement through five visual portraits. Objects and characters are given visual representation and left to resonate within the circuits of knowledge and patterns of local and global orientation. This work forms part of a project which was shown at the Goethe Institute, Dresden as part of the Ostrale 2019 Biennale curated by Andrea Hilger. During the course of his research on this project, the artist is very much inspired by John Milton's epic poem 'Paradise Lost' which tells the story of how humanity was uprooted from its place in Earth. The artist is fascinated by the underside of globalization - by the failures and the victims (the unseen casualties of the shinning new network of communication and trade) of conflict, wars and oppression. Hundreds of refugees and asylum seekers fleeing war and persecution are rescued from the seas and brought ashore to the Islands of Malta every year. Fenech's intention is to draw attention to this 'uprooting', to the lowly paid asylum seekers who normally emanate from the African continent - often ending up as the unwanted, unseen or illegal workers in the globalized economy - are now invited and paid to pose in his studio with their favorite insect. As Milton suggests, the uprooting of ourselves from our place on Earth, was the pivotal human act and the source of our current sorrow. In taking their portraits, the artist extends a welcome gesture in inviting them to his studio to chat and talk about their experiences and discuss their future hopes and aspirations. This practice comes out very clearly in a video portrait he produced called 'My Friends Call Me Ado' which was selected as part of the 'In The Loop - Contemporary Art Video From The European Union' exhibition, at the Smithsonian National Portrait Gallery in Washington DC in 2010.
