The City Speaks exhibition, produced by the British Council and Maslaha, explored how creative expression has been vital to shaping city spaces, and how cities in turn have inspired some of the greatest art, performance, and architecture, including ideas which have changed the world.

The exhibition took place at St. James Cavalier Centre for Creativity, Valletta, from 15 February to 17 March 2013.

The city inspires, recollects, provokes and empowers. Cities have brought together some of the world's greatest thinkers and have provided fertile ground for progressive thought, becoming the stage for some of the world's biggest political, economic and social events. The city is also a place of conflict and challenge, where differences become stark in their proximity.

Yet these diverse influences have also resulted in the sharing of knowledge, the exploration of new ideas, and brilliant innovation and creativity. The imprints of such inspiration – captured through art and creative expression in many forms including architecture, film, music, literature and theatre – are left by a variety of eras, cultures, geographical areas and faiths. With an estimated 75% of us living in cities by 2050, the voice and imagination of all communities needs to be heard if cities are to grow in a prosperous way that truly reflects the rich and varied lives of the people that live in them.

Some of the biggest challenges that we face are lived out with greater urgency in the city streets – how can we learn to live together, how can we enhance wellbeing and address inequality, how can we create an environment that enables everyone to feel that they have the power to contribute and have a positive impact: to play a role in creating a better world.

Dialogue – with the past and future, across global heterogeneity, and at a very local and personal level – in its many forms can help us to overcome these challenges by increasing understanding and engaging the heart as well as the mind.  

The exhibition focuses exclusively on European cities and has already travelled to Slovenia, Sweden, Denmark, Switzerland, Greece and Germany.

The City Speaks exhibition took the visitor on a journey through fascinating examples which demonstrated how art can be used to stimulate thought, enable the expression of emotion, and change perspectives.

The accompanying soundtrack, produced by composer Dave Randall (guitarist and producer who has worked with Faithless, Dido and Slovo), was a beautiful ode to the sounds of the city and complemented the stunning 3D design of the exhibition which recreated the urban experience.

Watch a video about the exhibition in Malta.

In Malta, the murals created by Connecting Classrooms schools under the guidance of artist James Micallef Grimaud and his team, were also displayed during The City Speaks exhibition.

Educational workshops for schools were organised at St. James Cavalier to accompany the exhibition.

Candy Chang’s Wall of Dreams: Before I Die project was also be part of the exhibition. Anyone could pick up a piece of chalk, reflect on his or her life, share personal ambitions, hopes, fears and stories in public. Over 50 Before I Die walls have been created in over 10 languages and in more than 20 countries.