The World Beneath

by Olaug Vethal

• Vinyl acrylic on canvas
• 135cm by 140cm stretched
• 138cm by 143cm framed
• c. 1999

Created in connection with Seven Women, Seven Temples (1999), The World Beneath emerges from Olaug Vethal’s encounter with the Ħal Saflieni Hypogeum, where architecture, ritual and the presence of the dead are embedded deep within the earth.

Rather than describing the underground chambers literally, Vethal transforms them into an intensely physical field of sweeping reds, pinks and ochres. Forms appear to open, fold and recede, evoking both the carved spaces of the Hypogeum and an interior, almost bodily landscape.

For Vethal, the ancient site becomes a threshold between material and metaphysical worlds. The World Beneath suggests not simply what lies beneath the earth, but what might exist beyond the visible: where memory, death, ritual and human presence remain held within the landscape.

This work is currently hung at Spazju A, Spazju Kreattiv, Valletta until 25th October 2026 as part of the exhibition ‘Beyond The Visible | The Metaphysical Worlds of Olaug Vethal, curated by Christine Xuereb and in collaboration with Christine X Art Gallery