A diorama by the Ghimmanu-El Għaqda Presepisti Għajnsielem Għawdex has been selected among a number of Maltese cribs and dioramas to be permanently exhibited in the Museum of Bible, Washington DC, US. 

Committee members and helpers worked on this diorama which captures the moment when the three wise men saw the Holy Family for the first time after a strenuous voyage following the star which announced the birth of “the King”. 

The diorama is a combination of styrofoam and expandable foam, a technique currently being utilised by most of the Maltese and Gozitan crib enthusiasts, after several courses by Italian and Spanish crib masters were organised by the same association over the past years. 

The Ghimmanu-El Għaqda Presepisti Għajnsielem Għawdex, which is celebrating its 10th anniversary, will be holding several exhibitions both locally and overseas.

In fact, the association will be holding its third international crib exhibition after two held in Turin in 2019 and in Bergamo, Italy, last year.  This year’s exhibition will be held in Rome.

Preparations are under way both by the association and participants who will be taking part in the exhibition.

On September 30, the association will also be holding an international symposium titled Il-Presepju bejn passat u futur – which is a first.

Two Italian guest speakers, Claudio Mattei and Pier Luigi Bombelli, together with a number of Maltese dignitaries, will be discussing the past and future of the crib-building tradition.

 The association will also be holding its annual exhibition at the St Joseph Hall in Għajnsielem, featuring several other cribs and dioramas built by Maltese and Gozitan enthusiasts, who each year create these magnificent “works of art” for all, to relive the birth of our Saviour.