MUSIC
From the Beatles to U2
After presenting the show in Malta in May, the Gozo Youth Orchestra is performing the rock orchestral concert at the Aurora Theatre in Victoria today at 4pm.
The orchestra, under the direction of Joseph Grech, will be accompanied by Cash & Band, plus guest singers Chris Grech, Neville Refalo, Ludwig Galea, Sarah Bonnici, Kurt Cassar, Keith Anthony and the 7SPP Choir.
For tickets, visit www.teatruarurora.com.
THEATRE
La Cage Aux Folles
Ray Calleja and Mikhail Basmadjian star in the main roles in an adaptation of the popular musical being staged for one last time today at the Manoel Theatre.
With music and lyrics by Jerry Herman and a book by Harvey Fierstein, the musical is about a gay couple, made up of the manager of a Saint-Tropez nightclub featuring drag entertainment, and his star attraction. Madness ensues when his straight son brings home a fiancée and her ultra-conservative parents to meet them.
The musical, a co-production between FM Theatre Productions and the Manoel, is directed by Chris Gatt, with musical direction by Kris Spiteri. For tickets, visit teatrumanoel.com.mt.
Mikhail Basmadjian (left) and Ray Calleja in La Cage Aux Folles. Photo: Elisa von BrockdorffL-Għarusa ta’ Ġużè Diacono
After last weekend's debut, Teatru Malta and Heritage Malta are again staging the adaptation of Ġużè Diacono’s L-Għarusa by Immanuel Mifsud.
This year marks 100 years from Diacono's birth and 20 years from his passing.
The mystic play focuses on the mental and emotional torments of a sister who swears herself into sisterhood after witnessing her beloved drown to his tragic death in front of her very eyes.
The key cast is made up of Marceline Galea, Jacob Piccinino, Moira Muscat and Charlotte Formosa. The piece features a set design by contemporary Maltese artist Austin Camilleri.
The play in Maltese, certified 15+, is being staged at The Armoury in Vittoriosa until Monday, October 31 at 8pm. For tickets, click here.
The project is supported by the Fondazzjoni Ċelebrazzjonijiet Nazzjonali and Arts Council Malta.
A scene from L-Għarusa ta’ Ġużè Diacono. Photo: Elisa von BrockdorffFILM
Anime Festival
The Eden Cinemas in St Julian's is once again hosting an Anime Festival.
One Piece: Stampede is currently showing both English dubbed and in Japanese with English subtitles.
For tickets and more information, click here.
MISCELLANEOUS EVENTS
Malta Comic Con
The Malta Comic Con is back after a two-year hiatus due to the pandemic. It will feature various guests, including actor Ryan Babcock, cosplayer Tabitha Lyons, illustrator Mike Dorey and writer and artist Tim Perkins, and events such as art and cosplay competitions and comic book launches. Malta Comic Con will be held at the MFCC in Ta’ Qali on October 29 and 30.
For details, visit maltacomiccon.com and the event’s Facebook page.
Visitors to the Malta Comic Con at the MFCC in Ta' Qali. Photo: Facebook/MFCCFesta Palazz 2022
The Malta Community Chest Fund Foundation is organising a weekend of activities at the Verdala Palace, in Buskett.
Festa Palazz 2022 features traditional games, falconry, sports activities, stalls by the Malta Crafts Foundation, an entertainment stage, tours of the palace and re-enactments and will also include the participation of the Armed Forces of Malta and the Civil Protection Department.
It is being held today between 10am and 6pm. For more information, visit the foundation's Facebook page.
Vintage Pram, Doll and Artisans Fair
A vintage pram, doll and artisan fair is taking place at Tal-Mirakli Chapel Hall, Lija, today between 10am and 6pm.
Sweet Tooth Festival
The second edition of the festival dedicated to everything sweet is taking place at Villa Rundle Gardens in Victoria today from 10am to 5pm.
There will be candy and dessert stalls, traditional sweets and a competition for best cake decoration. There will also be a children’s play area.
For more information, visit the event’s Facebook page.
The Sweet Tooth Festival is taking place at the Villa Rundle Gardens in Victoria. Photo: FacebookAnnual Model Exhibition
The Association of Model Engineers is holding the Annual Model Exhibition in the main hall of Kulleġġ San Ġorg Preca (ex-Maria Regina Grammar School) until Sunday, November 6.
The exhibition is open between 9am and 8pm except on the closing day, when it closes at 5pm.
Nightmares in Strait Street
YMCA is hosting its first-ever Halloween event at the Splendid Hotel in Strait Street, Valletta.
The hotel, which was originally a brothel, was the scene of a gruesome murder in the 1960s. Legend has it that the victim’s spirit still haunts the hotel. Her story and other gruesome and macabre untold stories will be told during a tour of the site.
There are tours in Maltese and English. For more information on how to take part, visit the event’s Facebook page https://fb.me/e/1ZdhNJlCq.
The event is intended for adults only. All funds generated will go towards YMCA’s services for young people and its services for individuals and families battling homelessness.
The Spooky Fort
A not-so-scary event for all the family is taking place at Fort Delimara, in Marsaxlokk, today between 5 and 11pm.
Besides exploring the historic fort, one may enjoy a zombie show by comic duo Danusan, a spooky walkthrough, themed decorations and lights, Halloween characters, pumpkin carving and creepy food and drinks.
For tickets, visit https://ticketmonti.com/spookyfort. Children under four years enter for free.
Fort Delimara will be this afternoon for some Halloween fun. Photo: Shutterstock.comVISUAL ARTS
Fuq Tlieta
An exhibition of paintings by three Maltese artists – Pawl Carbonaro, Jesmond Vassallo and Paul Camilleri – at Camilleri Paris Mode in Rabat is closing today.
Carbonaro is one of Malta’s foremost veteran artists, who is famous for his abstracts and semi-abstracted landscapes; Vassallo has a very varied oeuvre, ranging from landscapes to nudes to still lifes; while Camilleri is exhibiting his tactile abstracts that fit well with the works of the other two artists.
Log on to the Camilleri Paris Mode Facebook page for more information.
Also read the Times of Malta review here.
Biċċiet minn Ħajti
A mosaic art exhibition by Michael Vella at Ir-Razzett tal-Markiż in Mosta is coming to a close today.
Through his works, Vella shows his love of nature and are a result of his long walks in the countryside where he appreciates the flowers and plants he comes across.
He is also inspired by his late friend, artist and ceramist Gabriel Caruana.
The exhibition is open from 10am to noon and from 6 to 8pm. For more information, visit the centre's Facebook page.
Michael Vella works on display at Ir-Razzett tal-Markiż. Photo: Facebook/Ir-Razzett tal-MarkiżIt’s 5 o’Clock Somewhere − A Collective Art Exhibition Exploring Guilty Pleasures
A collective exhibition, being held at BOHO Boutique Hotel in Cospicua, is inspired by the famous phrase used when one craves an alcoholic drink at 10am, and to the sting of a guilty conscience, one declares that it is 5 o'clock somewhere in the world.
The participating artists, Aaron Bezzina, Daniel Borg, Roderick Camilleri, Debbie Caruana Dingli, Rupert Cefai, Antoine Farrugia, Karl Froman, Lawrence Pavia, Amelia Saint George, Mario Sammut and Darren Tanti, are portraying such instances they have encountered during their artistic career.
The exhibition, curated by Melanie Erixon, runs until today, October 30. It is open daily from 10.30am till 1.30pm and on Wednesdays also from 7pm to 10pm. Click here for more information.
Also read the Times of Malta interview with the curator.
BioArt Alchemy: Works by Anna Dumitriu
Internationally renowned British bioartist Anna Dumitriu's first exhibition at Spazju Kreattiv in Valletta is closing today.
The artist uses bioart, sculpture, installation and digital media to explore a range of topics, from the origins of society to the sustainable production of biodegradable plastic, cutting-edge genetics and the possibility of bacterially-enhanced super-humans.
The project, a commission of Spazju Kreattiv, features a collaboration with artist Alex May. It is supported by Esplora Interactive Science Centre and Science in the City, Malta.
For more information, click here.
Also read this Times of Malta feature.
Some of Anna Anna Dumitriu's exhibits at Spazju Kreattiv. Photo: Audrey Rose MizziArchitecture Student Expo 2022
A celebration of everything the Faculty for the Built Environment at the University of Malta does, comes to an end today at Spazju Kreattiv in Valletta.
The Architecture Student Expo is also an opportunity for the creativity of students and their ideas of future spaces and structures to be communicated to society through designs, sketches, digital graphics and architectural models.
For more information, visit the event’s Facebook page and kreattivita.org.
Landmarks
Artist Fabio Borg's eighth solo exhibition at The Phoenicia, in Floriana, closes tomorrow.
Borg construed this collection of abstract landscapes, tilted Landmarks, as innate emotions being expressed onto canvas and painted by instinct. The paintings, therefore, become emotional landmarks that Borg invites the viewer to partake in.
Borg is sensitive to his surroundings and trees, or the seeming lack thereof, is one such issue often a topic of heated discussions. Therefore, these compositions, largely produced in the last two years, trees are the main protagonists in an idealised reinterpretation of nature.
Landmarks, on display at The Phoenicia’s Palm Court Lounge, is curated by Charlene Vella.
Green Pasture by Fabio BorgError Code 8030
French artist Julien Vinet is presenting a solo show at the new contemporary pop art gallery R Gallery at 26, Tigne Street, Sliema, until tomorrow, October 31.
For more information, visit the gallery's Facebook page.
White on Black
Richard England, one of Malta’s foremost architects, is currently exhibiting some of his works on paper at ART..e Gallery of 1, Library Street, Victoria.
Titled White on Black, the exhibition investigates the artistic aspect of an architect who has become synonymous with modernism.
The exhibition is on until November 11. Consult the gallery’s Facebook page for opening hours.
Shadows and Light − The Wilfrid Flores Archive
Christine X Art Gallery of 17, Tignè Street, Sliema, is hosting the first exhibition dedicated to the work of this important photographer, who passed away in 1981.
Curated by photographer David Pisani, Shadows and Light − The Wilfrid Flores Archive investigates the various themes of this pioneer in Maltese photography.
The exhibition runs until November 22. For more information, visit https://www.christinexart.com/ or the gallery's Facebook page.
A photo of Portes de Bombes by Wilfrid Flores at Christine X Art Gallery.Q’eros: Beyond the Clouds
Il-Ħaġar Museum and Community Cultural Centre in Victoria is hosting an exhibition by Italian photographer Alessandro Bergamini until November 27.
Eight of the photos on display won Bergamimi the Travel Photographer of the Year award in 2021 and five more were included in the book Humanity, which was chosen as the best photographic book for 2021 in the International Photography Awards.
They will be accompanied with some 30 photos documenting the demanding Peru expedition earlier this year among the Q'eros community in the Andes. Visitors will be able to follow the filming on their mobile.
All the material is included in the exhibition catalogue, published as Il-Ħaġar GEMS 21. Also available are copies of Humanity, an assortment of photos highlighting peoples around the world.
The museum is open everyday from 9am to 5pm. Entrance is free. For more information, visit heartofgozo.org.mt/.
Inaction is a Weapon of Mass Destruction
Artist Darren Tanti is presenting an art project meant to shed light on the mediatic processes used to spread information about war and its effects on the viewer.
The work reflects the artist’s preoccupation with fabrication, editing and twisting of information people outside the conflict zone might be subjected to.
The project is meant to provoke viewers by a number of analytical, ironic, and at times, cynical works based on factual, fictional images and theoretical work. Different experts from journalism, film, art, education and the military fields will also contribute to the project via a number of talks and workshops.
Inaction is a Weapon of Mass Destruction, curated by Melanie Erixon opened on Friday at Space C, Spazju Kreattiv, Valletta, and will open today at Il-Kamra ta' Fuq, Mqabba. The exhibition will close on December 4 at both venues.
Consult the project’s Facebook page for more information.
One of Darren Tanti's artworks on display at Spazju Kreattiv. Photo: Luca AzzopardiOTHER EXHIBITIONS
Meet the Phoenicians of Malta
A Phoenician stone sarcophagus excavated last year at Għajn Klieb, on the outskirts of Rabat, is one of the major attractions of an exhibition at the National Museum of Archaeology in Valletta.
The exhibition brings to light the results of months of painstaking studies by a multidisciplinary team researching the sarcophagus and two other tombs discovered in the area, as well as their contents. The three tombs, although inherently different, shed light on the burial rituals of the earliest Phoenicians on the island.
The exhibition closes today. The museum will be open from 9am to 4.30pm. Entrance to the exhibition is free of charge.
Dumnikani fil-Palazz: Home & Temple
An exhibition at the Inquisitor's Palace in Vittoriosa tells of the special relationship between the palace and the neighbouring Dominican Order, especially in the post-war years.
Enemy war bombing in 1941 had left the Dominican community without a convent and a church, and they found temporary refuge beyond Vittoriosa. But they were called back by the need to fulfil their spiritual and educational mission among their people.
Eighty years ago, in August 1942, the Dominicans asked for temporary shelter at the Inquisitor’s Palace and, for almost two decades, the palace became the community’s home and temple.
The exhibition runs until January 8. The Inquisitor's Palace is open weekly from Tuesday to Sunday from 9am to 4.30pm.