THEATRE

L-arrest ta’ Danny Weed

A farce taking aim at police corruption is being staged at M Space, in Msida between March 3 and 12.

Written by Alfred Buttigieg and directed by Michael Fenech, it is based on the real-life case of Daniel Holmes, who was arrested in 2006 at his Gozo flat where he was growing cannabis plants he insisted were for his personal use. He was given a 10-year prison sentence when the case was decided in 2011 and was released in 2018. The case sparked great controversy with many campaigning to release Holmes from prison.

The cast features actors Audrey Scerri, Chris Spiteri, James Ryder, Matthew Sant, Simon Curmi and Sean Briffa.

For tickets, visit bluebox.com.mt. The production is supported by the Maltese Council for the Arts.

Meet Cute − A Jukebox Musical

The Manoel Theatre's TOI TOI Learning & Participation Programme is staging a new production for teens and young adults on March 4 and 5.

The plot sees two broken hearts being brought together unexpectedly when a friend offers them an apartment they can use until they feel better. What happens when they start sharing their stories?

 The production, suitable for an audience aged 11+, stars Chrissy Warrington and Sean Borg, and is directed by Petra Sant.

The shows will be held at 3.30pm and 6pm on both days at the Manoel's Studio Theatre. For tickets, click here.

L-emerġenza

A musical comedy written by George Micallef and directed by Pawlu Bonello is being staged today and on March 4 and 5 at the Catholic Institute, in Floriana.

The plot follows various characters who either work at the hospital’s emergency department or end up there for various reasons.

The show includes various popular tunes with musical arrangements by Christian Arding and original lyrics by Dorian Micallef. Over 25 dancers from Keith Dance Studio are also taking part.

Tickets are available from passwarapass.com, from the bar of the Catholic Institute or by calling on 9907 6107.

Tosca by Giacomo Puccini

The Valletta Cultural Agency and the Manoel Theare are staging a production of Giacomo Puccini’s Tosca at the Manoel Theatre, in Valletta on March 5, 8, 10 and 12.

Designed, directed and featuring world-class artist José Cura in the main part of Cavaradossi, the opera also stars Tanya Ivanova, Carlos Almaguer, Alan Sciberras, Albert Buttigieg and Louis Cassar, as well as KorMalta and the Malta Philharmonic Orchestra, conducted by Mario De Rose.

The production is suitable for an audience aged over 14. For tickets, visit teatrumanoel.com.mt.

Is-Show il-Kbir tad-Danusan

Comic duo Danusan are presenting their latest show It-Tmiem at Montekristo Estates between March 3 and 5 and on March 31 and April 1.

The comedians, who will interpret their most popular characters, will this time explore heaven after their death and also dare to explore hell as an option.The show is certified 14+.

For tickets, visit showshappening.com.

MUSIC

Iljieli fit-Teatru

Pjazza Teatru Rjal is holding a special jazz night, featuring veteran jazz pianist, composer and songwriter Paul Giordimaina and bass player Oliver Degabriele, on February 27. The event is sold out.

The event forms part of a series of intimate concerts taking place monthly at the venue’s Greenroom. Tickets are free but bookings are made via e-mail to admin@pjazzateatrurjal.mt.

Bach Cello Suites

International cellist Lucie Kucharova will perform Bach Cello Suites, considered to be one of Bach’s greatest achievements, during a concert at Our Lady of Victory church, Valletta, on February 28 at 12.30pm. The event forms part of a series of lunchtime concers organised by the Barocco Foundation and Din l-Art Ħelwa.

Czech cellist Lucie Kucharova will be performing Suite 1, 2 and 3. The Cello suites are structured in six movements each: prelude, allemande, courante, sarabande, two minuets or two bourrées or two gavottes, and a final gigue.

After the concert, patrons are invited for free to the cellar of the church to watch a short audio visual show about the building, history and the restoration of this gem.

Entrance to the concert is at a suggested donation of €10. One can obtain the tickets prior to the concert from the venue itself or by e-mail: baroccomalta@gmail.com or on 7968 0952.

Movies in Concert

The L-Unjoni Philharmonic Band of Luqa is celebrating music written for the film industry at the Mediterranean Conference Centre, in Valletta on March 4. 

The Amadeus Chamber Choir, the Centrestage Choir and various singers, including Destiny, Eleanor Cassar, Tiziana Calleja, Ludwig Galea and Jeffrey Scicluna, will also take part.

They will perform music from The Lion King, Jurassic Park, Star Wars, Avatar, Aladdin, Rocky, Beauty and the Beast and Bohemian Rhapsody, among others.

Tickets are available from showshappening.com.

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FILM

Tnejn għat-Talkies: The Piano

The Embassy Cinemas in Valletta is screening the 1993 Oscar-winning drama The Piano on February 27.

Directed by Jane Campion, the plot is set in the mid-19th century when a mute woman is sent to New Zealand along with her young daughter and prized piano for an arranged marriage to a farmer, but is soon lusted after by a farm worker.

The film, starring Holly Hunter, Harvey Keitel and Sam Neil, is certified 18+. For more information and tickets, click here.

Tnejn għat-Talkies is an initiative of the Valletta Cultural Agency’s Strada Stretta programme. 

NT Live: The Crucible

Spazju Kreattiv is screening the staging of Arthur Miller’s The Crucible by the National Theatre at the Olivier Theatre in London on March 2 at 7.30pm.

The plot is set during a witch hunt when a group of young women in Salem suddenly find their words have an almighty power. As a climate of fear, vendetta and accusation spreads through the community, no one is safe from trial.

Lyndsey Turner directs this contemporary new staging, designed by Tony Award-winner Es Devlin. The cast stars Erin Doherty and Brendan Cowell.

The screening is certified 12+. For tickets, visit kreattivita.org.

Venice: Infinitely Avant-Garde

The Eden Cinemas, in St Julian’s is screening a documentary about Venice on March 3 at 9pm.

Directed by Michele Mally, the documentary shows Venice and its openness to the world and to the future, through its art and its museums, its canals and its narrow streets. The documentary will be screened again on March 5 at 10.30am.

For tickets, visit edencinemas.com.mt.

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MISCELLANEOUS

Talk on consciousness

Philosophy Sharing Malta is holding a talk titled ‘Where is Consciousness?’ on February 28 at the University of Malta, Valletta Campus, at 6.30pm.

In the first part of this talk, Niki Young, a lecturer of philosophy at the University of Malta, will take stock of different views on consciousness in order to illustrate their potentials and limitations.

In the second part, he will use the shortcomings of such theories in order to advance the somewhat counterintuitive claim that consciousness is not in fact in the brain.

For tickets, click here.

Traditional Chinese Medicine workshop

The China Cultural Centre in Malta is hosting a Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) workshop by Zhang Min from the University of Malta TCM Centre, on March 2.

The University of Malta TCM Centre was established in 2015 by the Shanghai University of Traditional Chinese Medicine and the University of Malta. The centre not only provides medical services but is also a TCM teaching practice base. 

Zhang Min, a doctor of Longhua Hospital affiliated with the Shanghai University of TCM, holds a clinical master's degree in integrated traditional Chinese and Western medicine. In 2021, she was assigned to the University of Malta Centre for TCM, as a lecturer at the university and an acupuncturist at the centre. During the workshop, she will be discussing TCM as a safe and effective medicine with a variety of treatment methods.

The China Cultural Centre is located at 173, Melita Street, Valletta.

Due to limited space, e-mail events2023ccc@gmail.com to reserve a seat.

Żejtun Heritage Walk

On March 4, Flimkien għal Ambjent Aħjar is organising another walk as part of its spring season programme, this time in Żejtun.

Perit Ruben Abela will introduce walk participants to the urban development of Żejtun and its characteristics. The tour will highlight interesting architectural and historical aspects of several buildings to illustrate the social-cultural diversity through different periods and areas of Żejtun and their impact on the built environment. 

Participants are meeting at the New Wave Kiosk, in Misraħ Carlo Diacono at 2pm. The walk is about 2.5 hours long.Tickets are available at https://ticketengine.faa.org.mt/.

William Blake’s The Marriage of Heaven and Hell

On March 3, experimental composer and writer Mikolaj ‘Nick’ Kubera will introduce guests at Arthall, in Victoria, to English poet William Blake’s 27-pages long magnum opus The Marriage of Heaven and Hell though the music of Norwegian music collective Ulver.

The musicians had released a double CD album, singing the book in its entirety against the backdrop of trip hop, art rock, electronica, avant-garde, industrial, folk, ambient and progressive metal music.

The event kicks off at 7.30pm. For more information, visit the Arthall Facebook page. Entrance is free.

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VISUAL ARTS

Anthological Art Exhibition

A retrospective exhibition by artist Mario Zammit-Lewis is on display at the parliament building in Valletta until February 28.

The exhibition explores the various aspects of the artist’s oeuvre that is stylistically and thematically very eclectic. A monograph, published to accompany the exhibition, is available for purchase at the venue.

Zammit-Lewis, born to a Maltese father and an Italian mother, has exhibited extensively abroad. He is the recipient of a number of international awards that have celebrated his accomplishments along the years.

Opening hours are Monday to Friday from 9am to 5pm and Saturdays and Sundays from 8 am till noon.

Fragments

Landscape artist Andew Borg is presenting his fourth solo exhibition, Fragments, at the Palm Court Lounge, at the Phoenicia in Floriana until February 28.

The exhibition, curated by Charlene Vella, features Sicilian landscapes as well Maltese ones, thus expressing the artist’s life of the last few months which has seen him living between the two Mediterranean islands.

The exhibition explores Borg’s current state of mind, one in which the Sicilian landscape is gaining the upper hand as he feels more attachment to the larger neighbour.

What'Chu Looking At? Who You Speaking With? A Gazing All Around

Spazju Kreattiv in Valletta is hosting a series of works by African creatives who explore the countless realities and situations that are present across the 54 countries making part of the continent of Africa.

The exhibition, commissioned by the creativity centre, runs till March 5. For more information, click here.

Scenic Route: An Artistic Journey through the Maltese Islands

Malta-based artist Andrew Smith, who specialises in en plein air paintings, is holding a solo exhibition at Gallery 23 in Balzan until March 8.

Curated by Rachel Said and Alexia Gingell Littlejohn, the exhibition features various scenes from Malta and Gozo, such as the Kalkara Marina, Luqa church, fields in Xewkija, Marsaxlokk, Senglea Waterfront and Fomm ir-Riħ.

The artist will be in residence at Gallery 23, Idmejda Street, Balzan on Sundays (10am-12.30pm) and Wednesdays (6.30-8pm).

Viewing can also be arranged by appointment on 9942 8272 or e-mail info@gallery23malta.com.

Ghost Stories

Artist Alfie Gatt depicts moments in the ‘life’ of a girl, whom he refers to as the White Lady in his current exhibition at Mqabba’s Il-Kamra ta’ Fuq.

The figure lovingly haunts a palatial Maltese house, patterned tiles, traditional tal-lira clock and all, thus affirming the ‘Malteseness’ of the narrative. 

According to the artist, the ghost is a metaphor for a person experiencing procrastination.

Ghost Stories, curated by Melanie Erixon for Art Sweven, runs until March 12. 

Read the Times of Malta review here.

thirty-three

Local artist Pawlu Mizzi is presenting a solo exhibition at Gemelli Framing at the Ta' Qali Artisan Village.

The exhibition features 33 works created over 11 years, which include digital works produced through different techniques.

The exhibitions opens on March 3 at 7.30pm and runs until March 27. For more information and opening hours, click here.

Order in Chaos

The Phoenicia Malta is hosting an exhibition by photojournalist and street photographer Martin Agius durind the month of March.

For more information, click here.

Free Spirit #2

The Malta Society of Arts is hosting a new exhibition featuring a range of abstract, colourful works by Maria Cassar.

Cassar uses her ‘intuition’, ‘freedom’ and ‘imagination’ to look further away from what she can physically see and enunciates intangible emotions onto the canvas.

She artistically translates her inner impulses into geometric shapes and gestural marks, with the works revealing a continuous dialogue between light and shade, void and presence.

The show will also include a few paintings that portray children in a playful, carefree mood.

The show runs at the Art Galleries of Palazzo de la Salle in Valletta until March 30. Opening hours: Mondays to Fridays: from 8am to 7pm; and Saturdays from 9am to 1pm. On Sundays and Public Holidays, the galleries are closed.

Traces of Human

Veteran sculptors Angelo Agius and Mario Agius are showing their latest works at the Exhibition Hall, Ministry of Gozo, Victoria, from March 4 until April 1.

Although not related by blood, both artists are intrigued by the human figure and its relation to circumstances, pitfalls, vulnerabilities, saving graces and all. 

The exhibition explores the various sculptural viewpoints of the two artists and tries to find the redeeming factors in what defines us as human.

The exhibition will be open from Monday to Friday from 8am to 4pm and from 9.30am to noon. For more information, visit Mario Agius's Facebook page.

Insular

An exhibition by French photographer Cédrine Scheidig is on at Spazju Kreattiv in Valletta.

The project focuses on the everyday life and destiny of young men from the African diaspora, recently settled on the island of Malta. Offering a sensitive portrait of this new community, the weaving of portraits, landscapes and still lives sets a poetical narration that attempts to create a sense of belonging; the semblance of a home in the making between here and there.

The exhibition runs until April 2 and is supported by the French Embassy and the Alliance Française de Malte-Méditerranée. For more information, click here.

Prestorjha

Enrique Tabone is holding a solo exhibition at Spazju Kreattiv in Valletta, featuring works of contemporary art on the theme of the female figure in prehistoric Malta and Gozo, from a feminist perspective.

Works in this series include objects made from the artist’s signature use of plexiglass, site-specific installations, as well as video art from an intimate performance, along with art prints, some of which are produced from the artist’s studies on the structures presented during this exhibition. 

This exhibition includes contributions by photographers Alex Attard and Jean Marc Zerafa, digital work by Solid Eye, along with texts by archaeologist Isabelle Vella Gregory and curator Toni Sant, which appear in a catalogue raisonné, published in limited edition by Kite Group.

This catalogue also features a retrospective of the artist’s work since 2010, as exhibited in 2022 at the University of Malta’s Valletta Campus in collaboration with the Institute of Maltese Studies.

The exhibition runs until April 9. For more information, click here.

Irregularity

J.P. Migneco (b. 1989), an artist who lives and works in Malta, is holding an exhibition at Valletta Contemporary from March 3 to May 6.

Titled Irregularity, the exhibition features a series of artworks that explore the relationship between natural and artificial environments. The body of work involves a process of reinterpreting landscapes that are found near coastal areas in Malta, through the use of photography, drawing, digital media and painting.

The theme of this project delves into notions related to urbanisation and the advancement of technology. Therefore, the work attempts to evoke issues related to human-environment interaction in the digital age.

Valletta Contemporary is open from Wednesdays to Sundays from 2 to 7pm. For more information, look up the gallery's Facebook page and website.

Rituals of Passage

Valletta Contemporary is displaying the result of a co-creative project between Ryan Falzon, Aaron Bezzina, Alexandra Fraser, Yasmine Akondo, Mladen Hadžić, and Stefan Kolgen.

Rituals are part of everyday life. During times of distress, they give comfort. The title is based on the fact that rituals can bring one from one stage to another physically and mentally. Post-COVID rituals can help one find balance in a disrupted society where attention to mental health and well-being has become important. 

The artists created the works with the exhibition space in mind, presenting them in such a way that they interact with each other and that they challenge the viewer, offering context for the audience to create their own story.

Rituals of Passage, curated by Ann Laenen and Stefan Kolgen, opens on March 3 and closes on May 6. During the opening weekend some works will be accompanied by a performance and a discussion session about the meaning of rituals will be organised, followed by a meet and greet with the artists.

Valletta Contemporary is open from Wednesdays to Sundays from 2 to 7pm. For more information, look up the gallery's Facebook page and website.

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OTHER EXHIBITIONS

Carnival exhibition

Spazju Kreattiv is hosting an exhibition of carnival costumes as part of the official carnival celebrations organised by Festivals Malta.

The exhibition runs until March 5. Entrance is free.

Annual Church Model Exhibition

The Għaqda Dilettanti Mudelli ta’ Knejjes AD 1986 is holding its annual church model exhibition at the Valletta local council hall in Pjazza Reġina, Valletta, between March 4 and 12. Opening hours are from 9.30am to 12.30pm and from 4.30 to 7.30pm.

Viva Viva l-Karnival: The George Zahra Donation

An exhibition celebrating a donation of carnival memorabilia by carnvial enthusiast George Zahra to Heritage Malta runs at the Inquisitor’s Palace in Vittoriosa until April 9.

The exhibition comprises official carnival programmes dating as far back as 1930, models for carnival floats, music scores, trophies and participation certificates, among other memorabilia.

Entrance to the exhibition is part and parcel of the Inquisitor’s Palace experience and there is no additional fee. The museum is open on Tuesdays and Thursdays to Sundays from 9am to 5pm.

Unseen and Unheard: Stories of Women Under Fire

The Storm Petrel Foundation is hosting an archival exhibition that sheds light on overlooked or previously unrecorded war narratives and microhistories from Malta and elsewhere.

It brings together items and artefacts drawn from different collections, with a primary focus on wartime experiences of women and girls.

The exhibition was inspired by a series of conversations between the NGO and Robert Attard, who had found a collection of letters written by a young German woman during World War II, some of which are on display.

The exhibition is organised across five different rooms at the Storm Petrel Foundation’s premises in Attard, with each room representing a different era or focus.

The Storm Petrel Foundation has collaborated with Simon Cusens, Kim Dalli, Sharp Shoot Media, Media Coop, Tayar Foundation for Jewish Heritage in Malta, Sarah Chircop and Giuliana Fenech, Heritage Malta, Fondazzjoni Wirt Artna and Palazzo Falson.

The exhibition runs until April 14. For opening hours and more information, visit the foundation's Facebook page.

Chinese Zodiac Sign Exhibition

The China Cultural Centre in Malta, in collaboration with the China Arts and Entertainment Group, is presenting an exhibition on the Chinese zodiac sign of the rabbit which is this year’s sign.

With the aim to promote an understanding of China’s traditional culture and its connections with local tourism, the exhibition showcases how this particular zodiac sign is transmitted in various cultural facets of different Chinese regions.

Colourful illustrations portray how this rich heritage is passed on through the creation of costumes and dance, opera, silk fabric designs, ceramics, lanterns, pencils, paper-cutting, festive candy and bean flour lamps.

The exhibition is open at the China Cultural Centre at 173, Melita Street, Valletta, until the end of April. Entrance is free. Groups are advised to book in advance through events2023ccc@gmail.com.

Shoah the Holocaust: How Was It Humanly Possible?

The Tayar Foundation for Jewish Heritage in Malta has organised a Holocaust Memorial exhibition which will be displayed at three venues in Malta until June.

The exhibition deals with major historical aspects of the Holocaust, beginning with Jewish life in pre-Holocaust Europe and ending with the liberation of the Nazi concentration and extermination camps across the continent and the remarkable return to life of the survivors.

The display panels feature explanatory texts, with quotes from Jewish victims and survivors, photographs, art documents and videos for eight survivor stories.

The exhibition is open at the German-Maltese Circle in Valletta until March 12, opening hours: Monday to Sunday from 8am to 6pm; from March 13 to April 23 at MCAST Paola, opening hours Monday to Friday from 7am to 8pm and on Saturdays from 9am to 12.15pm (closed on Sundays); and from April 24 to June 4 at the University of Malta, Msida Campus, open from Monday to Friday from 7am to 11pm and on Saturdays and Sundays from 9am to 4.45pm.

For more information, visit shoah.jewishheritagemalta.org/.

whatson@timesofmalta.com