The Sails and Dolphins monument installed in 2007 at the Vittoriosa Waterfront has been restored thanks to the work of its sculptor, Charles Sammut, and a residents' association.

The great storm of February 2018 damaged one of the three sails, which forlornly rested thereafter like a damning statement on the plinth at its base. The blighted sculpture became yet another memorial saluting an uncaring country which severely lacks civil pride and procrastinates through its inaction.

Sculptor Charles Sammut (left) in his workshop during the repair works.

Thankfully, the Association of Saint Angelo Mansions Owners (ASMO) through the initiative of two of its members, Roy Bertuello and Barry Hurley, felt that action needed to be taken before any other agent, meteorological or otherwise, would be the cause of further damage to the sculpture. They contacted Sammut and ASMO took it upon itself to shoulder the costs of the restoration.

The sculptor, appreciating the goodwill of the association, supplied the material free of charge besides the time he employed for its actual restoration. The Grand Harbour Marina supplied the manpower (the location of the sculpture proved to be a logistical nightmare as no machinery could access it) and a vehicle to move the massive sculpture to Sammut’s workshop.

Every cloud has a silver lining as a mournful narrative of total disregard turned into one in which the Vittoriosa community came together in a ceremony that celebrated the repairs and the return of the redeemed sculpture to the place where it belonged.

Former president Ugo Mifsud Bonnici was coincidentally taking a stroll in the neighbourhood and he happened to chance on the ceremony.  He had words of praise for all parties involved in the restoration. 

Other neglected monuments all over our islands deserve this sort of loving attention

Along the years, the area around Sails and Dolphins had reflected on the general despondency as mounds of litter, left uncleared, added a dimension of shabbiness to the area, broken sculpture and all.

[attach id=906291 size="large" align="left" type="image"]The ungainly column which was inserted to support the weight of the damaged structure of Vincent Apap’s Triton Fountain. Photo: http://mymalta.guide/ [/attach]

However, the community embarked on cleaning up the area and recovering it as a place that could be enjoyed by everyone, as its original intention. 

Sammut’s concept behind his Sails and Dolphins originates from three of the four classical elements – water, earth and air – that are inherently part and parcel of all aspects of Vittoriosa, Senglea and Cospicua, collectively known as The Three Cities. These centres have organically developed throughout the centuries along three inlets of the Grand Harbour. 

Seawater washes against the shores of these neighbouring cities which represent the element of earth. Air is symbolised by windblown sails of boats and ships that, throughout the years, dominated life in the Grand Harbour. The shape of the three sails is also evocative of dolphins whose friendly nature epitomises an ideal but, at times, utopian human relationship with the oceans and their holds of life forms.

The sculptor has masterfully captured the timeless spirit of this important region of our islands and the many colourful stories that have weaved our nation’s history – ones of warfare and human plight, as well as ones of daily endeavour and ordinary lives.

The sail laid for months on end like a broken wing on the plinth at the base of the monument.

Japanese culture devotes special importance to the repair of pottery broken by intention or by accident. The shards are reattached and the whole artefact regains more dignity as an object worthy of more esteem as its narrative now is richer. They do this through a process known as Kintsugi, which can be poetically translated as ‘golden joinery’. They do not use normal transparent adhesives which would camouflage the love in the repair but rather accentuate the whole process by the use of tree sap lacquer dusted with powdered gold, silver or platinum. The seams of precious metal enhance the cracks, thus contributing to the unique quality of the piece as cracks are coincidental and can never be repeated.  

This oriental technique adds volume to the narrative quality of the broken piece, thus making it more precious than the original and, in the meantime, breathing in it a second life and adorning it with a new look.

Sammut, thanks to the initiative of ASMO and the help of the Grand Harbour Marina, effected repairs to the once-hapless monument, his own creation and restored it to its former self. However, in this case, the restoration work was like an exercise in Kintsugi, as a catalyst, a metaphorical adhesive that brought the community together under the spirit of a broken artefact and resulted in a cohesion of greater beauty.

Other neglected monuments all over our islands deserve this sort of loving attention as they languish, crying for attention to their woes, in full public view smack in the middle of roundabouts, public parks and gardens.

The clean fracture caused by the fury of the elements during the February 2018 storm.