THEATRE

God of Carnage

The Manoel Theatre is staging an adaptation of Yasmina Reza’s God of Carnage between June 6 and 9.

Written originally in French, by Reza and translated into English by Christopher Hampton, this new production will be directed by Andrè Agius and performed in English by actors Chris Dingli, Charlotte Grech, Chiara Hyzler and Pierre Stafrace.

The dark comedy, one of the most celebrated plays of the last two decades, is about two sets of parents who meet after the son of one of the couples hurts the son of the other couple at a public park.

God of Carnage is suitable for an audience aged 14+. Tickets from teatrumanoel.mt.

Is-snin li tħoss

After a successful run at Spazju Kreattiv earlier this year, the Maltese adaptation of the theatrical production Age is a Feeling is being staged in Gozo on June 8.

Written by Haley McGee and translated and acted by Clare Agius, Is-Snin li Tħoss tells the story of one person’s life from their 25th birthday onwards. 

Inspired by real-life interviews, the play wrestles with the endless chances to change course while we’re alive, and the joys and tragedies of getting older.

The play, suitable for an audience aged 16+, is being held at The Studio, 5, Triq l-Orkestra tad-Dudi in Kerċem, at 8pm. Tickets from showshappening.com. 

DANCE

Mixed Bill 2

Moveo Dance Company is presenting its latest mixed bill production at the Valletta Campus Theatre on June 6 at 7.30pm.

The show will include a blend of new works and beloved repertoire pieces, that push the boundaries of creativity and storytelling.

Featuring the Moveo Junior Company, the event will see choreography by director Diane Portelli, artistic director Dorian Mallia and guest choreographer Patsy Chetcuti.

Tickets from showshappening.com. Read also this Times of Malta preview.

MUSIC

A Toast to Opera

Opera singers and pianists from the Malta School of Music will present an evening of opera favourites at the newly refurbished Salesian Theatre in Sliema on June 5 at 7.30pm.

They will perform excerpts by Verdi, Puccini, Bellini, Donizetti, Mozart, Gounod, Massenet and Vella.

Tickets from showshappening.com.

Foundation Day Concert

On June 7, the Malta Philharmonic Orchestra, led by Michael Laus, is dedicating a concert to the late maestro Joseph Sammut, who was instrumental in laying the foundations of the orchestra.

Sbuħija, a tender symphonic poem by Sammut, will open the performance. The programme also includes Mozart’s Concertone in C Major, which will see performances by violinists Agnieszka Kuźma and Matteo Colombo and Tchaikovsky’s Symphony No. 4.

The concert is being held at St Agatha’s Auditorium in Rabat at 8pm. Tickets from showshappening.com.

JP2 Cultural Foundation concert

On the occasion of the 34th anniversary from Pope St John Paul II's visit to Gozo in 1990, the JP2 Cultural Foundation is holding a recital by Gozitan soprano Ruth Portelli at St Joseph parish church, Qala, on June 8 at 8pm.

Portelli will be singing a variety of songs from her repertoire.

The event is being held in collaboration with the Qala local council.

Goldfish Through Summer Rain

A fundraising concert featuring music for flute and piano by Katie Bycroft and Sally Goodworth is being held at the Malta Society of Arts in Valletta on June 8 at 7.30pm. All proceeds from the event will go towards the Villabianca Centre for Music and the Arts, a project of The Malta Trust Foundation.

The programme features well-known and loved pieces from the flute and piano repertoire, as well as less familiar compositions. The Villabianca Centre, established in 2021, provides music therapy, adapted music lessons, and many other musical, therapeutically informed and creative arts-based opportunities for children and young people who otherwise would not have access to the arts. 

Tickets at a suggested donation of €10 will be available at the door. For more information, e-mail oxfordflutes@yahoo.co.uk.

Bir Miftuħ International Music Festival

This year’s edition of the festival comes to an end with a string quartet concert at the Bir Miftuħ chapel in Gudja  on June 8 at 8pm.

Musicians Inmaculada Muñoz Salgüero (violin), Agnieszka Kuzma (violin), Ester Garcia Salas (viola) and Frank Camilleri (violoncello) will play works by Juan Crisóstomo de Arriaga, Joaquín Turina and Isaac Albéniz.

The concert is supported by the Embassy of Spain. To reserve seats and for more information, e-mail info@dinlarthelwa.org or call 2122 0358/2122 5952.  Tickets are against a donation of €25 per person for one concert, including refreshments in the church grounds after each performance.

All proceeds are dedicated by Din l-Art Ħelwa towards the upkeep of the church.

Do-Re-Mi Meets Ti

The Malta National Orchestra is introducing Ti, the final character in the Do-Re-Mi series, a pair of drumsticks, at Robert Samut Hall in Floriana on June 9 at 11am. 

Drumsticks add rhythm and heartbeat to music, by hitting, baking, scratching and tickling,  connecting children to percussion instruments.

Created by Simon Bartolo, the event also includes a workshop.Tickets from showshappening.com. For more information, visit maltaorchestra.com. 

Earth Garden

The popular festival returns for four days of music, arts and more at the picnic area in Ta’ Qali from June 6 to 9.

This year’s event features no less than 140 artists with headliners Groove Armada, Infected Mushroom, DJ Nobu, Donato Dozzy and Lewis Fautzi.

Other performers include Kula Shaker, Gentleman’s Dub Club and local acts DJ Ruby, Manatapu, Tribali and Xtruppaw.

For the full programme, which includes a children’s daytime programme and various health-related workshops, visit earthgarden.com.mt.

MISCELLANEOUS

Qari Sajfi

Il-Kamra ta’ Fuq in Mqabba is hosting an evening of readings by Ryan Falzon on June 5 at 7.30pm.

The visual artist and author will be reading from his novel Sajf, published by Kotba Calleja in 2022.

In addition to sharing passages from this novel, Falzon will also offer a preview of extracts from his upcoming collection of short stories.

Entrance is free.

Bonsai exhibition

The Bonsai Culture Group − Malta is holding the 31st Annual Bonsai exhibition in their garden in Notre Dame Arch Street (beneath the Argotti Gardens) on June 7 and 8.

The exhibition will be officially opened by Tadahiko Yamaguchi from the Japanese embassy to Malta. There will be some 70 species and styles of bonsai on display.

Bonsai professional Tony Tickle from the UK has been brought over as the guest judge. He will be giving a presentation on his 40 years’ experience on the 8th at 3.30pm.

The exhibition will be open from 9am to 6pm on both days. More information is available on the group’s Facebook page.

VISUAL ARTS

What’s Bugging You?

Malta-based architect and ceramist Ioulia Chante is presenting a visual narrative of emotions and fears that derive from the exhilarating rhythms of contemporary society at the Malta Society of Arts in Valletta.

Balancing between functionalism and surrealism, Chante’s exploration of the human psyche through ceramics aims to give matter to everyday mental struggles, in seemingly functional and familiar settings.

What’s Bugging You? is on at the basement vaults of the Malta Society of Arts, Palazzo de La Salle, 219, Republic Street, Valletta, until June 15. For more information, including opening hours, click here.

Tmermir/Decay

An exhibition of paintings by Matthew Joseph Casha, winner of the Arts Council Malta's Premju għall-Arti 2023, is currently on at Rudy Bulher Art gallery in Marsascala.

The artist delves into the intricate interplay between form and decay, seeking to unveil the profound beauty inherent in the gradual erosion of structure and the emergence of macro-perspectives. Through his work, he aims to capture the essence of impermanence.

Casha thus invites viewers to contemplate the ever-evolving nature of existence and find solace in the relationship between creation and dissolution.

Tmermir runs until June 16. Opening hours are Wednesday to Sunday from 10am to 1pm and 5 to 8pm

The gallery is located at Quayside Court, 58, Triq Is-Salini, Marsaskala. For more information, call 356 7977 1340, e-mail rudy@rudybuhler.art or visit www.rudybuhler.art.

Documents of Inheritance/Poetics of Desire

Sarah Maria Scicluna and Ruth Ancilleri are exploring the profound connection between wild plants and their role as inherited treasures from nature at the Malta Society of Arts in Valletta.

The artists delve into the world around them, utilising drawing as a medium to convey their observations, concerns and reflections.

Curated by Carmen Aquilina, the exhibition is on at the Art Galleries of the Malta Society of Arts, Palazzo de La Salle, 219, Republic Street, Valletta, until June 20. For more information, including opening hours, click here.

Mewġa

Rebecca Cassar explores her lifelong fascination with the sea, shore and all things blue and sandy in her third solo exhibition.

The works on display in  Mewġa (wave) – consisting of over 20 pieces employing varying media on canvas – are in essence an ode to Cassar’s youth, with many a day spent at sea with her grandfather (a then retired captain of the British Merchant Navy).

Mewġa opens at Gemelli Art Gallery, Ta’ Qali Artisan Village, on June 5 at 7pm. It will be open on weekdays from 8am to 2.30pm and Saturdays from 9am to 12pm. Entrance is free.

Read more about the exhibition here.

fabricATE

Gabriel Buttigieg is debuting his first solo exhibition at Spazju Kreattiv in Valletta, where he presents his own personal interpretation of Graeco-Roman myths which he uses as metaphors for the erotic and spiritual questions that have haunted humanity since time immemorial. These include taboo and transgression, the cruelty and capriciousness of the gods, love, lust, power and destruction.

These fabricated narratives are specifically being portrayed on exquisite fabrics, provided by project partner, camilleriparismode. The often intricate surfaces serving as a backdrop, as well as a springboard for the artist’s complex creations.

Known for his experimentation, and an ever-evolving expressive aesthetic idiom, through fabricATE, Buttigieg utilises a variety of media in this exhibition. He is also debuting a pair of larger-than lifesize sculptural works which have been realised at Funderija Artistika Chetcuti, which is also a partner in this project.

fabricATE, curated by Lisa Gwen, is open till June 23, from Monday to Friday, between 9am and 9pm; and on Saturday and Sunday from 10am till 9pm.

Read this Times of Malta interview with the artist.

Chroma

Patrick Galea is known for his semi-abstract, or abstracted landscapes of Malta. He has interpreted various parts of Malta’s landscape and seascapes with his vivid multi-coloured palette. In his latest exhibition titled Chroma, Galea concentrates on one dominant colour for each of his paintings.

He has also associated the themes of the works with quotations from various texts that include poetry, literature, speeches and mythology, among others.

Chroma, curated by Lawrence Pavia, is on between June 6 and 26, and is being hosted at Bizzilla Art Space, at the head office of MAPFRE MSV Life in Floriana.

Nostalgia

Typical Maltese summer activities and outings under the Mediterranean sun are immortalised by Maltese artist Marco Arcidiacono in a collection of watercolours and mixed media paintings on paper currently being exhibited at The Phoenicia.

Born in 1940, Arcidiacono's long career has been marked by an acute ability to capture the essence of Malta's cultural and natural landscapes. While he is heavily inspired by the art and lessons learned from his father, the late Giuseppe Arcidiacono, he has found his own style and his paintings are loosely executed with flair.

Nostalgia, curated by Charlene Vella, is open throughout June in the Palm Court Lounge at The Phoenicia Malta.

Reminiscence

Acrylic paintings feature in an exhibition by Mariam De Giorgio at Marilù's, St Nicholas Square, Siġġiewi.

Reminiscence is a sample of De Giorgio’s fond memories represented in 12 vivid acrylics. Most of the works depict parenthood at some of its most adorable moments against the backdrop of a typical Maltese summer setting.

The exhibition is open at Marilù's in Siġġiewi until June 2024, where a mural by De Giorgio adorns one of its rooms.

OTHER EXHIBITIONS

Curious Beauty: An Alternative Costume Exhibition

Fondazzjoni Patrimonju Malti is organising the exhibition Curious Beauty: An Alternative Costume Exhibition at Palazzo Falson Historic House Museum in Mdina. 

Under the artistic direction of Caroline Tonna and Francesca Balzan, historic costume and accessories from the State, Church and important private collections will be displayed in contemporary art installations against the backdrop of the medieval palazzo. Micheal Lowell is the creative director.

The exhibition runs until June 16. For more information, visit www.patrimonju.org/exhibitions/curious-beauty.

whatson@timesofmalta.com