DANCE
ŻfinMade: New Futures
Responding to the theme ‘New Futures’ and the question ‘what will the future look like in 100 years?’, ŻfinMalta, under the artistic direction of Paolo Mangiola, has invited six emerging choreographers and artists working with movement, who are based in Malta, to create a series of solos and duets with the company dancers.
The result is four evenings of dance performances at Spazju Kreattiv in Valletta between today and Sunday, December 4. For tickets, click here.
THEATRE
A Kick in the Baubles
MADC is again staging the Christmas comedy A Kick in the Baubles by Gordon Steel at the MADC Playhouse, Santa Venera, between today and Sunday, December 4.
Directed by new MADC chairman Steve Casaletto, the play tells the story of a peaceful Christmas at the Bauble household, which turns into mayhem.
The cast is led by John Montanaro, Maxine Aquilina, Francesca Briffa and Stephen Oliver.
For tickets, visit madc.com.mt.
Maxine Aquilina and John Montanaro in A Kick in the Baubles. Photo: Justin MamoARTS
Amora
Contemporary circus company Cirque du Soleil is back in Malta with another original show, this time combining acrobatics and heart-pumping performances to celebrate love.
The story centres around a clumsy but lovable character, Bruno, who, while gazing up to the skies of Valletta, sets eyes on a mysterious woman, Loulou. Captivated, he tries to climb up to her balcony to reach her… but she flies away and vanishes out of sight. He, thus, sets out on a quest to find her, meeting colourful new friends with extraordinary powers along the way.
Shows are taking place at the Mediterranean Conference Centre, in Valletta until December 18. For tickets, visit showshappening.com. For more information, check cirquedusoleil/amora.
Performers in an act from Amora. Photo: Luke DysonFILM
Much Ado About Nothing
Spazju Kreattiv is screening live the National Theatre adaptation of Shakespeare’s romcom of sun, sea and mistaken identity.
The legendary hotel Messina on the Italian Riviera has been visited by artists, celebrities and royalty. But when the owner’s daughter weds a dashing young soldier, not all guests are in the mood for love. A string of scandalous deceptions soon surround not only the young couple, but also the adamantly single Beatrice and Benedick.
Directed by Simon Godwin, the play stars Katherine Parkinson (The IT Crowd) and John Heffernan (Dracula).
There will be an encore on December 18 at 6pm. For more information and tickets, click here.
A scene from Much Ado About Nothing by National Theatre Live. Photo: Manuel HarlanMonth of European Film
The Eden Cinemas in St Julian's is today showing the 2021 Spanish film Official Competition as part of the Month of European Film. The comedy drama, certified 15 and starring Antonio Banderas and Penélope Cruz, will be shown in its original language with English subtitles.
Across Europe, partner cinemas in 35 countries from Reykjavik to Athens, from Lisbon to Bucharest, but also including small towns and networks, are highlighting European films, presenting special programmes, events and dedicated retrospectives for four weeks.
The Month of European Film kicked off on November 13 with the European Arthouse Cinema Day and the European Film Academy’s Young Audience Award. Instead of a uniform catalogue, each participating cinema is creating a unique programme according to their expertise and catering to their audience’s taste. The Month of European Film culminates on December 10 at the 35th European Film Awards in Reykjavik, Iceland.
For tickets and more info, click here.
Week of Legends
The Eden Cinemas, in St Julian’s is paying homage to music legends Queen, Elton John, Elvis Presley and David Bowie by screening their latest biopics.
Bohemian Rhapsody (2018), Rocketman (2019), Elvis (2022) and Moonage Daydream (2022) will be showing until December 6.
For showtimes and tickets, log on to edencinemas.com.mt.
Austin Butler in Elvis. Photo: Warner BrosMUSIC
Malta International Organ Festival
The festival continues today with a solo organ concert titled The Spanish Golden Era and Beyond performed by organist Augusto Belau from Spain will take place at St Mary’s parish church, Għaxaq, at 7.15pm.
An organ and viola concert, A Journey Through Europe, with German organist Michael Mages and viola player Semjon Kalinowsky will take place at Sacro Cuor parish church, Sliema, tomorrow at 7pm.
On Saturday, there will an organ and trumpet concert titled Christmas Prelude featuring organist Franco Cefai and trumpeter Jason Camilleri at St Mark’s church (Augustinians) in Rabat at 7pm. Entrance is free but a collection for Id-Dar tal-Providenza will be made after the concert.
The festival runs until December 6. For more information, visit maltainternationalorganfestival.com and the event’s Facebook page.
MISCELLANEOUS EVENTS
Valletta Waterfront Christmas Wonderland
The Valletta Waterfront is once again turning into a Christmas Wonderland for the festive season.
Among others, there is a 35-foot Christmas tree, Santa’s House complete with its own garden and workshop, a traditional Maltese crib and colourful, handcrafted characters adorning the promenade such as a massive Nutcracker Soldier and an endearing Gingerbread Man.
A whole programme of activities is also planned for the coming month. For more information, visit the Valletta Waterfront's Facebook page.
Santa's House, complete with its own garden and workshop, will be set up at the Valletta Waterfront this festive season. Photo: Facebook/Valletta WaterfrontChristmas in the Capital
Valletta is hosting a programme of Christmas-related activities until the end of December.
There are Christmas trees in Freedom Square, Republic Street and Merchants Street, Christmas lights in Republic and Merchants streets, an artistic light installation in South Street and a crib next to St John's Co-Cathedral.
The programme, organised by the Valletta Cultural Agency, includes various music and artistic performances throughout the coming weeks, and will culminate with the New Year's Eve concert in St George's Square on December 31.
For details of the programme, visit vca.gov.mt.
VISUAL ARTS
Normal Deviance
An artwork by NuntiaTwo artists, Mark Schembri and Nuntia, who are long-term partners in life, are for the first time exhibiting together. Their collection is a portrayal of their distinctive personalities, expressed through their respective modes of expression.
Nuntia has been widely defined as a psychological artist with dark undertones. Her paintings convey a muted struggle between serenity and a lurking darkness. Schembri has been in the art scene for 23 years and has held more than 15 solo exhibitions. He is an eclectic and versatile artist whose style is often flamboyant with characteristic explosions of colour and movement. His tone can range from playfully ironic to scathingly sarcastic, especially when he turns the spotlight onto the failings of our contemporary society.
Normal Deviance closes today at Art by the Seaside, 65, Triq il-Mina tax-Xatt, Senglea. Visiting hours are from 5 to 9pm.
A Collection of Charcoal Drawings and Hand-Crafted Objects
A collection of charcoal drawings and objects by self-taught and self-proclaimed anti-social artist CO-MA is on display at Green Shutters of 27, Triq San Franġisk, Floriana.
The artist's work has no frills but contrasts living in the world of black and white. He is also a “collector of nice things” which are broken down into their primary parts and find themselves in the new objects he builds. The result are pieces that are at once functional, intriguing and otherworldly.
The exhibition runs until Saturday, December 3. For more information, see www.coma-artist.com and follow Lily Agius Gallery on Instagram and Facebook.
Resilience – Thriving Through Adversity
An exhibition at Fort St Elmo, in Valletta, is showcasing creative projects by Aġenzija Sapport service users from all day centres, with the assistance of support workers.
The theme of Resilience was chosen to to reflect the strength of service users in facing setbacks such as prejudice, negative stereotypes and discrimination.
Various items are on display. The artists used different media including acrylic and 3D painting on canvas, encaustic art (using wax), wood and iron, papier-mache, photography (produced on canvas, photo albums and board), clay installations and quilling techniques.
The exhibition is open until Saturday, December 3. Opening hours: 9am to 4.30pm. For tickets, click here.
Artworks on display at the exhibition Resilience at Fort St Elmo. Photo: Facebook/Aġenzija SapportInaction 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 is open at Space C, Spazju Kreattiv, Valletta, and at Il-Kamra ta' Fuq, Mqabba, until Sunday, December 4.
Consult the project’s Facebook page for more information.
Also read this Times of Malta review.
Commemorating Antoine Camilleri (1922-2005): A Hundred Years from his Birth
Heritage Malta is commemorating the 100 years since the birth of Antoine Camilleri, the modernist pioneer of Maltese 20th-century art, with an exhibition at the Camerone at MUŻA, Valletta.
Several of Camilleri's artworks and personal items are on show.
The exhibition runs until December 7.
Read the Times of Malta review for more insight into the artist and his works.
Study for In His Tomb by Antoine CamilleriLegends
A collection of contemporary works by Hudson founder and chairman Alfie Borg is on display at Kettles cafeteria at The Brewhouse in Mrieħel.
HIs mixed-media works depict all-time legends from the world of art, sport, music, film and social history, who have inspired Borg in different stages of his life.
All the proceeds from the sale of the art pieces will go towards the Hudson Foundation which seeks to ‘give a voice to the voiceless’ and focuses on supporting abandoned dogs, children and Mother Earth. The foundation is now seeking to continue its work in supporting animals and disadvantaged children as well as to realise initiatives to help the environment.
Legends runs until December 7.
Off-Kilter
Artist and illustrator Marisa Attard is holding a solo exhibition of her quirky and funny works at Gallery 23 in Idmejda Street, Balzan.
The exhibition runs until December 7 and is open on Sunday, December 4, from 10am to 12.30pm and on December 7 from 6.30 to 8pm. Viewing can also be arranged by appointment on 9942 8272 or by e-mailing info @gallery23malta.com.
For more information, visit the gallery's Facebook page. Also read this review by Ġorġ Mallia.
The Life and Soul by Marisa AttardIt's All Paperwork
Antoine Farrugia is presenting a solo exhibition of sculptures in Maltese globigerina limestone at the Parliament building in Valletta until December 11.
The stone is transformed into what can be perceived as almost sheets of paper, from origami to scrolls of paper and other shapes which seem to defy gravity.
It’s All Paperwork, held under the patronage of Anġlu Farrugia, speaker of the House of Representatives, is organised by the Valletta Cultural Agency. Log on to the event’s Facebook page for more information.
Art at the Corinthia Palace
The Corinthia Palace Hotel in Attard is hosting a collective exhibition of contemporary artworks by 13 local and international artists.
The paintings are from the Allura Art collection and range from landscapes and seascapes to florals and abstracts. They include new and previously unseen work.
The artists taking part are Andrew Borg, Christine Porter Lofaro, Jo Dounis, Kevin Sciberras, Debbie Bonello and Rosette Bonello from Malta and Christopher Saliba and Bob Cardona from Gozo. Foreign locals include British-Maltese painter Andrew Smith, Bulgarians Vania Goshe and Bogdan Dyulgerov, Natasha Dadush from Russia and Marianne Ogden from the US.
The exhibition runs until January 8. More information about the exhibition is available here.
Cospicua Skyline by Kevin SciberrasI Landed. Malta
Spazju Kreattiv and the Marlands Project have collaborated on a new exhibition featuring works by French artists Edgar Sarin, Lucy Orta and Max Fouchy and Maltese counterpart Sheldon Saliba.
Guest artist Sarin explored the island during his art residency in Malta as part of the Marlands project. His immersive, multilayered art project is the result of productive dialogues with islanders specialising in craft, culture and science.
During this exhibition, one can also take a trip to other Mediterranean islands through the artists’ work: Orta will take visitors to the Balearic Islands, and Max Fouchy to Sicily.
I Landed. Malta is curated by Elena Posokhova and Vince Briffa.
After the exhibition closes on January 8, it will move on to Catania, Sicily; Palma, Mallorca; Nicosia, Cyprus and Mallorca, Spain. For more information, click here.
Sights and sites
A new exhibition by Silvio John Camilleri at the King’s Own Band Club in Valletta investigates contemporary reality in which the ugliness of roads and pristine countryside have to co-exist as a dichotomy in Malta’s way of life.
Yet, the artist deciphers beauty even in the most inauspicious of locations, such as in the geometry of the road network and its juxtaposition with trees, streetlights and general urban elements.
Sights and Sites, curated by Fleur-Marie Ebejer, is on until January 11. Refer to the artist’s Facebook profile for more information.
Marsa Junction No. 1 by Silvio John CamilleriOTHER EXHIBITIONS
Sunetti: Minn Fomm u Qalb il-Poplu
Malta Libraries is holding an exhibition on Maltese sonnets at the National Library of Malta in Valletta.
The exhibition is accompanied by two lectures on the subject. The second one, being held today, will see Olvin Vella looking into ‘Is-sunett ta’ Buonamico li għosfor mitt sena ilu’ (the sonnet of Buonamico which disappeared 100 years ago) at 6pm.
The exhibition will be open to the public, free of charge, until the end of December. One may visit between Monday and Friday from 8.30am to 4.30pm and on Saturdays from 8.30am to 12.30pm.
The exhibition catalogue and a sonnet written specifically for the occasion and printed on silk (limited edition of 100) are available for sale from the Reading Room.
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.
Some of the exhibits at the Inquisitor's Palace in Vittoriosa. Photo: DOI/Jason BorgHonor Frost’s Malta: A Pioneer in the Centre of the Mediterranean
An exhibition highlighting underwater archaeologist Honor Frost’s connection to Malta is open at the National Museum of Archaeology in Valletta.
Besides honouring Frost’s considerable legacy, the exhibition aims to offer a snapshot of Frost’s work in Malta through illustrations, artefacts and even some of her diving equipment.
The exhibition runs until January 15. Entrance is free of charge. One may visit the museum daily from 9am to 4.30pm.