ARTS FESTIVALS
Opera is Gozo
The Opera is Gozo programme continues today with an event titled Kuxjenza – Poetry, Music and Wine, which will see three contemporary poets illustrating the struggle of conscience while reciting and debating their works in a semi-constructed conversation.
The poetry will be in Maltese but the conversation will be in English.
The event is taking place at the Bishop’s Curia in Victoria, at 8pm. For reservations, e-mail teatruaurora@leone.org.mt or call on 7904 5779.
FILM
Patients
Spazju Kreattiv is today showing the 2016 film Patients as part of the French Film Days cycle of films.
Written and directed by a French poet and lyricist known professionally as Grand Corps Malade, Patients follows a basketball player named Ben who arrives in physical therapy after a serious incident. The film tells the story of his rebirth, a chaotic journey of victories and defeats, tears and bursts of laughter, but, above all, encounters which help Ben heal.
Certified 15, the film is being shown at 7.30pm in French with English subtitles. For tickets, click here.
The French Film Days are presented by the Alliance Française Malte-Méditerranée in collaboration with the French Embassy in Malta and the Institut Français.
Pablo Pauly in Patients (2016)VISUAL ARTS
re.vis.it
Rupert Cefai is holding his third solo exhibition at art..e Gallery in Victoria.
Having a vested interest in art from a young age, Rupert Cefai started his professional career as an interior designer, gradually shifting his focus from design to painting. For this exhibition, Cefai has chosen a series of his latest works ranging from the depiction of local customs to streetscapes.
The exhibition closes on Friday, October 21. For more information, visit the gallery's Facebook page.
Bażilika San Ġorġ by Rupert CefaiResidue
A solo exhibition by Joseph Farrugia is open at Bureau Iniala in Valletta until Friday, October 21.
Residue explores the definition of man's existence, through particles, negative spaces, generations, and the residuals we leave behind.
The exhibition, organised by Marie Gallery 5 and curated by Maria Galea, is open this week from 9.30am to 5pm.
Visit the event’s Facebook page for more info.
Also read the Times of Malta interview with the artist.
Resonances
An exhibition by the late maestro Pawlu Grech is being held at The Volunteer Centre, St Bartholomew Street, Rabat.
From an early age, Grech showed proficiency both for music and for the visual arts. It was a twinned passion that was to persist throughout his life. This exhibition celebrates both sides of Grech, its title Resonances evoking the characteristics of both his music and visual art.
The exhibition, organised by Amanda Tabone, is part of an initiative managed by the Malta Council for the Voluntary Sector ‘Art for VOs’ and will be in aid of Animal Guardian, Cat Sanctuary, Luqa.
Resonances will be open from 6 to 9pm until Saturday, October 22. Consult the event’s Facebook page for more information.
Read more about the artist and his work in this Times of Malta feature.
Genesis II (1965) by Pawlu GrechEssence
A solo exhibition of contemporary realistic works in oil by Christine Porter Lofaro is open at the Malta Society of Arts at Palazzo de la Salle in Valletta.
The artist portrays observations, emotions and narratives as she strives to present our transitory presence in this world, its intensity and how much it matters.
The exibition, curated by Charlene Xaxa Calleja, runs until October 27. Opening hours: Monday to Friday from 8am to 7pm and on Saturdays from 9am to 1pm. For more information, click here.
For more insight, read the Times of Malta interview with the curator.
150 / Richard Ellis
The Richard Ellis Archive, consisting of 39,000+ glass negatives documenting the period in Malta and Gozo between 1861 and 1938, has been digitised in archival-grade quality for the first time in its history.
The British-Maltese photographer (January 1842-December 1924) was one of the pioneers of photography in Malta during the late 19th and early 20th centuries.
Thirty large prints taken from his archive are currently on display at Spazju Kreattiv, Valletta, until Sunday, October 23.
The exhibition is curated by Charles Paul Azzopardi and Ian Ellis. For more information, click here.
One may also read the Times of Malta interview with the collection's owner.
Fuq Tlieta
Camilleri Paris Mode of Rabat is hosting an exhibition of paintings by three Maltese artists – Pawl Carbonaro, Jesmond Vassallo and Paul Camilleri.
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.
Fuq Tlieta is open until the end of October. Log on to the Camilleri Paris Mode Facebook page for more information.
A painting by Paul Camilleri on display at Camilleri Paris Mode. Photo: Elisa Von BrockdorffIt’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 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.
Architecture Student Expo 2022
A celebration of everything the Faculty for the Built Environment at the University of Malta does, is taking place 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.
The expo runs until October 30. For more information, visit the event’s Facebook page and kreattivita.org.
BioArt Alchemy: Works by Anna Dumitriu
Internationally renowned British bioartist Anna Dumitriu is exhibiting for the first time at Spazju Kreattiv in Valletta.
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.
BioArt Alchemy runs until October 30. For more information, click here.
Terra Incognito by Anna DumitriuLandmarks
Artist Fabio Borg is holding his eighth solo exhibition throughout the month of October at The Phoenicia, in Floriana.
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.
Funny How Time….
Artist Paul Caruana is showing his latest collection of works at Gemelli Framing in Ta' Qali until October 30.
Through a series of poignant watercolours, most of which have origins in the artist’s own biography, Caruana invites us to dwell on the past and learn lessons to alter the present so that the future might be worth living.
The exhibition runs until October 30. Consult the event’s Facebook page for opening hours.
Read the Times of Malta interview with the artist here.
Groundwaters
A collective exhibition featuring outsider art – an umbrella term coined for individuals producing art outside the culturally established centres – is taking place at Valletta Contemporary Gallery.
Titled Groundwaters, this exhibition is the first one in Malta to explore the perspectives of individuals who are somewhat marginalised, through their own design or otherwise, and who create work on the fringes of the mainstream.
Curated by Gabriel Zammit, it features the works of Anonymous, Emma Attard, Adrian Camilleri, William Driscoll, Emma Johnson, Salvina Muscat and Joe Vassallo. It includes ex-voto paintings, West African Bocio fetish dolls and other objects which have their roots in religion, magic and ritual.
The exhibition runs until November 12. Opening hours: Wednesday to Sunday from 2 to 7pm. For more information, visit www.vallettacontemporary.com/.
Also read this Times of Malta interview with the curator.
Temptation 1 (2022) by Salvina MuscatQ’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/.
OTHER 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 runs until October 30. The museum in Republic Street, Valletta, is open from Monday to Sunday 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.
An artefact on display at the Dumnikani fil-Palazz: Home & Temple exhibition at the Inquisitor's Palace, Vittoriosa. Photo: DOI/Jason Borg