THEATRE
La Cage Aux Folles
Ray Calleja and Mikhail Basmadjian star in the main roles in an adaptation of the popular musical being staged by FM Theatre Productions and the Manoel Theatre.
With music and lyrics by Jerry Herman and a book by Harvey Fierstein, the musical is about a gay couple, made up of the manager of a Saint-Tropez nightclub featuring drag entertainment, and his star attraction. Madness ensues when his straight son brings home a fiancée and her ultra-conservative parents to meet them.
The musical, directed by Chris Gatt, with musical direction by Kris Spiteri, is being staged from today until Sunday, October 30. For tickets, visit teatrumanoel.com.mt.
L-Għarusa ta’ Ġużè Diacono
Marceline Galea plays the title role in L-Għarusa ta’ Ġużè Diacono. Photo: Ritty TacsumAfter last weekend's debut, Teatru Malta and Heritage Malta are again staging the adaptation of Ġużè Diacono’s L-Għarusa by Immanuel Mifsud.
This year marks 100 years from Diacono's birth and 20 years from his passing.
The mystic play focuses on the mental and emotional torments of a sister who swears herself into sisterhood after witnessing her beloved drown to his tragic death in front of her very eyes.
The key cast is made up of Marceline Galea, Jacob Piccinino, Moira Muscat and Charlotte Formosa. The piece features a set design by contemporary Maltese artist Austin Camilleri.
The play in Maltese, certified 15+, is being staged at The Armoury in Vittoriosa until Monday, October 31 at 8pm. For tickets, click here.
The project is supported by the Fondazzjoni Ċelebrazzjonijiet Nazzjonali and Arts Council Malta.
FILM
Irish Film Days: Let the Wrong One In
Spazju Kreattiv is showing the 2021 action comedy Let The Wrong One In as part of the Irish Film Days cycle of films.
In the film, a young supermarket worker discovers that his older brother is a vampire and must choose whether to help him or slay him.
It stars upcoming Irish talent Karl Rice and Eoin Duffy, along with Buffy the Vampire Slayer icon Anthony Head, in the role of Henry, a taxi driver with a sideline in vampire hunting.
The screening, certified 15, is free of charge but booking is required here.
Anthony Head and Karl Rice in Let the Wrong One In (2021).Intersex − Documentary screening
On Intersex Awareness Day, the Malta Gay Rights Movement and Moviment Graffitti are presenting a screening of Régine Abadia's documentary Entre deux Sexes (Intersex).
Ever since Vincent Guillot found out, late in his adult life, a word that could define him − intersex − he has tried to connect with others like him to understand his own nature. Among them is Ins A. Kromminga, an artist whose graphic works unabashedly tell what intersex people face every day.
The screening is taking place at 67, Strait Street, Valletta, at 7pm. Entrance is free. For more information, visit the event's Facebook page.
Anime Festival
The Eden Cinemas in St Julian's are once again hosting an Anime Festival in the coming weeks.
One Piece: Stampede is showing from today both English dubbed and in Japanese with English subtitles.
For tickets and more information, click here.
One Piece: StampedeMISCELLANEOUS EVENTS
State of the Arts – Malta National Symposium 2022
Arts Council Malta is presenting the first ‘State of the Arts – Malta National Symposium 2022' at the Valletta Campus, University of Malta.
The symposium is a platform for discussion and debate on the trends, challenges and opportunities of the artistic sectors in Malta and the international contexts that shape their dynamics.
The overarching themes that will be at the core of these exchanges will revolve around the topics of cultural rights, the place of the arts within sustainable development and the status of the artist.
These will be explored through a number of keynotes, panel discussions, workshops and networking opportunities with the engagement of international and locally-based speakers and practitioners with experience and expertise in the topics discussed.
The event starts at 5.30pm. For registration and more information, visit www.maltaartssymposium.com/
After the Dig − Studies from the Phoenician Shipwreck
Timmy Gambin, associate professor of maritime archaeology at the Department of Classics and Archaeology at the University of Malta, will explores various past and ongoing research projects that have emanated from the Phoenician Shipwreck Project following the conclusion of four excavation seasons in 2021.
The talk will be held in Room 207, Archaeology Centre, Carpark 6, University Msida Campus at 6pm, and also simultaneously via Zoom. For a Zoom link, e-mail secretary@archsoc.org.mt.
Why Birds Migrate Twice a Year
John J. Borg, senior curator of the Natural History Section within Heritage Malta, is giving a public lecture on migration at the National Museum of Natural History in Mdina, this evening at 6pm.
Attendance is free and no booking is required. For more information about the topic, visit the event's Facebook page.
VISUAL ARTS
Essence
A solo exhibition of contemporary realistic works in oil by Christine Porter Lofaro is on 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 tomorrow, October 27 and is open from 8am to 7pm. For more information, click here.
For more insight, read the Times of Malta interview with the curator.
Enslaved Monsieur Loyal by Christine Porter LofaroFuq 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.
Also read the Times of Malta review here.
Biċċiet minn Ħajti
Ir-Razzett tal-Markiż in Mosta is hosting a mosaic art exhibition by Micheal Vella until Sunday, October 30.
Through his works, Vella shows his love of nature and are a result of his long walks in the countryside where he appreciates the flowers and plants he comes across.
He is also inspired by his late friend, artist and ceramist Gabriel Caruana.
The exhibition is open from Monday to Sunday from 6 to 8pm. On Saturday and Sunday, the cultural centre is also open from 10am to noon. For more information, visit the centre's Facebook page.
Works by Michael Vella on display at Ir-Razzett tal-Markiż. Photo: Facebook/Ir-Razzett tal-MarkizIt’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 Sunday, 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.
Also read the Times of Malta interview with the curator.
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.
An exhibit at the Architecture Student Expo 2022. Photo: Elisa von BrockdorffBioArt 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.
Landmarks
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 the weekend.
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.
Consult the event’s Facebook page for opening hours.
Read the Times of Malta interview with the artist here.
Manoel Island, Here We Come by Paul CaruanaError Code 8030
French artist Julien Vinet is presenting a solo show at the new contemporary pop art gallery R Gallery at 26, Tigne Street, Sliema, until October 31.
For more information, visit the gallery's Facebook page.
Q’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.
A Phoenician sarcophagus discovered last year is a main attraction of an exhibition at the Archaeology Museum in Valletta. Photo: Heritage MaltaDumnikani 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.