THEATRE

It-Teatru tal-Miskin

A queer coming-of-age musical about intolerance and people’s innate fear of ‘the other’, written and created by Luke Saydon, opened at the new black box theatre at the Aurora Opera Theatre in Victoria yesterday.

Produced by Saydon Studio, It-Teatru tal-Miskin is directed by Denise Mulholland with movement by Ruth Borg, and stars Thomas Camilleri, Chiara Hyzler and Sean Borg.

It will be staged again today and tomorrow at the Aurora and next weekend at Spazju Kreattiv in Valletta.

Tickets and more information are available at www.saydonstudio.com. 

Caravaggio the Musical: The Rise and Fall of a Tormented Genius 

An original, new musical about the life of Italian master painter Michelangelo Merisi di Caravaggio is being staged at the Mediterranean Conference Centre until tomorrow, September 25.

The venue’s first in-house production, composed by Paul Abela with lyrics by Joe Julian Farrugia and directed by Malcolm Galea, aims not only to be a biography but also to do justice to the core of the story of the tormented genius.

Cameron Walker-Pow is playing the role of Caravaggio. Other performers include Lawrence Gray, Talitha and Kateriana Fenech. The set is by Romualdo Moretti.

Today’s performance starts at 8pm. Tickets are available from showshappening.com.

MUSIC

Musicals in Concert

The Malta Youth Orchestra, under the baton Anthony Gabriele, will perform in a concert dedicated to some of the best known musicals at the Hilton Conference Centre in St Julian's this evening.

The orchestra will be accompanied by singers Rachel Fabri, Nadia Vella, Francesco Nicodeme, Joseph Zammit, Eleanor Spiteri and Anthony Gabriele, who will interpret famous excerpts from The Greatest Showman, West Side Story, The Phantom of the Opera and Les Misérables.

The concert starts at 8.30pm. For tickets, click here.

Stones to Peppers II

Ozzy Lino is producing and directing an electro-acoustic journey through rock’s all-time classics at the Manoel Theatre this weekend.

Lino, Janice Debattista and Ben Purple are performing hits by The Rolling Stones, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Foo Fighters, Iggy Pop and Alanis Morissette, among others, accompanied by musicians Wayne Camilleri, Mark Axiak and Ryan Magro (guitars), Stefan Xuereb (bass), Aaron Sammut and Kurt Scerri (drums and percussions).

Radio host Jason 'Jay' Zammit will compère the shows, which start at 8pm. More details and tickets are available here.

Xaqq ta’ dawl

Local group Skald is performing in concert tonight at Theatre Next Door in Magħtab. 

Xaqq ta’ dawl marries together several different genres of music with lyrics written in the Maltese language. Skald will be playing material from their first album KURA, which debuted in June 2021, as well as giving a taste of new pieces that are being worked on presently.

The concert starts at 8.30pm. For tickets, click here.

Brass ensemble at Villa Rundle

Drepanon Brass from Trapani, Sicily, are performing at Villa Rundle Gardens in Victoria, this evening as part of Feel the Magic’s 2022-23 season.

The concert starts at 8pm. Entrance is free but patrons are advised to book tickets since seating is limited. Tickets may be bought here.

Little Gems: Piano recital

Pianist Joanne Camilleri is today giving a recital at the Malta Society of Arts in Valletta at 7.30pm.

She will play works by Ravel, Chopin, Henley, Ireland, Saint-Saens and Piazzolla. For tickets, visit www.joannecamilleri.com.

FILM

Kino Dreams: The Reveries of Wim Wenders

Spazju Kreattiv is this month paying homage to the prolific German film-maker, screenwriter, playwright, author and photographer Wim Wenders, through a retrospective of his films.

Today, the 2014 Oscar-nominted documentary The Salt of the Earth by Wenders together with Julian Salgado will be shown at 8.30pm.

The documentary is about the life and work of acclaimed photographer Sebastião Salgado as he embarks on a journey to discover pristine territories, grandiose landscapes and wild nature as part of a huge photographic tribute to the planet’s beauty.

Kino Dreams will come to an end with Pina (2011), a tribute to the late German choreographer Pina Bausch, on September 29.

For more information and tickets, click here.

MISCELLANEOUS EVENTS

Malta International Folk Festival

Twelve international folk groups from Bulgaria, Italy, Lithuania, Poland, Serbia, Spain and Malta are taking part in the third edition of the Malta International Folk Festival.

This evening, the groups will be performing in Żejtun as part of the folk festival Żejt iż-Żejtun (see below); and tomorrow, they will be roaming the streets of Valletta from 10am onwards.

For more information, visit the event’s Facebook page.

Żejt iż-Żejtun

Żejtun is once again celebrating the olive-picking season and olive pressing this weekend.

The event, organised by the Żejtun local council, will start today at around 7.30pm with the Bandu (banns or proclamation) that will announce the event. A défilé of village folk and farmers on carts carrying the olive harvest for pressing, will then parade along the streets of Żejtun.

There will be drummers and flag bearers in medieval costumes, together with folk singers and dancers, an exhibition of agricultural tools and products, and folk art.

An audiovisual presentation will feature olive tree varieties and techniques for their proper cultivation. Olive trees and associated products will also be on sale, while Maltese ftajjar and bread dressed in freshly pressed olive oil will be distributed for free tasting.

The crypt of the parish church of St Catherine will be open for public viewing.

Tomorrow morning, the parish is holding the traditional blessing of horses, cattle and pets. This will take place after the planting of trees by children who would have, this year, received their Confirmation. The Church belfries will be also open to the public.

For more information, visit the event's Facebook page.

The Beauty Festival

A festival dedicated to make-up and beauty products is taking place at the MFCC in Ta’ Qali today.

Sixty top beauty brands will be represented and there will be spot prizes, discounts and goody bags to be given away. There will also be a number of make-up masterclasses, for tweens, teens and adults.

The event starts at 9am. For more information, look up the event’s Facebook page and for tickets, click here.

Għajn Open Weekend

The National Water Conservation Awareness Centre in Rabat is holding an open weekend, where various activities for all the family will be held in a bid to spread knowledge on energy and water saving.

These include mini-tours, interactive games and a Water Cinema, which will screen a series of short videos on water-saving tips in conjuction with the University of West Attica, Greece.

The centre, found in Għajn Kajjet, will be open from 10am to 5pm today and tomorrow. For more information, visit the Facebook page Għajn.

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PHOTOGRAPHY

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 October 23.

The exhibition is curated by Charles Paul Azzopardi and Ian Ellis.

For more information, click here.

Wiki Loves Monuments 2022

Malta is once again taking part in Wiki Loves Monuments, the Guinness World Record holder for the largest photography competition, which has reached its seventh edition.

The competition brings together photographers from around the world to take stunning pictures of Malta’s cultural heritage, which are to be shared on Wikipedia. Participation is free and open to all. The deadline for all submissions is September 30.

Photo uploading workshops will be held throughout September.

A jury composed of experts within the fields of cultural heritage, photography and Wikipedia will be selecting the winning entries and 10 submissions will be nominated for the international Wiki Loves Monuments contest, with the opportunity to win further prizes.

For details, visit www.wikimalta.org and the Wikimedia Community Malta Facebook page.

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VISUAL ARTS

Tempus Edax Rerum 

An exhibition by artist David Borg, exploring the representation of time and the thematic concept of the human condition through a series of woodcut prints, closes today.

Curated by Hannah Dowling, the exhibition is on display at Gemelli Framing in Ta’ Qali from 10am to noon.

For more information, visit the exhibition’s Facebook page.

Read an article by the curator here.

The Roads Travelled

A solo art exhibition by Godwin Muscat Azzopardi is being held at the Art by the Seaside gallery in Senglea.

The former UN judge in Kosovo is now dedicating his time to following his childhood passion and is exhibiting over 18 artworks at the Senglea gallery.

The exhibition runs until September 27. For more information, visit the Art by the Seaside gallery page.

Exhibition by art group Brushes

The artistic group Brushes is holding its eighth exhibition at Palazzo Ferreria, 310, Republic Street, Valletta.

Artists Fabiola Agius Anastasi, Adrian Camilleri, John Caruana and Madeleine Vella Satariano are taking part.

The works on display include aquarelles and acrylics and feature varied themes.

The exhibition runs until September 28. Opening hours: Monday to Friday, from 9am to 6pm, and on Saturdays and Sundays from 9am to 1pm.

Paradoxes

Artist, muralist, designer and poet Damian Ebejer, son of playwright and novelist Francis Ebejer, is presenting an ‘autobiography’ of his art and life at the Wignacourt Museum, Rabat, until September 29.

The retrospective solo exhibition features mixed media artworks and is multi-themed.

Consult the museum’s Facebook page for opening hours.

Learn more about the artist from this Times of Malta interview.

The Cappuccino Brigade

The ninth solo exhibition of Debbie Caruana Dingli is on display at the Palm Court Lounge of The Phoenicia, in Floriana.

Curated by Charlene Vella, the collection of watercolour works is based on the artist’s observations of the native Maltese population and is named after one of the paintings on display whose heroine is a bossy woman, often pictured in the artist's colourful works.

The exhibition will be open throughout September.

Read an article by the curator here.

An Ode in Stone

Artist Joe Xuereb is presenting an exhibition of limestone sculptures at The Phoenicia's Deep Nature Spa.

His rounded figures and forms represent universal shortcomings among humans such as greed, solitude and the entrapments of love. 

An Ode in Stone, curated by Louis Laganà, runs until the end of September.

Read the Times of Malta interview with the artist.

Amelia Saint George works at The Phoenicia

Artist Amelia Saint George is exhibiting a number of her sculptures at The Phoenicia, Floriana.

The sculptures are in clay, bronze and mixed media, and portray animals, which Saint George is particularly well-known for, as well as some humorous sculptures that are more closely associated with her portrait sculptures.

Saint George, who has made Valletta her home, is an established, award-winning contemporary sculptor who has exhibited locally and internationally. She is also the author of several books on diverse subjects and holds sculpting lessons in her Valletta studio.

One may view her works at The Phoenicia’s reception area until the end of September.

Time, Space …. and Palmyra

Artists Henry Alamango and Galina Troizky are presenting a joint exhibition at the Malta Society of Arts at Palazzo de La Salle, in Valletta.

The duo infuse two themes: the social implications resulting from the functional transformation of rural and urban space over time, and a crie de coeur reflecting a deep concern for an environment and populated space in progressive decline.

The exhibition also recalls how the ‘civilised’ world recoiled in horror in 2015 at the deliberate physical and cultural destruction wrought by IS in the ancient city of Palmyra, Syria, of Unesco World Heritage fame. Ironically, flashbacks of Palmyra continue to manifest themselves in Malta's spatial and cultural development, contributing also to solitary and anonymous lifestyles, loss of community, loneliness and pollution.

The artists ask whether we are also the perpetrators – or at least the acquiescent accomplices – to an ongoing ‘Palmyra’?

The exhibition runs until October 1. Opening hours: Mondays and Fridays: 8am to 7pm; Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays: 8am to noon and 4pm to 7pm; and Saturdays: 8am to 1pm. Entrance is free. For more information, click here.

Read the exhibition's review by the Times of Malta art critic here.

Dying Planet

Illustrator, designer and visual London-based artist ‘iella’ (Daniela Attard) is presenting a body of illustration work and paintings focusing on climate anxiety and existential dread at Spazju Kreattiv in Valletta.

The artworks on display focus on the global impact of climate change with some reference to local issues and include strange figurative work and characters which serve as modern allegories.

The exhibition runs until October 9. For more information, visit www.kreattivita.org. 

More insight into the exhibition is available here.

Willie Apap – Colour and Light 

A retrospective exhibition of works by Willie Apap (1918-1970), considered one of Malta’s leading exponents of 20th-century art, is currently on at Il-Ħaġar – Heart of Gozo Museum in Victoria.

The 70 works on display feature portraits, landscapes and still-lifes, dancers, human figures, sacred and ethnic works in oils and inks, and are accompanied by a lavish 100-page GEMS # 20 catalogue.

The exhibition, curated by Maria Cassar, runs until October 10. Opening hours are from Monday to Sunday from 9am to 5pm. Entrance is free.

Tomorrow, September 25, Cassar will deliver a public lecture at 11am. Participation is free but booking on events@heartofgozo.org.mt is recommended.

The exhibition is supported by the Malta Tourism Authority and the Gozo Ministry’s Cultural Directorate. For more information, visit the museum’s Facebook page.

Read the Times of Malta interview with the exhibition's curator Maria Cassar here.

Thread

A collective exhibition by Ebru Çinar, Stefan Spiteri and Bernice Vassallo has opened at Il-Kamra ta' Fuq in Mqabba.

The three artists experiment a lot in the use of thread in their oeuvre. Apart from this medium, they are also bound by the thematic of nature and organic forms which are almost always present in their works.

The exhibition runs until October 17. The gallery is open from Mondays to Saturdays from 6am to noon and on Sundays from 7am to noon. More evening hours are announced weekly on Il-Kamra ta' Fuq Facebook page.

BioArt Alchemy: Works by Anna Dumitriu

Spazju Kreattiv in Valletta is hosting an exhibition by internationally renowned British bioartist Anna Dumitriu.

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.

OTHER EXHIBITIONS

The Santa Marija Convoy and the George Cross – 80 Years On

Heritage Malta is honouring the heroes who valiantly gave their lives in order to ensure the victory of World War II through an exhibition at the National War Museum at Fort St Elmo, Valletta.

Visitors can see artefacts and archival documents related to two of the most well-known episodes of the year 1942 – the award of the George Cross and Operation Pedestal.

The exhibition runs until September 27. Opening hours are from 9am to 4.30pm. For tickets, click here.

Lunchtime tours at Palazzo Falson Historic House Museum

The Mdina palazzo is hosting a guided lunthtime tour around its significant collection, highlighting objects linked to the rich cultural heritage of the Maltese islands and focusing on its people, trades and traditions.

Gustav Café is open to guests for refreshments on the rooftop terrace of the museum.

Bookings against a suggested donation of €10 can be made via e-mail at bookings@palazzofalson.com or by calling on 2145 4512.  Pre-bookings are recommended.

The museum is open from Tuesday to Sunday. For information about opening hours and more, visit www.palazzofalson.com. 

Mom, I Don't Want War!

The Embassy of the Republic of Poland in Valletta has organised an exhibition entitled Mom, I Don't Want War! as part of the Polish-Ukrainian project of the State Archives and Mom, I See War initiative.

The aim of the exhibition is to show the tragedy of war through the eyes of children, by comparing historical and contemporary drawings by the youngest who lived and grew up during the war.

The drawings by Polish children used for the exhibition were drawn after World War II and document their experiences during the war and the German occupation in 1939-1945. The drawings are preserved in the Central Archives of Modern Records (AAN) in Warsaw.

The drawings of Ukrainian children are contemporary works related to the current war in Ukraine and collected on the Mom, I See War portal. See more on https://momidontwantwar.eu/en/.

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 that has opened 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 is open 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 from Tuesday to Sunday from 9am to 4.30pm. 

whatson@timesofmalta.com