This year's edition of the Malta International Arts Festivals has been launched by Festivals Malta and the Arts Ministry as part of their Summer Festivals cultural calendar.
In view of COVID-19 restrictions, the Festivals Malta team, together with artistic director Ruben Zahra created a programme that embraces social distancing measures; postponing their original plans to next year’s edition of the festival.
As a result, the festival is embarking on a virtual strategy between Friday and July 5.
Arts Minister José Herrera stated that, over the past weeks, the ministry, through its public culture organisations, continued to sustain the culture industry through various initiatives.
“It is encouraging to see The Malta International Arts Festival, which is one of the highlights of the summer festival scene in Malta, is still being held online in spite of the current restrictions. Festivals Malta has yet again managed to come up with an interesting programme involving so many artists,” the minister said.
Festivals Malta director Annabelle Stivala stated it was Festivals Malta's duty to provide a source of entertainment for aficionados of arts and culture while acting as a lifeline by providing support to local artists.
The MIAF – Online Edition, will feature a considerable number of local artists while highlighting the three main pillars of performing arts: dance, music and theatre.
The online festival will feature 12 videos produced in collaboration with Spazju Kreattiv, the Malta Philharmonic Orchestra, Teatru Malta and the Malta Society of Arts.
There will be an exciting line-up of nine productions, featuring choreographies by Dorian Mallia, Pamela Kerr and Rochelle Gatt accompanied by musicians Francis Camilleri and Luke Baldacchino, and composer Luc Houtkamp.
It also includes three music ensembles featuring the Malta Philharmonic Orchestra.
From the theatre genre, authors Trevor Zahra, Simone Spiteri and Malcolm Galea penned a variety of monologues which are being interpreted by Joseph Galea, André Mangion and Mikhail Basmadjian.
As a symbol of unity and solidarity, over 100 local artists have come together in three artist collectives, featuring choreographed dances, a modern rendition of ‘Kemm Hu Sabiħ’, originally sung by Sammy Bartolo, and a recital of Oliver Friġġieri’s poem L-Għajta ta’ Malta in collaboration with Teatru Malta.
During the festival, Festivals Malta will also be releasing ‘The Archive Series’, which includes five performances from the 2019 MIAF edition, that will be streamed online in their entirety for free.
The MIAF will also be showcasing a segment called ‘Opera Highlights’, which has been integrated in Festivals Malta’s Hybrid Festival, which will be touring over 50 localities around Malta, taking live music concerts to the people.
Zahra stated the importance of engaging audiences and artists saying arts and culture are perhaps even more important now than ever.
"We need to reach out to our audiences and engage our artists so that creativity may shine through the dark clouds. It is during these times, that we need to give greater value to culture, national heritage and most of all our artists, so that we can unite together in a sense of hope and solidarity.”