The Maltese nativity crib has started the process to be inscribed on Unesco’s representative list of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity, joining the ftira and għana as well as the local festa next year.

This would mean it would eventually be safeguarded and strengthened, along with Malta’s folk song tradition and its ring-shaped bread, said Emmanuel Vella from the ICH section of the Culture Directorate within the National Heritage Ministry, which has kicked off the lengthy consultation process.

The popularity of these village displays, made from bought plastic items, complete with snow and little figurines buying whiskey, was breaking the crib- Emmanuel Vella, National Heritage Ministry

Still in its early stages, the process would require a number of years but the ball is rolling and, in November, the Maltese nativity crib was accepted on the National Inventory of ICH, administered by the Culture Directorate.

The inventory includes around 22 documented intangible elements – from lace and ganutell, the art form of making artificial flowers from wire, thread and beads, to brilli (skittles) and the għażżiela, a small talisman baked from unleavened bread dough for use against the evil eye.

One of the cribs by Emmanuel Vella.

It's a long road to Unesco

The process started a couple of years ago when an expression of interest by two persons to have the crib listed was accepted by the ICH board.

The long road to Unesco listing involves raising awareness and organising workshops and masterclasses, apart from consultation with various stakeholders, NGOs, individuals, communities and associations, which agreed and disagreed with the inscription of the crib, Vella said.

The decision would, ultimately, be taken by a Unesco evaluation team and Vella noted that the Viareggio carnival had never made it onto the representative list of Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity while reggae took several years to be inscribed.

Periodic reporting on what was being done to safeguard these elements would be required, Vella said, adding that masterclasses with foreign crib makers to exchange ideas were lined up by the Culture Directorate for next year, among other initiatives.

Crib workshops by NGOs were starting as early as January and were testimony to the tradition’s ongoing popularity, Vella pointed out. While the traditional nativity crib was on the way out a couple of decades ago, its popularity has risen again, he said.

Another crib by Emmanuel Vella

Crib lost out to Christmas trees and villages

Until then, consumerism was taking over and the crib was being lost to Christmas trees and Fr Christmas as well as Christmas villages, which were not traditional at all, he said.

“The popularity of these village displays, made from bought plastic items – unlike the hand-made clay pasturi – and complete with snow, which is absurd for Malta, and little figurines buying whiskey, was breaking the crib,” Vella said.

But these fads, including figures of Fr Christmas hanging off balconies, died out after a while, he maintained, adding there were hardly any of them around this year.

While Christmas streetlighting may be more in your face, the nativity crib was alive and kicking, he said.

Record number in crib competition

In fact, the national exhibition and competition, which Vella is coordinating, has seen a record number of participants – 77 – this season, after a two-year hiatus during the pandemic.

The cribs on display until January 8 around Malta and Gozo can be visited by scanning a QR code as the organisers went paperless in keeping with the idea that crib makers are environmentalists, who work mostly with recycled materials, namely polystyrene and cardboard.

Vella said the entries were of a “very high level” and that competition was fierce. The remit of the directorate is to spark that fire but, now, crib making has taken a life of its own, with the help of many enthusiastic crib makers, Vella said.