Manwel Grech, a self-taught artist, uses his skills on feast street decorations mainly and his works are found across the country.

Visiting his workshop in Victoria, one can view a number of life sized papier-mache statues waiting for a final touch of colour before being delivered to different villages and towns.

In 2016, Grech, a Gozitan, created a crib that was exhibited at St Peter’s Square.

It was Pope John Paul II who, in 1982, started the tradition of having a crib exhibited in St Peter’s Square at Christmas time.

Grech’s crib was the first which was not built in Italy. The following year, the crib was exhibited in Bethlehem.