MUSIC

One Love… Celebrating Peace

Jamala, a Eurovision Song Contest winner from Ukraine, will today perform alongside Maltese singers at a peace concert at the Malta Enterprise grounds in Pietà. 

Titled One Love… Celebrating Peace, the event will be held in aid of Ukrainian citizens who found refuge in Malta after the Russian invasion. 

Funds will also be raised for the building of ‘Becs’ Junior Secondary school in Ethiopia, in memory of 15-year-old Rebecca Zammit Lupi who died in 2021 from a rare form of cancer.

The concert kicks off at 8.30pm. For tickets, click here.

During the event, an exhibition capturing the human side of war by photojournalists Darrin Zammit Lupi and Heidi Levine will be launched at the Malta Enterprise offices.

Curated by Pamela Baldacchino, Humanity at War: Reflections includes photos from the conflicts in Ukraine, Gaza, Israel, Libya and Bosnia. Funds raised will also go to the above-mentioned causes.

The exhibition will remain open until July 23. It will be open between Monday and Friday from 9am to noon and from 6 to 8pm and on Saturdays and Sundays from 6-8pm.

Rock the South

The ninth edition of Rock the South Malta returns at Zion Bar and Restaurant in Marsascala this weekend after a two-year hiatus due to the pandemic.

The three-day event, starting today, will feature local and international performers and an eclectic mix of music. Performances, which start after 5pm, will be held on two stages and a headphones-only silent discco area.

Headling the main stage today will be ManaTapu. They will be precededed by Indubstry (IT), Zkeletonz (UK) and Bark Bark Disco.

The alternative stage will feature Eddie Fresco, Caro Etern, Chris Birrd and JC.B.

Black Plague − MLT, JOON, Cher Camilleri, Michael Azzopardi, Emme Woods (UK), Robert Farrugia, Ben Mifsud Joslin and Juan Laforet (UK) will perform at the headphones-only silent disco/Band in a Camp stage. 

For the daily schedule of performances and tickets, visit rockthesouthmalta.com and the event’s Facebook page.

Malta International Music Festival

The National Symphony Orchestra of Uzbekistan, under the baton of Alibek Kabdurakhmanov, will today perform at the Mediterranean Conference Centre in Valletta with clarinetist Alexander Bedenko (Ukraine) and flutist Fiorella Camilleri (Malta).

The concert, titled Flute & Clarinet Delights, starts at 8.30pm.

The Malta International Music Festival runs until July 11. For more details and tickets, visit https://maltafest.eu/concerts/schedule/.

Ħondoq by Night

The 10th edition of Ħondoq by Night is taking place at Ħondoq Bay, Gozo, this evening.

The programme includes a live concert by Gozitan band Cash & Band and performances by deejays Carlo Gerada, Ryan Spiteri, Micimango and Darco.

As usual, the bay will be illuminated with traditional lanterns and through special light effects.

Tickets will be available at the entrance. For more information, visit the event’s Facebook page.

MCO Pop'22

The Malta Concert Orchestra, under the direction of Joe Brown, will play some all-time pop music hits at Pjazza Teatru Rjal in Valletta today.

These include Procol Harum’s A Whiter Shade of Pale, Robert Palmer’s Addicted to Love and Donna Summer’s She Works Hard for the Money.

Singers Neville Refalo, Ozzy Lino and Olivia Lewis are performing alongside the orchestra.

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

ARTS FESTIVALS

Victoria International Arts Festival

The festival continues today with a piano accordion, violin and pianoforte recital by Djordje Gajic and violinist Andrea Gajic from the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland and Maltese pianist Bernice Sammut Attard at the Aula Mgr G. Farrugia in Victoria at 8.30pm.

The Victoria International Arts Festival runs until July 11. For more details and tickets, visit www.viaf.org.mt/.

MCAST ICA Festival 2022

MCAST’s Institute for the Creative Arts has turned its annual exhibition into an arts festival, with the aim of reaching out to the community.

The festival is celebrating creativity and is acting as a platform to showcase the students’ hard work and collaboration with relative stakeholders in the industry.

The event, which runs until July 31 at Spazju Kreattiv in Valletta, includes a fine art exhibition, interactive media and a game art networking event, photography and graphic design.

For more details, visit https://icafestival.com/, the event’s Facebook page and www.kreattivita.org/en/event/mcast-ica-festival-2022/.

THEATRE

Il-Pożittivi

Malta’s first contemporary play that tackles the stigma that people who live with HIV experience in Malta is being staged at the Valletta Campus Theatre until Sunday, July 10.

The cast includes Ray Calleja, Clare Agius, Josette Ciappara and Chris Vincent.

Performances, suitable for an audience over 15, start at 8pm. For tickets, click here. 

FILM

Blat: The Island Fortress

Malta’s first-ever opera-film, Blat: The Island Fortress, is showing again today at Spazju Kreattiv in Valletta.

Produced by the Mikiel Anton Vassalli College, Malta’s national college for the performing and visual arts, the film is set in March 1940, when most of Europe was embroiled in World War I but Malta was still spared. The plot follows a love triangle as war hits the islands and all are forced to take cover in the underground shelters.

The cast includes both professionals in different areas of the arts, several students from the four schools within the college as well as extras, including the students’ parents.

Among the performers are Nicola Said, Angelo Muscat, Astrid Cacciatore, Louis Andrew Cassar, Clare Ghigo, Charles Vincenti and Ken Scicluna.

The libretto is written by Ġorġ Peresso and Amy Borg, the music is by Reuben Pace, while the screenplay and direction is by Alan Fenech.

The screening starts at 8.30pm. For tickets, visit www.kreattivita.org.

EXHIBITIONS

City Lights – A Charles Gatt Retrospective

Best known as a musician and jazz percussionist, the late Charles ‘City’ Gatt also loved to paint. The Phoenicia, in Floriana, is hosting a retrospective exhibition of his colourful, abstract works at the hotel’s Palm Court Lounge until July 31.

Curated by Charlene Vella, the exhibition forms part of this year’s Malta Jazz Festival, which is taking place between July 11 and 16. Visit www.festivals.mt/mjf for more information.

Just Human

An exhibition, featuring the works of Debbie Caruana Dingli, Saviour Baldacchino, Antoine Paul Camilleri and Wallace Falzon, at Obelisk Gallery, Main Street, Balzan, wraps up today, July 8. Visit the gallery’s Facebook page for more details.

Obliterated Childhood

Ethiopian artist Dereje Shiferaw's for exhibition at the Christine X Art Gallery in Sliema comes to a close today, July 8. Opening hours: from 10am to 1pm and from 4 to 7pm. For more information, visit the gallery’s Facebook page.

Mystery and Process

An exhibition of 20 abstract paintings by Anthony Spagnol runs at the Art Galleries of the Malta Society of Arts in Valletta until July 14. Opening hours: Mondays to Fridays from 8am to 7pm; Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays from 8am to noon and 4 to 7pm; and Saturdays from 8am to 1pm. For updates, visit the Malta Society of Arts Facebook page.

Solitary Observations

Ray Forder-Stent, an English artist residing in Malta, is presenting his first solo exhibition at the Art by the Seaside gallery in Senglea until July 15. On display are a wide range of oil paintings, based on his keen observations, where he captures his individual viewpoint of landscapes, people, still lifes and the artistic value of everyday things he notices on the Maltese islands. Visit the gallery’s Facebook page for more details.

Strange Days

An exhibition of fine art prints and paintings by Australian artist Christian Palmer runs at the new gallery Green Shutters, 27, St Thomas Street, Floriana, until July 23. For more details, follow the Facebook page Lily Agius Gallery.

Something About You

A 10-year survey exhibition by Marinella Senatore at Blitz in Valletta brings together paintings, drawings, videos, a powerful project with Russian protest group Pussy Riot featuring a new organic site-specific sculpture, and a public artwork on the historical façade of Valletta’s Casino Maltese.

The exhibition culminated in the public performance The School of Narrative Dance on June 30, which featured over 100 participants from local groups and communities, and a dance movement in Republic Street, Valletta, in memory of murdered journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia.

The exhibition runs until July 23. For more information, visit https://blitzvalletta.com/.

Ecotopias

A solo exhibition by Roderick Camilleri is running at Il-Kamra ta’ Fuq, Mqabba, until July 24. Opening hours: Mondays to Saturdays, 6am to noon and on Sundays from 7am to noon. Extra opening hours are announced weekly on Il-Kamra ta’ Fuq Facebook page.

Connections

Contemporary artworks by Alfred Camilleri are on display at MUŻA, Valletta, until July 24. Opening hours: Monday to Sunday from 9am to 5pm. Visit the museum’s Facebook page for more information.

Whereabouts

An exhibition of works by Debbie Bonello and Andrew Borg is on at Il-Ħaġar Museum, Victoria, until July 25. Opening hours: Monday to Sunday from 9am to 5pm. Visit the museum’s Facebook page for more information and updates.

Colour Blocking

A colourful stone sculpture exhibition by Antoine Farrugia is open to the public at the Phoenicia Hotel Deep Nature Spa.

Prehistoric pottery making

An exhibition presenting the results of a scientific investigation of materials and techniques used in pottery making during Maltese prehistory is open at the National Museum of Archaeology. The exhibition runs until the end of August. Opening hours: Monday to Sunday from 9am to 4.30pm. 

whatson@timesofmalta.com