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.

Wenders is considered to be one of the most important figures in contemporary European film having won the Palme d’Or in Cannes in 1984 for his film Paris, Texas and nominated three times for best documentary at the Academy Awards for Pina, The Salt of the Earth and Buena Vista Social Club respectively.

He has collaborated with many of the most influential film-makers and artists, from Michelangelo Antonioni and Nicholas Ray to Pina Bausch and Yohji Yamamoto. His films cross genres and forms and have been influenced by European and American film-making traditions.

In 2012, he created the Wim Wenders Foundation which brings together his lifework, supports young talent and transmits film knowledge to young audiences. So far, the foundation has digitally restored 20 of his films.  

Kino Dreams will give Maltese audiences the chance to experience the 4K restorations of Wings of Desire (1987), The American Friend (1977) and Kings of The Road (1976).

The first film to be screened is Buena Vista Social Club (1999) which is showing this evening at 7.30pm. The programme continues on Saturday, with the screening of Paris, Texas (1984), to be followed by Wings of Desire on September 10, Alice in the Cities (1974) on September 15, Kings of the Road on September 17, The American Friend on September 22, The Salt of the Earth (2014) on September 24 and Pina (2011) on September 29.

For more information and tickets, click here.

Anime Festival

The Eden Cinemas in St Julian’s is hosting its first-ever Anime Festival, showing feature-length films of some of the most popular anime series of all time, including Dragon Ball Z, Demon Slayer and My Hero Academia.

All films are dubbed in English or are screened in Japanese with English subtitles.

Dragon Ball Super: Super Hero and My Hero Academia: Two Heroes are currently showing.

For more information, visit the event’s Facebook page and the Eden Cinemas website.

PHOTOGRAPHY

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. Ten 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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EXHIBITIONS

The Gold of Malta

Martine Rigaud-Busuttil is exploring the art of lace-making through a series of oil paintings at the Art Galleries of the Malta Society of Arts in Valletta.

The Gold of Malta features sketches and paintings the artist created during a year she spent with the lace-makers of the society during the time of COVID-19. 

The exhibition runs at Palazzo de La Salle, 219, Republic Street, Valletta, until September 7. Opening hours: Mondays and Fridays: 8am to 7pm; Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays: 8am to noon and 4 to 7pm; and on Saturdays: 8am to 1pm.

For more information, visit the  Malta Society of Arts website and Facebook page.

Bellum in Mundum

After a seven-year hiatus, artist Tonio Mallia is presenting a new series of works that reimagine a world shaken beyond its tipping point, where the tensions between the human and natural world are no longer at play, nor are they creative or life-giving; they have devolved into a tyrannical order in which mankind becomes subject to its own freedoms.

The exhibition, curated by Giulia Privitelli, runs at MUŻA – Museum of Fine Arts in Valletta until September 11. For more information, visit muza.mt.

One may also read the Times of Malta interview with the artist.

Disrobed

A collective exhibition by more than 10 artists opens today at the Art by the Seaside gallery in Senglea at 7pm.

These include Gabriel Spiteri, Trevor Diacono, Feng Hongzhao, Patrick Scicluna, Alison Agius, Ray Agius, Amber Fenech, Alexia Baldacchino, Edoardo La Francesca, David Debono and Chris Ebejer.

The exhibition runs until September 11. For opening hours and private viewings, visit the gallery's Facebook page.

Lost in the Ether

Nicole Sciberras Debono is presenting her first solo exhibition at Il-Kamra Ta' Fuq in Mqabba. She brings forward esoteric narratives of a domestic familiarity, with notes on online and para-social relationships, and the reflections of a young woman in a contemporary society.

The exhibition runs until September 12. Opening hours: Mondays to Saturdays from 6am to noon and on Sundays from 7am to noon. Evening hours are announced weekly on Il-Kamra ta' Fuq Facebook page.

The Summer Showcase

Bureau Iniala, in collaboration with Marie Gallery 5, is presenting a curated selection of works by a number of local artists.

These are Paul Serri, Trevor Borg, Vince Briffa, Ryan Falzon, Victor Agius, Isabelle Borg, Stefan Spiteri, Sheldon Saliba and Joseph Farrugia.

The showcase aims to be a way for artists and collectors to enjoy works that do not necessarily fit within one collective narrative.

The Summer Showcase closes on September 22. One may visit the exhibition at Bureau Iniala, 37, Treasury Sreet, Valletta, from Monday to Friday between 10am and 4.30pm. For more information and updates, visit the Facebook page of Marie Gallery 5.

Read more about the exhibition in this Times of Malta interview.

An Ode in Stone

An exhibition of limestone sculptures by artist Joe Xuereb opens today 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.

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.

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 opens today and runs until October 9. For more information, visit www.kreattivita.org. 

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.

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.

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 just 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 is free of charge.

Dumnikani fil-Palazz: Home & Temple

A new exhibition at the Inquisitor's Palace tells of the special relationship between the palace and the neigbouring Dominican Order in Vittoriosa, especially in the post-war years.

Enemy war bombing in 1941 had left the neighbouring Dominican community without a convent and a church, who 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 exibition runs until January 8. The Inquisitor's Palace is open from Tuesday to Sunday from 9am to 4.30pm. 

whatson@timesofmalta.com