Vittoriosa will be lit up with thousands of candle lights tonight as the fortified city celebrates the second night of Birgufest.
There will be several performances in different venues across the city, including by DCapitals and Geo Debono Band at St John's Tower and a sacred music concert by Alex Vella Gregory at St Lawrence conventual and collegiate church. The main stage in Vittoriosa Main Square will host Karin Duff, Bernie and Pod and The Travellers.
There will also be fire performances, an artistan market, medieval re-enactors, a short film festival and an infiorata by the Vignanello local council of Italy.
Various places of interest will be open, including the Auberge de France, the Norman House and the convent and cloister of the Dominican friars.
Fort St Angelo and the Inquisitor's Palace, which also includes the National Museum of Ethnography, will be open until midnight with a reduced entrance free.
The Malta at War Museum at Couvre Porte is also extending its regular opening hours. Currently, the museum is hosting an exhibition about Operation Pedestal.
Birgufest comes to an end tomorrow with an Inguardia parade between 10.30am and noon.
Malta Public Transport is operating a special service to and from Vittoriosa today. For more information, visit the Vittoriosa local council Facebook page.
The Medina Foundation for Music is holding a programme of events calling for peace under the patronage of President George Vella.
This evening, the foundation, in collaboration with the Malta Cultural Institute Foundation, is presenting an event for all the family featuring different arts on the theme of peace, including dancing, instrumental music, singing and literature, with the participation of local and foreign, upcoming, professional and renowned artists.
This event is being held at The Imperial, Sliema, from 7.30pm onwards. It is open to the public. For more information, visit the Facebook page of the Malta Cultural Institute Foundation.
The programme's main event will be the Malta concert premiere of A Mass for Peace by Mro Mark Agius, featuring the St Paul Metropolitan Orchestra and various local and international artists on Sunday, October 16, at the Mdina Cathedral at 7.30pm. For tickets, visit showshappening.com.
The Opera is Gozo festival continues today with an operatic evening at the Citadel Ditch titled Ewfonija Grand Operatic Concert.
A 27-piece orchestra, under the direction of Mariella Spiteri Cefai, and 16 choristers will perform mainly popular instrumental music such as overtures, intermezzos and choral arias from well-known operas. The concert will be enhanced by projections on the Citadel walls.
Entrance is free, but reservations are to be made via SMS on 9948 9853 or e-mail info@ewfonija.com.
Tomorrow, there will be a fjakkolata (flaming lanterns) at the hamlet of Santa Luċija, Kerċem, from 6.30pm onwards, and a piano recital by Francis Camilleri will be held at the Ministry for Gozo Hall, St Francis Square, Victoria, at 8pm. The event is free, but reservations can be made on info@lastella.com.mt.
For more information about the festival and the full programme of events, visit www.visitgozo.com/blog/opera-is-gozo/.
Ewfonija ensemble director Mariella Spiteri Cefai
Masquerade Malta is opening its 2022-2023 season at Blue Box with George Orwell’s classic novel Animal Farm.
Reimagined by Youth Theatre Masquerade and directed by Ian Moore, this new production offers a dynamic, daring and contemporary take on the timeless story. It remains faithful to Orwell’s original, retaining both its affection for the animals and the incisiveness of its message.
Animal Farm is suitable for audiences aged 11+. Performances will take place at Blue Box, M Space, in Msida, today at 7.30pm and tomorrow at 3.30 and 6pm. For tickets and more information, visit masquerademalta.com.
This project is supported by Arts Council Malta.
Adrian Farrugia, Emma Farrugia and Kurt Zammit in Animal Farm. Photo: Justin Mamo
Hermann Bonaci Productions are staging the classic comedy Żeża tal-Flagship at the Manoel Theatre this weekend and next week.
Written by Mikielanġ Borg early in the last century, the play is set in Balzunetta, where the famous Żeża works as a barmaid. Outgoing, lively and cheeky, Żeża is not only the favourite entertainer of British sailors, but also among the Maltese of all social classes. Trouble looms when aristocrats are caught in saucy adventures.
Borg’s original script has been adapted into this new version by Joe Gatt. A list of new songs will be played live by the orchestra and sung by the actors.
The show will be staged today and tomorrow and between October 13 and 16. For tickets, log on to teatrumanoel.com.mt.
The cast of Żeża tal-Flagship. Photo: Facebook
The 18th edition of the charity concert is back in aid of the Smiling with Jerome Foundation.
The concert features a band accompanied by a guitar choir which strums along to popular songs.
It is being held today at the St Agatha Auditorium in Rabat at 8pm. Doors open at 7.30pm. For tickets and more information, visit https://strummin.mt and the Stummin’ Foundation Facebook page.
Musicians and singers rehearsing for Strummin' Round the World. Photo: Strummin' Foundation
Defected Records, a British independent record label specialising in house music recordings, compilation albums and events, are organising a house music festival at various venues across Malta between tomorrow and Sunday. There will be club shows, boat parties and events at off-the-grid locations.
The line-up includes household headline acts alongside the rising stars of the scene and underground names. These include Kerri Chandler, DJ Fat Tony, Sam Divine, Dan Shake, Chicago legend Jamie 3:26, Todd Edwards, Natasha Diggs, Shapeshifters, Gorgon City and Basement Jaxx.
For more information and tickets, visit defected.com/malta.
The Malta Society of Arts is today hosting a concert by Alessia Bonnici, a 17-year-old pianist on the autism spectrum, and friends − pianist Gabi Sultana, soprano Mariette Borg, baritone Miguel Rosales and composer/musician Jess Rymer. The programme includes solo pieces by Chopin, Satie and Gershwin.
Music Speaks starts at 8pm. For more information and tickets, click here.
Pianist Alessia Bonnici. Photo: Facebook
The Gozo Cathedral Chapter, in collaboration with the JP2 Foundation, is holding a sommemorative service to honour Queen Elizabeth II on the first month of her passing away.
The Gozo Cathedral was one of the locations visited by the Queen on her last official visit to Gozo on the 30th May 1992.
The service will begin at 11am. All British and Commonwealth residents in Gozo are invited to attend the service. For more information, call 9944 1076.
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 runs until tomorrow, October 9. For more information, visit www.kreattivita.org.
More insight into the exhibition is available here.
Visitors at artist iella's exhibition Dying Planet. Photo: Facebook/Daniela Attard
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 Monday, 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.
The Razzett tal-Markiż cultural centre in Mosta is hosting a solo exhibition by Terezino Borg, a selt-taught artist who uses different mediums to portray nature.
The exhibition runs until October 16. Opening hours are Saturdays and Sundays from 9am to noon and from 6 to 8pm and from Monday to Friday, from 6 to 8pm.
For more information, visit the Razzett tal-Markiż Facebook page.
A collective exhibition by Ebru Çinar, Stefan Spiteri and Bernice Vassallo is currently on at Il-Kamra ta' Fuq in Mqabba.
The three artists experiment a lot in the use of thread in their oeuvre. Apart from this medium, they are also bound by the thematic of nature and organic forms which are almost always present in their works.
The exhibition, curated by Art Sweven, runs until October 17. The gallery is open from Mondays to Saturdays from 6am to noon and on Sundays from 7am to noon. More evening hours are announced weekly on Il-Kamra ta' Fuq Facebook page.
Works by Stefan Spiteri on display at Il-Kamra ta' Fuq. Photo: Facebook/Il-Kamra ta' Fuq
An exhibition by the late maestro Pawlu Grech is being held at The Volunteer Centre, St Bartholomew Street, Rabat.
From an early age, Grech showed proficiency both for music and for the visual arts. It was a twinned passion that was to persist throughout his life. This exhibition celebrates both sides of Grech, its title Resonances evoking the characteristics of both his music and visual art.
The exhibition, organised by Amanda Tabone, is part of an initiative managed by the Malta Council for the Voluntary Sector 'Art for VOs' and will be in aid of Animal Guardian, Cat Sanctuary, Luqa.
Resonances runs until October 22. It is open from Tuesdays to Saturdays from 6 to 9pm and on Sundays from 10am to 1pm. Consult the event’s Facebook page for more information.
The Richard Ellis Archive, consisting of 39,000+ glass negatives documenting the period in Malta and Gozo between 1861 and 1938, has been digitised in archival-grade quality for the first time in its history.
The British-Maltese photographer (January 1842-December 1924) was one of the pioneers of photography in Malta during the late 19th and early 20th centuries.
Thirty large prints taken from his archive are currently on display at Spazju Kreattiv, Valletta, until October 23.
The exhibition is curated by Charles Paul Azzopardi and Ian Ellis. For more information, click here.
One may also read the Times of Malta interview with the collection's owner.
A photo taken from the archive of photographer Richard Ellis, currently on display at Spazju Kreattiv in Valletta. Photo: Audrey Rose Mizzi
A solo exhibition of contemporary realistic works in oil by Christine Porter Lofaro is open at the Malta Society of Arts at Palazzo de la Salle in Valletta.
The artist portrays observations, emotions and narratives as she strives to present our transitory presence in this world, its intensity and how much it matters.
The exibition runs until October 27. Opening hours: Monday to Friday from 8am to 7pm and on Saturdays from 9am to 1pm. For more information, click here.
Camilleri Paris Mode of Rabat is hosting an exhibition of paintings by three Maltese artists – Pawl Carbonaro, Jesmond Vassallo and Paul Camilleri.
Carbonaro is one of Malta’s foremost veteran artists, who is famous for his abstracts and semi-abstracted landscapes; Vassallo has a very varied oeuvre, ranging from landscapes to nudes to still lifes; while Camilleri is exhibiting his tactile abstracts that fit well with the works of the other two artists.
Fuq Tlieta is open until the end of October. Log on to the Camilleri Paris Mode Facebook page for more information.
Artist Fabio Borg is holding his eighth solo exhibition throughout the month of October at The Phoenicia, in Floriana.
Borg construed this collection of abstract landscapes, tilted Landmarks, as innate emotions being expressed onto canvas and painted by instinct. The paintings, therefore, become emotional landmarks that Borg invites the viewer to partake in.
Borg is sensitive to his surroundings and trees, or the seeming lack thereof, is one such issue often a topic of heated discussions. Therefore, these compositions, largely produced in the last two years, trees are the main protagonists in an idealised reinterpretation of nature.
Landmarks, on display at The Phoenicia's Palm Court Lounge, is curated by Charlene Vella.
Rosso gigante by Fabio Borg
A collective exhibition, being held at BOHO Boutique Hotel in Cospicua, is inspired by the famous phrase used when one craves an alcoholic drink at 10am, and to the sting of a guilty conscience, one declares that it is 5 o'clock somewhere in the world.
The participating artists, Aaron Bezzina, Daniel Borg, Roderick Camilleri, Debbie Caruana Dingli, Rupert Cefai, Antoine Farrugia, Karl Froman, Lawrence Pavia, Amelia Saint George, Mario Sammut and Darren Tanti, are portraying such instances they have encountered during their artistic career.
The exhibition, curated by Melanie Erixon, runs until October 30. It is open daily from 10.30am till 1.30pm and on Wednesdays also from 7pm to 10pm. Click here for more information.
A celebration of everything the Faculty for the Built Environment at the University of Malta does, is taking place at Spazju Kreattiv in Valletta.
The Architecture Student Expo is also an opportunity for the creativity of students and their ideas of future spaces and structures to be communicated to society through designs, sketches, digital graphics and architectural models.
The expo runs until October 30. For more information, visit the event’s Facebook page and kreattivita.org.
Exhibits at the Architecture Students Expo 2022 at Spazju Kreattiv. Photo: Facebook/Spazju Kreattiv
Internationally renowned British bioartist Anna Dumitriu is exhibiting for the first time at Spazju Kreattiv in Valletta.
The artist uses bioart, sculpture, installation and digital media to explore a range of topics, from the origins of society to the sustainable production of biodegradable plastic, cutting-edge genetics and the possibility of bacterially-enhanced super-humans.
The project, a commission of Spazju Kreattiv, features a collaboration with artist Alex May. It is supported by Esplora Interactive Science Centre and Science in the City, Malta.
BioArt Alchemy runs until October 30. For more information, click here.
Hand 1 and Hand 2 (2014) by Joe Vassallo, acrylic on plaster cast manufactured by Charles Sammut. Photo: Facebook/Valletta Contemporary
A collective exhibition featuring outsider art – an umbrella term coined for individuals producing art outside the culturally established centres – is taking place at Valletta Contemporary Gallery.
Titled Groundwaters, this exhibition is the first one in Malta to explore the perspectives of individuals who are somewhat marginalised, through their own design or otherwise, and who create work on the fringes of the mainstream.
Curated by Gabriel Zammit, it features the works of Anonymous, Emma Attard, Adrian Camilleri, William Driscoll, Emma Johnson, Salvina Muscat and Joe Vassallo. It includes ex-voto paintings, West African Bocio fetish dolls and other objects which have their roots in religion, magic and ritual.
The exhibition runs until November 12. Opening hours: Wednesday to Sunday from 2 to 7pm. For more information, visit www.vallettacontemporary.com/.
A Phoenician stone sarcophagus excavated last year at Għajn Klieb, on the outskirts of Rabat, is one of the major attractions of an exhibition 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 runs until October 30. The museum in Republic Street, Valletta, is open from Monday to Sunday from 9am to 4.30pm. Entrance to the exhibition is free of charge.
An exhibition at the Inquisitor's Palace in Vittoriosa tells of the special relationship between the palace and the neighbouring Dominican Order, especially in the post-war years.
Enemy war bombing in 1941 had left the Dominican community without a convent and a church, and they 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 exhibition runs until January 8. The Inquisitor's Palace is open weekly from Tuesday to Sunday from 9am to 4.30pm. On the occasion of Birgufest today, it will be open till midnight with a reduced admission fee.
One of the exhibits at the Dumnikani fil-Palazz: Home & Temple exhibition at the Inquisitor's Palace, Vittoriosa. Photo: DOI/Jason Borg
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