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The love of one Art Director for one World Heritage City, a magical place built by Knights in the 16th Century.
Recent Posts Tagged With 'Culture'
Hearses with horses
Some time ago, in Sicily I noticed a funny thing happening when a funeral cortege passed by. Some of the male onlookers touched themselves - a superstitious habit that I have not noticed elsewhere. Not a thing of elegance, I'm sure. The Times of Malt...
Gay Pride in Valletta
.This week sees various activities for DiversCity, culminating in the Pride March this Saturday. Pride March is about visibility. It's a celebration of diversity. It's there to voice the wish that same sex relationships are recognised by Maltese law....
Malta Arts Festival and Censorship
.It does not augur well for the annual Malta Arts Festival when the Arts Council decides to exclude an installation by artist Raphael Vella from a collective at 68 St Lucy Street. It is not the first instance that the Maltese islands have been in the...
Telling pictures
.The Three Graces at the Irxoxt (Holy Week Celebrations) in BirguOne Foot in the Grave (M'Xlokk - fishing village)....
Tea with your sugar?
.In Marrakech people love sugar with their tea. In the UK, I grow mint in our conservatory just so as to be able to make tea in those beautifully decorated Moroccan glasses and remember the Hideous Kinky city. In the UK tea with milk used to be the d...
Mingle with a medieval mob
.Mdina is a superb city. I've frequently compared it to Joan Collins - It's so well preserved it looks the same as it did in it's heyday, but without the smut. Most Valletta G-House guests love it (Mdina, not the smut), while some complain it is too ...
Too posh to sleep together
.We have always provided one bed at Valletta G-House and we were convinced we were offering the ultimate luxurious bed to aspire to. You can imagine our disappointment at finding out through none other than sleep researcher at Norfolk and Norwich Uni...
Square
.I can safely say that last Friday's exhibition opening at 68 St Lucy Street was a hit. Square is a collective exhibition of works, the common theme of which is the 10 x 10 inches size of each work. I usually find that the absence of a brief results ...
Holy week
.the street down from Victory Square in VittoriosaThis morning I ventured over to Vittoriosa and thought I'd wonder down to Victory square for a coffee. It being close to Good Friday, the band club in the square has already started putting up the dec...
Half price entry to museums next Saturday
.A visit to the National Museum of Archaeology in Republic Street, the National Museum of Fine Arts in South Street and the Palace Armoury will only cost half price on Saturday 28 March on the occasion of Valletta day. Tickets from Heritage Malta.....
Fra Cretien, the custodian knight.
.In 1998 the upper part of Fort St Angelo, on the other side of the Grand Harbour from Valletta, was handed over by the Maltese government to the Order of St John for a period of 99 years in an effort to find the finances to restore the fort. Unfortu...
An evening with two
.My sister invited me to go watch a Unifaun Theatre play yesterday at the St James Cavalier Centre. Unifaun have featured in the news lately for challenging the absurd censorship of a Nielson play by the local Censorship Board. I have been wanting to...
Feast of St Joseph
.Returned to Rabat this evening to join my friend Antonio on the occasion of the feast of St Joseph. We watched the statue of the saint be carried out of the church to the sound of shouts from an enthusiastic bunch and the deafening fireworks. We the...
Malta 1970 vs Malta 2009
.Not many people are aware of the length of time that the British author of dystopian satire A Clockwork Orange - Anthony Burgess, along with his wife Liana, resided in the village of Lija in Malta (1968-1970), partly to avoid the 90% tax his family ...
Children's theatre in Valletta
.Teatru Qroqq will be producing two well loved children's plays in April and May. I shall be writing about them nearer to the time but, for those who want to make sure they book their tickets in time, I thought I'd tell you booking is now open....
A poem from Africa
.When I born, I BlackWhen I grow up, I BlackWhen I go in sun, I BlackWhen I scared, I BlackWhen I cold, I BlackWhen I sick, I BlackWhen I ill, I BlackWhen I die, I still BlackAnd you white fellaWhen you born, you pinkWhen you grow, you whiteWhen you ...
Happy Anniversary
.One piece of information I always share with our guests as I drive them from the airport, soon after I point out the three cities sitting pretty on the other side of the Grand Harbour, regards the Mediterranean Conference Centre. I speak of the heal...
Carnival frivolity
.Doesn't carnival give you the same weird feeling that clowns do? It's tragic and comic at the same time. Must say, it did not help that I went to Valletta on my own and was trying a bit too hard to enjoy myself. Must say it was still a fascinating e...
Weekly Film Club
.Kinemastic are holding a film club every Tuesday at No 68, (68 St Lucy Street, Valletta, 10 minutes' walk from Valletta G-House). The series started with Benjamin Christensen's film/documentary Haxan - Witchcraft Through The Ages (1968) last Tuesday...
Play censored
.Anthony Neilson's theatre production "Stitching" was planned to be shown at the St James Cavalier (within walking distance from Valletta G-House) but the Maltese government (its board of film and stage classification) has decided to censor it, causi...
Renzo Piano back to Valletta
The project for Valletta designed by Renzo Piano made no headway 20 years ago. Is there a possibility that Malta will this time allow the architect of Berlin's Potsdamer Platz and the Centre Georges Pompidou to put his stamp on our city, to put Valle...
Ken's world
I have not seen Kenneth for some time and it's all my fault for not getting in touch since I have been in Malta. Kenneth Zammit Tabona does some of the most amazing people studies I have ever encountered. His drawings of Maltese landscape are well so...
68 St Lucy Street
A fascinating new exhibition space in Valletta has brought new life into the city. Alexandra Pace and her partner Nadine who are the creative minds behind the agency LAB1977 have transformed an empty property in Valletta (a heirloom) into this amazin...
Chefs-d'oeuvres de l'Armurerie de Malte
An exhibition of Maltese armoury is presently being held at the Musée de l'armée in rue de Grenelle in Paris. Here is what Napoleonica magazine writes about the exhibition that will create new interest in the islands of Malta, in particular Vallett...
Special Valletta Edition magazine
I will admit that since last special Valletta edition (Vol 1) of Flair magazine, I have been craving for the second. The first edition gave me the opportunity to have a peek at the interiors of a couple of buildings I had never had the opportunity to...
Winter sun
We're at the end of October already. Wasn't it Summer a moment ago? I've heard John Lewis in the UK is already set up for Christmas, and I don't think it will be long before shops here in Malta catch on.Personally, I'm rather looking forward to the a...
A city that is alive
Above: The Chamber of Commerce & Enterprise - detailLast Saturday I attended the Valletta 450 Seminar organised by the Valletta Alive Foundation at the Malta Chamber of Commerce & Enterprise. Excellent opportunity to meet others who have the capital ...
Notte Bianca
I recall last year's Notte Bianca brought to Valletta an atmosphere of rejoicing and, although the crowds in some of the central parts of Valletta took one's breadth away, a great excitement and pride in the city filled the fine summer air. The queue...
My Liza
First thing I do as soon as I know I'm visiting the islands is to contact my sister and plot the visit's cultural programme. We'll look at what's on at the Manoel and the St James Cavalier Centre, which World Cinema film or theatre production to watc...
