The Arts

2002 proved to be yet another very artistically eventful year. The three main arts venues in Malta, namely ActionBase studio in Naxxar, the Manoel Theatre and St James Cavalier Arts Centre in Valletta, had quite a busy schedule, offering the public a wide choice of events in the different art genres.

Commemorating the tenth anniversary of the breaking of the Sarajevo siege in 1992, Teatru Marta Kwitt presented ‘il-Hames Lamentazzjonijiet ta’ Sara’ at ActionBase in April. This presentation was a collage of war poems from Sarajevo, the Book of Lamentations from the Old Testament, and anecdotes taken from TMK’s visit to Sarajevo for the International Arts Festival the previous year. ActionBase hosted also Gruppi ghall-Inkontri tal-Bniedem’s most recent project ‘Amargo’ in December. The group was also very much involved in performing abroad with a busy schedule in Poznan and Szczecin (Poland) and at the Universities of Urbino and Macerata (Italy). Another theatre group making its mark abroad was Aleateia, participating in the Cairo International Experimental Theatre Festival (Egypt).

As far as the performing arts are concerned the Contact Dance Company, under the direction of Francesca Abela Tranter, performed ‘Lighting Passages & Dialogues’ in Novi Sad, Yugoslavia, in May, and performed for the European Dance Festival at the Manoel Theatre in October.

The literary field too was quite fruitful in 2002. Maria Grech Ganado won the literary award for poetry in January for her first ever Maltese publication ‘Izda mhux biss…’ Minima Publishers made news and history after publishing two important books by two young authors. In May, Karl Schembri’s ‘That il-Kappa tax-Xemx’ hit the book stalls, creating some sensation among readers for the direct style and political witticism it contained. In November, Minima published Immanuel Mifsud’s sixth book ‘L-Istejjer Strambi ta’ Sara Sue Sammut’. These two publications, together with Guze Stagno’s ‘Inbid ta’ Kuljum’ in 2001, put Minima at the forefront of avant-garde literary publishing. In November, the Fondazzjoni Erato, was formally launched, aiming at putting Maltese contemporary literature in the discourse and exporting local literature to other countries. INIZJAMED launched its most recent project ‘Bliet u Miti’ during a two-night event at Birgu in August, where a wide variety of contemporary literary works were presented, starting off with a mini-conference on the theme of cities and myths with papers being presented by literary critic Adrian Grima and anthropologist Mark Anthony Falzon. Miro Villar, a poet from Galicia and winner of the 1998 edition of Premio Tivoli Europa Giovani was INIZJAMED’s special guest, conducting a number of literary workshops at St James Cavalier. Poezija Plus kept its monthly appointment with poetry lovers at the Manoel Theatre courtyard, presenting literary evenings with different special themes. Poezija Plus activities were also televised on Education 22 channel.

Music lovers too were presented with a number of events during 2002. The 12th edition of the Malta Jazz Festival was another huge success, with important jazz artists like McCoy Tyner, the Michel Camilo Trio and jazz stars Tuck and Patti electrifying the audiences between July 19th and 21st. In October, the Manoel Theatre hosted a concert by former Genesis musician Steve Hackett. Among the numerous classical music events, Miriam Gauci’s concert with the national orchestra in October, and the piano concerts by Natasha Chircop together with Marco Rivoltini, and Francois Chaplin, all held at the Manoel Theatre, left a marked impression.