EVENTS
Gaiafest 2008
20-22 June
Friday 20 June at 6pm till Sunday 22 June at 11pm at
Gaia Elysium Visitor’s Centre, Ghajn Tuffieha
Celebrate the start of Summer this year by visiting Gaiafest, the festival of holistic living held in Ghajn Tuffieha for a weekend full of fun activities geared towards your personal growth and enjoyment.
Hosted by The Gaia Foundation, this year’s festival is kicking off on the Midsummer weekend in June and is a celebration of life, in both its internal and external expressions.
It will focus on awakening the senses and increasing awareness of the nature which surrounds us and which is also within us.
Interactive workshops will be a prime focus and will explore various themes of self-awareness, healthy and natural lifestyles, yoga, Tai Chi and martial arts, meditation artistic expression, nature conservation and appreciation, cooking classes for meals that are both healthy and tasty, practical sessions on how to build solar ovens, as well as star gazing and a children’s corner.
This year Gaiafest is putting an emphasis on active participation of those attending in order to provide a richer experience.
Check out www.gaiafest.org in the coming weeks for more information. Email: info@
gaiafest.org.
The Town Crier (Il-Bandu)
21 June in Republic Street, Valletta
The Town Crier which heralds the Mnarja Agricultural Show and the Equine Races is held along Republic Street, Valletta, commencing at 10am.
At 7pm, a small retinue of actors dressed in period costumes and carrying banners to be awarded in the equine races, together with a unit of the Attard Boys’ Scouts and Society members, starts off from the Corte Capitinale, Misrah il-Kunsill in Mdina and wends its way to Rabat ending at the St Paul’s shrine in Saqqajja where the paraded banners are blessed.
Along the route through Mdina and Rabat, the Town Crier announces the Mnarja Show and Races.
This event is organised by the Agrarian Society, assisted by the National Folklore Commission and the Local Councils of Mdina and Rabat.
‘Imnarja’ Festivities
28-29 June at Buskett Gardens and Rabat
Imnarja activities to commemorate the traditional feast of St Peter and St Paul will be held at Buskett Gardens and Rabat, including folk singing and village band musical programmes on 28 June, and the traditional horse races held at Racecourse Street in Rabat on 29 June, is organised by the National Folklore Commission within the Malta Council for Culture and the Arts together with the Agrarian Society, and the Rabat and Mdina Local Councils.
VISUAL ARTS
43rd Open Annual Exhibition & Competition
of Photographic
Art 2008
6-20 June at The Hall, Italian Cultural Institute, Valletta
The exhibition is organised by the Malta Photographic Society and is being held under the patronage of Images Sans Frontiere, in collaboration with the Italian Cultural Institute.
This year’s competition has seen a record number of works being exhibited, each produced and executed with excellence.
Indeed, this year the society has received a total of 734 works by 93 participants.
There were 249 monochrome prints, 294 colour prints, 175 colour projected images and 16 colour slides. The 253 acceptances on show, comprising of 60 monochrome prints, 84 colour prints and 109 colour projected images/slides, are not merely photographic images but distinct works of art. Further information may be obtained by contacting the society on tel.2124-2265/2131-3307 or by visiting the website www.
maltaphotographicsociety.org
Ceramics Sculpture Exhibition
6-20 June at the Malta Society of Arts, Manufacturers and Commerce
A ceramics sculpture exhibition by Paul Vella Critien is being held at The Malta Society of Arts, Manufactures and Commerce, Palazzo de La Salle, 219, Republic Street, Valletta.
The opening hours are as follows – 6-13 June: Monday to Friday 10am-1pm and 4.30pm-7pm; 16-20 June: Monday to Friday 10am-12.30pm and Saturday 10am -12 noon.
Various Artists
Rux Art Gallery at
Sir Antonio Micallef Street, Balzan
Featuring paintings by Damian Ebejer, the late Francis Ebejer and Giuseppe Cassar. A ceramics exhibition is also being held by Sina Farrugia-Micallef, Zell Osborne, Julie Apap and Sue Mifsud, and sculptures by Ivan Fenech and Guzeppi Theuma.
Other exhibitors are Frank Schembri, John Busuttil Leaver, David Xuereb and Millie Burn (paintings) and Kevin Attard (silver art works).
DANCE
French Kiss by Bize Lizu
Saturday 14 June from 8pm-11pm and Sunday 15 June from 8pm-11pm at Mediterranean Conference Centre
French Kiss by Bize Lizu will be the next group of shows to be staged in Malta. Fans of modern ballet and cabaret will be treated to a wonderful melange of both these dance forms.
This new programme is a crowd-pleaser, obviously intended to draw in audiences new to modern ballet intertwined with French cabaret.
Guests have a choice to see the shows being staged at The Mediterranean Conference Centre on the 14 and 15 June (tickets start from only e15-e25).
This time round, a performer with extensive experience including in the Cirque de Soleil will be joining the troupe of amazing dancers.
The dancers have attitude, yet pride themselves in delivering a perfect performance.
They have an extensive wardrobe that would make Liza Minnelli blush! Phone on mob. 7979-1223 for more details, or send an email to [email protected].
The booking office shall be open as follows – from Monday 2 June: Mondays to Fridays: 10am-1pm and 5pm-7pm; Saturdays: 10am-1pm; Sundays: Closed. Performances days: 10am-1pm and 6pm-8.30pm. Booking Office: tel. 2559-5750/1; email: bookings@
mcc.com.mt.
CINEMA
Days of Glory
1-5 June at 9pm, and 4-5 June at 6.45pm at St James Cavalier
Rachid Bouchareb’s Days of Glory is a WWII film which shows the “good war” through the eyes of four North African soldiers fighting for the French army during the German occupation. This film seeks recognition for soldiers who were treated as second-class citizens during their service and never given their due.
Under the leadership of Sergeant Martinez (Bernard Blancan), a company of North African soldiers undergoes a series of skirmishes across Italy and France, preventing the advance of the Nazis. Days of Glory packs all the punch of a great war film – thrilling and heartbreaking battles, humour, and the loss of people we grow to care for.
Bouchareb fearlessly uses a time-honoured genre to address an elephant in the French living room: we are told at the film’s conclusion that, in 1952, France voted to cease pension payments to soldiers from countries no longer under French rule. In 2006, following a screening of this film, Jacques Chirac reinstituted their pensions.
Pan’s Labyrinth
18-21 June at 6.45pm, and 22-24 June at 9pm at St James Cavalier
Written and directed by Guillermo del Toro, Pan’s Labyrinth is a thrilling, violent fairy tale set in post-Civil War Spain. Ofelia is a young girl who moves with her mother Carmen into the home of Captain Vidal, in an abandoned mill in the middle of dark, dangerous woods.
Vidal is leading his team of soldiers against resistance fighters and he will do whatever is necessary to kill every last one of them. As Vidal bosses around the pregnant Carmen, a flying creature leads Ofelia through a garden labyrinth and into an underground cave ruled by Pan who believes that Ofelia might be the lost princess of this strange yet magical place.
To prove she is royalty, Ofelia must complete three tasks, each more difficult and terrifying than the previous one. Del Toro creates a marvellous battle between good and evil, between heroes and villains, in both the real world aboveground and the mystical land below. Highly recommended!
The Malta Cine Circle National Film Competition
The Malta Cine Circle will be holding their awards presentation evening and film show of the National Film Competition at the end of June. The event is open to the general public and admission is free of charge. For further information contact the competition secretary Alfred Stagno Navarra on tel. 2144-6617 or by email to: [email protected].
MUSIC
Fortune Teller
Ira Losco launches
new album
14 June at Sky Super Club, Paceville
What does the future hold for Ira Losco fans? The vibrant and sassy rock star’s next concert will be held on 14 June when she will be performing together with her band at Sky Super Club in Paceville to launch her new album, Fortune Teller. Tickets for this event are available from all Vodafone Retail Outlets in Birkirkara, Paola, Embassy, Valletta, Arkadia, Gozo, St Paul’s Bay, and Vodafone exclusive dealers: Colours and Dickens in Sliema, Cell Phone in Hamrun, New Mobile in Naxxar, Dual Zone in Cospicua, Phonic in G’Mangia and Exacta in Birkirkara. For more information on Ira’s
concert visit www.
marshallpulis.com and www.iralosco.com for regular updates.