NOEL GRIMA

At least 40,000 old photos, mainly glass negatives, which were collecting dust in the many museums of Malta, are now being carefully dusted and examined, catalogued and digitized as part of a special project by Heritage Malta.

This could well be the beginning of a photographic archive of Malta, conservator Lindsay-Anne Buttigieg explained last week. With the help of the Mizzi Foundation, a search has and is being made for all the old photos that can possibly be found. Sixteen thousand photos came from the Museum of Fine Arts, while the Maritime Museum contributed some 13,000 more, mostly to do with the history of the dockyard. The National Museum of Archaeology contributed some 8,000, as well as Sir Temi Zammit’s camera and equipment. Other collections, such as that at Santo Spirito, still have to be added, as well as private contributions.

In time, these photos, most of which have never been seen by the public, will be examined and contextualized, and may be sold in a digital format much as is done on Ellis Island in the US for past slaves and immigrants.

There are also plans for the laboratory of the Museum of Archaeology to be open to visitors once the upper salon of the museum is open to the public.