The First Malta Ceramics Festival has been declared open by Perit Adrian Mamo the Chairman of the Malta Council for Culture and the Arts and Stefan Cordina, mayor of Attard. The opening included also the inauguration of a ceramics exhibition named “Tribute” by the parliamentary secretary Chris Said. This exhibition features the works of Julie Apap, Joseph Casha and Neville Ferry, three ceramists who died in the last year.

The names of these ceramists have been in one way or another very prominent in the local ceramic art scene for a number of years. Their recent demise dealt a deep blow to both the community of local ceramists and also to numerous art lovers. Ceramics factory director Joan Haber and ceramist Valerio Schembri, the festival’s project coordinators decided they should pay tribute to the life and work of these three ceramists who died in the last year.

Katya Micallef, the exhibition’s curator made the use of the words sensual, surreal and supernatural in her artistic appreciation of the work by Apap, Casha and Ferry. Furthermore she concluded that “these are three human experiences each with is own dissimilar background, which adopt sagacity when working in clay.”

The very well attended opening ceremony and the inauguration of “Tribute” were held at the Parish Centre, Papa Gwanni Pawlu II, Attard. The exhibition will remain open until 17 September 2011 and an illustrated catalogue has been produced for this event.

More information on the exhibition and festival itself can be obtained through facebook or www.maltaceramicsfestival.com