Was the Valletta 2018 Foundation satisfied with the level of creativity and atmosphere of the opening ceremony?
Watching plans, which have been months in the making come to life and seeing over 110,000 people come together on that Saturday night and thousands more throughout the week, to celebrate the beginning of our year as European Capital of Culture was definitely very satisfying. Hundreds of artists, producers and participants were involved in the Erbá Pjazez programme held on 20 January - some were learning new skills under international artists, others were creating new music, digital projections, new interactive dance performances and much more. Almost as many were involved in a fringe programme which brought music, theatre and dance to Valletta's streets and ferries throughout the days with initiatives such as the Museum of Invented Cultures and Holm Butik. In parallel, the Foundation initiated and supported a programme of activities created by the Valletta community and organisations especially for the occasion which ranged from the more traditional regatta to nights of alternative music and stand-up comedy. So overall, I think that the start of the EcoC year has brought a fantastic level of energy and creativity to the capital in this first event. I hope this will keep growing throughout the next months.
What other main events can the public look forward to throughout the year?
The Cultural Programme we have created for the year includes a vast range of events. Throughout the year the public will be invited to experience and participate in national scale events as well as programmes created for music lovers, children and youths of all ages, theatre-goers, film buffs and dance aficionados.
Valletta will see its fair share of large events. Our first major contemporary art exhibition with international and local artists will be opening its doors on 24 March, with installations in spaces which are not usually accessible to the public. On 7 April, Valletta will experience its largest festa ever when all four of Valletta's feasts will join together in harmony to celebrate the year. A few days later, starting on 13 April, families and small communities in five different localities will be opening the doors to their homes to artists and the public in the first home-based arts festival in Malta, part of the award-winning Neapolitan Altofest festival. The Valletta Pageant of the Seas returns bigger and better than before on 7 June in celebration of the harbour which has been so influential in Maltese history.
September and October will be a feast of performing arts events including the brand new, purposely created, very contemporary opera in Maltese Ahna Refugjati, which will be taking place on 31 August and 2 and 4 September at The Granaries in Floriana. Only a few days later, between 7 and 9 September, an immersive hybrid performance which links theatre, music, text and gambling called Kazin Barokk will take over Notre Dame Gate in Birgu. And the list goes on and on. With over 400 events, this is only a taste of what the people can expect over the next months.
How is the V18 Foundation managing to collaborate with artists in Leewarden and when will the theatrical opera be staged?
The collaborations with Leeuwarden have taken many forms. One of the highlights of this collaboration is the Poetry in Potato Bags project which explores an unexpected link between the two countries - the journey of the potato seed that travels to Malta to grow and back to Leeuwarden to be eaten. Led by literary NGO Inizjamed, this project has exploited the link to create and share the work of emerging and established poets in Maltese, Frysian and English across the two countries. Working with children and youths is also a focus of our collaboration, starting from the project Tafxnaf and its Dutch counterpart Look at Me, which aims to give children a voice through films they create themselves, to the academic and artistic exchanges with MCAST which have been ongoing for a number of years. One project to look forward to is the contribution by MCAST students to the performance of the Dutch production of the popular opera Aida, which will be taking place between 13 and 15 September at Pjazza Teatru Rjal in Valletta.
How do you think the quality of life of Valletta will improve and how will various contemporary artists benefit through their collaborations during this wonderful year of cultural activities?
Thanks to a conscious effort from the very beginning of this process, and in part to our small size, the impact of the work we are doing for Valletta 2018 goes beyond the boundaries of Valletta. The city and the nation will benefit from essential infrastructural projects which include the launch of Muza, our new re-conceived Muzew tal-Arti, as well as the creation of the creative hub for young talent in design, the Valletta Design Cluster.
Children across the islands are benefitting from a three-year long programme both within and outside schools which aims to help them discover their creativity through various means including the U19 Malta: Create Your World competition, the projects with schools and Resource Centres and the collaboration with Ziguzajg.
Projects playing to the strengths and needs of artists in a number of fields have provided opportunities for development through artist residencies, workshops and collaborative work with established artists; for exposure through major contemporary art exhibitions and performances; for research and networking both within and outside Europe. And I believe that both artists and communities are, and will, continue to benefit from forging a closer and stronger relationship between them, through the work of our special representatives within Malta and Gozo's regions and projects such as Gewwa Barra and Altofest.
Here are some of the highlights of this year's events
The strange travels of Señor Tonet
28 March - 1 April, Esplora Interactive Science Centre, Kalkara
4 April - 8 April, Public Spaces in Valletta
During the first week of Spring break a fair full of fun, interactive mechanical installations designed by Barcelona-based artists, Tombs Creatius, lands in Malta for an island adventure. At the fair we meet Señor Tonet, a peculiar character who introduces us to the many creatures encountered on his strange and wondrous journeys by means of individual installations set inside a box, each one reflecting a different story. During their stay, Tombs Creatius is also teaming up with Esplora and technical students to create a new mechanical installation tailored specifically for Valletta 2018. Starting its stay against the inspiring background of the Esplora centre, and then moving to Valletta for the second week, these interactive games provide a highly creative storytelling experience that is sure to appeal to the young and the young at heart.
Created by: Tombs Creatius, Organised by: Valletta 2018
In Collaboration with: Esplora Interactive Science Centre
European eyes on Japan
30 March - 29 April, Spazju Kreattiv, St James Cavalier
Led by artistic director Mikiko Kikuta, European Eyes on Japan is a visual arts project that has toured over 30 European Capitals of Culture since 1999. In anticipation of our European Capital of Culture year, the project extends an invitation to Maltese photographer, Alexandra Pace, from Valletta 2018 and another photographer from our twin European Capital of Culture, Leeuwarden-Fryslân 2018. Both photographers will live and work in Japan, looking to capture the country's lifestyle through a European lens. An exhibition featuring the work of both artists will be hosted in Malta at Spazju Kreattiv, after which it will travel to Leeuwarden and Japan.
Created by: Mikiko Kikuta
Organised by: Valletta 2018, Fondazzjoni Kreattività
Valletta Green Festival
4 - 6 May, St George's Square, Valletta
Each year, the Valletta Green Festival transforms one of the largest open urban spaces in Valletta, Pjazza San Ġorġ, with its colourful signature feature - a huge floral carpet composed of some 80,000 potted plants. A programme of family-friendly activities happening in the capital city and other localities have established this much-loved weekend-long festival as a fun and accessible platform for initiatives promoting environmental consciousness on the Maltese Islands. The festival also offers visitors rare glimpses into some of the capital city's little-known historical treasures, including the 400-year-old gardens of the Archbishop's Palace and the Convent of St Catherine.
Created and Organised by: Valletta 2018 in collaboration with the Maltese Archdiocese, the Ministry for Transport and Infrastructure, the Ministry for Sustainable Development, the Environment and Climate Change, the Environmental Landscapes Consortium (ELC), the P.A.R.K.S Directorate as part of the Tree 4 U (34U) campaign and WasteServ Malta Ltd with the participation of several local environmental NGOs.
Dal Bahar Madwarha
24 March - 1 July
Underground Cistern, Valletta
Il-Pixkerija, Valletta
24 March - 27 May
St Elmo's Old Examination Centre, Valletta
Curator Maren Richter brings Valletta 2018's major visual arts exhibition to our European Capital of Culture, with large installations and performances taking place in both traditional and unexpected locales across the country. Among the exhibition's star sites is the Pixkerija at Barriera Wharf, built in the 1930s. Richter is working with more than 25 established and emerging artists from several countries -including Malta, Germany, Scotland, Austria, Egypt, Tunisia, Syria and Ghana.
The title Dal-Baħar Madwarha is inspired by a quote from the work of philosopher Gilles Deleuze, The island is what the sea surrounds. This sets the tone for newly commissioned and existing pieces that explore the idea of "islandness" in playful and critical ways. It's an artistic journey through the contemporary realities of the Maltese Islands, placing at their helm the Islands' relationship with their closest neighbour - the Mediterranean Sea.
In Richter's words: "The multi-site programme invites international and Maltese artists to recast and respond to current and past urgencies and challenges, in which the Mediterranean Sea plays a significant role."
In the light of such thought-provoking inquiries, the exhibition explores the identity of our Islands within a wider global context, bringing creative, social and political visions of the Mediterranean to light through the region's most iconic and enduring image: the deep blue sea.
Curated by: Maren Richter
Organised by: Valletta 2018 Foundation
Valletta Pageant of the Seas
7 June
Grand Harbour, Valletta
Set against the majestic backdrop of Valletta's Grand Harbour, the Pageant of the Seas, hosts a programme teeming with exciting daytime activities - competitive races, visual demonstrations and water acts - and a colourful celebration by night. Local communities take part in races on specially designed vessels, constructed specifically for the day. Other races are held between local swimmers, all competing to outperform each other while enduring routes between the two forts dominating the harbour. After sundown, the atmosphere transfigures into a spectacular display of fireworks and light effects.
Created and organised by: Mario Philip Azzopardi, Valletta 2018
Utopian Nights
Camp and Borders - 29 July to 5 August, Howard Gardens, L-Imdina (Commons // Date TBC, Venue TBC)
Utopian Nights aims to bring together artists, thinkers and the public to discuss important social issues related to four themes: displacement, borders, encampment and the rise of global commons. It's a series of four evenings where 'Utopia' is a democratic space. It creates a platform for discussion where the starting point is the work of art. The idea is that Utopia is not for dreamers, the lazy escapist or for people who like heroic fantasies - it's a participatory project that searches for alternatives, inside which everyone may debate, challenge and be challenged. Each night will culminate with a social gathering, providing the participants with the opportunity to get together.
Created by: Elise Billiard
Organised by: Elise Billiard, Sarah Mallia, Valletta 2018
Ira Losco & Friends: Women in Music
Summer 2018 - Pjazza Teatru Rjal, Valletta
Women in Music is a two-night event featuring Ira Losco & Friends, which brings a true treasure trove of music to our capital city. These concerts are a celebration of the integral roles that female artists have played in boosting both the local and international music industry, with vibrant performances that unite artists from different genres while celebrating women's creative collaborations. The line-up spans different generations and offers a music repertoire infused with diverse sounds that bridges music from the past and the present across
various genres.
Ira Losco & Friends: Women in Music promises to be a memorable event for music lovers of all ages.
Created and Organised by: Ira Losco, Howard Keith.
'Aħna Refuġjati' (We are refugees)
31 August, 2 and 4 September, Il Fosos, Floriana
Valletta 2018's opera season includes a challenging new operatic work by Maltese composer, Mario Sammut. Aħna Refuġjati is Sammut's first operatic venture after working on multiple international and local media projects. In recounting the struggles of a family attempting to escape their war-torn country, the opera addresses timely concerns in the Euro-Mediterranean region, the human cost of large-scale migration and the universal theme of loss as a result of political convenience, racism and prejudice.
Music by: Mario Sammut, Music Direction by: Richard Merrill Brown
Libretto by: Mario Philip Azzopardi
Organised and created by: Valletta 2018
In collaboration with the Floriana Local Council, Grand Harbour Regeneration Corporation, Armed Forces of Malta, Mad About Video and Transport Malta
'Każin Barokk'
7, 8 and 9 September
In this immersive hybrid performance directed by Elli Papakonstantinou, visuals, music, text and interviews unite to form a "Baroque pastiche" that's rife with passion, innocence, gambling and mistrust. Każin Barokk plays with many sources, including Regnard's The Gamester, Pushkin's The Queen of Spades and Dostoyevsky's The Gambler. As a decadent cast of lovers, saints and sinners go about the maze-like performance, the piece becomes a soul-searching experience that invites contemporary audiences to influence its structure while exploring Valletta's Baroque aesthetic.
Created by: Elli Papakonstantinou, ODC Ensemble
Organised by: Valletta 2018, In Collaboration with: University of Malta
Mewġa Mużika
September, Venue TBC
Mewga Muzika is a music project being curated by Ondamarela (Portugal). It is open for communities of any age or musical background. It proposes the creation of a big public musical performance that shall stimulate the dilution of barriers between amateurs and professionals, artists and audience and different communities. These communities shall work intensively with the maestro, Tim Steiner, to form a big orchestra that shall produce a unique and unrepeatable concert. The proposal is to involve professional orchestra musicians, amateur musicians and musical communities from the most different and eclectic musical backgrounds. This project reinforces the idea of any citizen being able to take part in an artistic initiative with huge scale and impact. It also grounds itself on the concept of creating a new community as a means to identify links between different people and to promote the building of bridges, through music.
Created by: Ondamarela, Tim Steiner
Organised by: Valletta 2018
Rima
5 - 28 October - Final Exhibition
St James Cavalier, Valletta
Rima is a Maltese word used to describe the ripple that a boat leaves behind as it moves across the water; it also means rhyme. Together, these connotations reflect the themes of departure, exile, detachment, trace and desire that Rima explores through a series of creative collaborations produced by artists, scholars and migrants. Since its inception in 2014, the project has published a collection of migrant narratives and images in the book, Undertow: Poetics of Displacement, published with EDE Books (Malta), produced diverse workshops and public events, launched a sold-out theatrical performance and produced a successful migrant film festival with Archivio delle Memorie Migranti (Rome). The year 2018 sees more workshops taking place, the production of a short movie, a film festival and a final exhibition that showcases work produced.
Created by: Elise Billiard, Virginia Monteforte Reljić
Organised by: Virginia Monteforte Reljić, Sarah Mallia, Valletta 2018
Orfeo & Majnun
19 and 20 October, Mediterranean Conference Centre, Valletta
Drawing on the timeless themes of forsaken love, loss and longing, this interdisciplinary project in two parts connects the Middle Eastern legend of Layla and Majnun and the Greek myth of Orpheus and Eurydice. Orfeo & Majnun is an exciting new retelling expressed through multiple textures; the narration interweaves Maltese, English and Arabic, while the score combines oriental and occidental styles. This poetic music theatre also encourages local citizens to take part in creative workshops under the artistic direction of Martina Winkel and Airan Berg, the first part of the performance celebrates co-creation with associative stories and a cast of animal puppets conceived during workshops.
Created by: La Monnale (BEL), Le Festival International d'Art Lyrique d'Aix-en-Provance (FRA)
Organised by: Valletta 2018, Supported by: Creative Europe
Constellation Malta
October - December
Various locations across Malta and Gozo
Curator Rosa Martinez, first female director of the Venice Biennale in 2005, brings an experimental and multi-disciplinary project to generate dialogue about contemporary art and popular culture in public spaces and heritage sites all over the Maltese archipelago. A series of site-specific interventions, performances and exhibitions shed new light on megalithic sites like Tarxien, the rural areas and heritage sites in both Malta and Gozo, and other historical and popular venues on the Islands.
Just as celestial constellations were shaped to provide orientation, the artistic interventions in Constellation Malta will propose points, routes and new itineraries to navigate the local crossover of social, political, economic and artistic contexts. Moving from the local to the cosmic, the project will address the complexities of our contemporary world.
Curated by: Rosa Martinez, Organised by: Valletta 2018
Closing Spectacle
15 December
St George's Square, Valletta
The year 2018 sets the stage for a more vibrant and welcoming capital city - and this special after party promises to keep spirits high! With plenty of surprises in store on the day, we look forward to hosting everyone in the heart of the capital city, for an amazing celebration that sees out our tenure as a European Capital of Culture. Expect a spectacular line-up of live shows, music and a few unexpected touches, too. The success of any European Capital of Culture is rooted in the passion, imagination, support, dedication, enthusiasm and generosity of its communities. Indeed - as with the traditional festa - Valletta 2018's Closing Spectacle is all about celebrating community, life and culture while forging new friendships. Only together can we truly celebrate Valletta 2018's year-long programme of incredible events, initiatives and activities with the same energy and love that's gone into it.
So save the date and join guests, visitors, artists, curators, residents, Tal-Kultura volunteers and the Valletta 2018 team in a lively closing event that pays tribute to the creative diversity that exists on our Islands, in Europe and beyond.
Organised by: Valletta 2018
In collaboration with the Valletta Local Council
To view the whole programme of the V18 European Capital of Culture and book your tickets visit: https://valletta2018.org/