Summer is here – A time for fun and creative flair
ART:
Meet the Artist – Noel Galea Bason
Until 2 June 2010 at Opus 64 Galerie, 64, Tigné Street, Sliema
A unique selection of bas-reliefs and sculptures. Opening Hours: Monday to Saturday: 10.30am – 1pm and 4.30pm – 7.30pm. For further information visit www.opus64galerie.com.
Edward Caruana Dingli (1876-1950):
Portraits, Views and Folkloristic Scenes
Until 6 June 2010 at the Presidential Palace, Valletta
Fondazzjoni Patrimonju Malti is presenting a major exhibition of artistic works by Edward Caruana Dingli, showcasing some 250 of his most remarkable paintings, illustrating prominent figures in Maltese history as well as Maltese traditions and folkloristic scenes. Edward Caruana Dingli is one of the finest artists Malta has ever produced. His love for beauty, impeccable eye for detail, and unfaltering technique, truly captured the spirit of Malta and its people at the turn of the 20th century. This is the foundation’s eleventh exhibition, and will be held at the Presidential Palace in Valletta. This exhibition will be open daily between 10am and 5pm until 6 June. For more information visit www.patrimonju.org.
‘Hard Curves’ by Joe Genovese
From 10 – 25 June at the BPC Gallery, Joe Gasan Street, Hamrun
This exhibition features 19 sculptures in bronze, steel and copper and is open from 5pm till 7.30pm on weekdays and from 10am till noon on Saturdays.
Marinara – works by Joseph Cassar
Until 13 June 2010 at the Atrium, St James Cavalier, Valletta
“As a little boy after the Sunday lunch the nuns used to take us for an afternoon walk along the widening country roads from Zejtun to M’Xlokk, past St Gregory’s, via Tas -Silg church. In no time one could see the fishing village. I was amazed with this entire visual feast. Fish, boats, nets, water, scent, noise and sunburnt fishermen. These paintings are about the times I used to see the fish mongers as they wobbled through the streets carefully examining their catch. These are memories imprinted in my subconscious. That is why I called this show Marinara.” As an internationally acclaimed abstract figurative and landscape painter, Zepp Cassar spends most of his time working between Sydney, France, Vietnam and Malta. He emigrated to Australia from Malta 22 years ago. For more information visit: http://home.exetel.com.au/zeppart.
THEATRE:
Alfred Hitchcock’s The 39 Steps
4 – 6 June at Sir Temi Zammit Hall, University of Malta
Mellow Drama is exceptionally proud and excited to present Malta’s first ever production of The 39 Steps. This fast-paced, hysterical and totally off-the-wall comedy thriller has been taking audiences in the West End and Broadway by storm over the past few years. Now you have to opportunity to see it live in Malta at the University Theatre with a cast made up of Alan Montanaro, Alan Paris, Julia Calvert and Steve Casaletto. This play is essentially what you get if you mix a Hitchcock masterpiece with a juicy spy novel and add a dash of Monty Python. The story is simple. A man with a boring life meets a woman with a thick accent who says she’s a spy. When he takes her home, she is murdered. Soon, a mysterious organisation called “The 39 Steps” is hot on the man’s trail in a nationwide manhunt that climaxes in a death-defying finale!
Ticket prices start from €10 for certain seats on the opening weekend. It is a theatrical experience not to be missed! For further information call on 2789-2789 or visit www.mellowdrama.com.mt.
MUSIC:
The Alan Parsons Project
Friday 4 June at Sky Club, Paceville at 9pm
After 20 years, The Parsons are back on stage performing live at Sky Club Paceville performing their hits such as: Damned if I do, Games people play, Eye in the sky, Step by step and Do it right. Ticket info: info@skymalta.com and Mob: 9904-3894. Free available parking with every four tickets sold.
Għanafest 2010
4, 5 and 6 June at the Argotti Botanical Gardens, Floriana
The Malta Council for Culture and the Arts will present a fabulous concert series of Mediterranean folk roots. Malouf music from Tunisia, Arabic fusion from Egypt and Balkan rhythms from Bosnia and Herzegovina come together for Għanafest 2010. The festival will also host a series of workshops on traditional instruments and a special programme for children. This will be a wonderful event for the whole family complemented by traditional Maltese food and the marvellous surroundings of the Argotti Botanical Gardens in Floriana. Tickets: €2 available at the door. Parking available at the Floriana Boy Scouts headquarters, right next to the venue.
MTV Mobile Earth Garden
5 – 6 June, National Park, Ta’ Qali
The MTV Mobile Earth Garden Festival returns this year on the 5 and 6 June. This annual green, social event promises to be even bigger and better, with various events planned in the run-up to this two-day festival. Now in its fourth year, Earth Garden has developed into a prominent and relaxed family occasion for all generations.
Earth Garden shall feature two main areas; the Open Village, which will be on a free entrance basis, and the highly anticipated Cisk Export Unplugged Concert at the Greek Theatre on Sunday, accessible via limited ticket issue. The Open Village offers all family members the chance to sample sustainability in fun and friendly surroundings, with a vibrant and varied programme of live entertainment, activities and workshops. The live jams and varied music performances will continue to be the heart of this festival. From reggae, blues, ethnic vibes, electronic and jam sessions, the Open Village will feature a dynamic and entertaining music experience to suit every taste and on Saturday at 9.30pm, at the Art, Blues and World Music Area, there will be an improvised ethnic jam featuring all members of Tribali.
Earth Garden is also hosting for the first time the Cisk Export Unplugged – an open air concert, giving a rare opportunity for bands to “unplug” and perform acoustically in front of a seated audience. Boasting a line-up of up and coming local artists, including Airport Impressions, Carrie Haber, Chasing Pandora, Stalko and Shilloo’s Tree – the unplugged concert will be held in the Greek Theatre. This two-hour open air concert is the only paying event within the festival and will be held on Sunday 6 June. Beat the crowd and secure your ticket now for only €10 – your ticket to an unforgettable music experience!
Ticket Outlets:
Valletta – Exit, Shu; Gzira – Jubilee;
Mriehel – Farsons Direct; Msida – White Arrow;
Sliema – Exit; University – Paperclips;
St Julians – Juules; Bugibba – Rookies;
Paola – Babilon, Exit; Mosta – Aw Tribu.
Online Sales: www.jaggedhouse.com.
For more information visit www.earthgarden.com.mt
James Blackshaw and Nancy Elizabeth
Wednesday, 9 June at the MITP Theatre,
St Christopher Street Valletta at 8pm
Following the successful Adem concert last February, Hairyamp has decided to follow up with something along the same lines, although this time it shall be notching things up slightly. James Blackshaw is widely regarded as one of the best 12 string guitar players in the world. He lays out patterns and shapes that subtly shift over time and lead you to a deeply satisfying mental state. His soulful and kaleidoscopic ever-shifting mantra cycles are incredibly beautiful. “Blackshaw is one of the best and most original instrumentalists in the new, acoustic renaissance’’ Rolling Stone. Manchester dwelling musician Nancy Elizabeth is a lover and creator of songs and instrumental music. Her music takes influences from sources as diverse as European gypsy songs, choral a cappella and North African music as well as the more traditional British forms.
Tickets are now available at €14 from www.maltaticket.com or from Vodafone, Agenda, Exotique, 8 Till Late, Newskiosk and Bookends outlets. Tickets at the door €15 subject to availability.
Isle of MTV Malta
30 June at the Floriana Granaries, Floriana
The highly anticipated Isle of MTV Malta Special mega-concert will be held on a Wednesday evening. This event will also serve as the ‘Gran Finale’ to the popular Malta Music Week. MTV’s cameras will capture all the action from Isle of MTV, to be broadcast in an hour-long special airing across MTV’s pan-European network later this year. Isle of MTV is one of the highlights of MTV’s European summer music scene – one of the coolest and most eclectic outdoor live music events. Past Isle of MTV main event locations have included Torre de Belém, Lisbon, Portugal (2002), Ile du Gaou, Six-Fours Les Plages, France (2003), Tossa De Mar, Costa Brava, Spain (2004), Piazza dell’ Unita’ d’Italia, Trieste, Italy (2005), Floriana, Malta (2007, 2008 and 2009). For further information: go to http://www.isleofmtv.com/
EVENTS:
The World Cup Village
From 11 June onwards, noon to 1am at Manoel Island, Gzira
For one month during the summer of 2010 the entire world will be all about football and Maltese fans and their families have the perfect place for enjoying and spending good quality time at – The World Cup Village! There will be always something to see and do and there will be so much going on, that it will be difficult to keep up with the full programme of events. This is an innovative and original entertainment concept, which is the first of its kind for Malta: a centrally located venue, which will not only have mega screens for football enthusiasts to watch the games in an exciting atmosphere but also a host of activities to be enjoyed by all the family at the Gzira football grounds in Manoel Island! There will be free and ample parking space. A VIP Area where one can sit and relax in an air-conditioned environment is also available. The World Cup Village a great place to soak up the World Cup atmosphere. For more information visit: http://www.worldcupvillagemalta.com.
CINEMA:
The Road
16-18 June at 6.45pm; 19, 20, 23 June at 9pm at St James Cavalier, Valletta
Directed by John Hillcoat
Starring: Viggo Mortensen, Charlize Theron, Guy Pearce
The Road evokes the images and the characters of Cormac McCarthy’s novel. It is powerful, but for me lacks the same core of emotional feeling. I’m not sure this is any fault of the filmmakers. The novel itself would not be successful if it were limited to its characters and images. Its effect comes above all through McCarthy’s prose. It is the same with all of McCarthy’s work, but especially this one, because his dialogue is so restrained, less baroque than usual.
The story is straightforward: America has been devastated. Habitations have been destroyed or abandoned, vegetation is dying, crops have failed, the infrastructure of civilisation has disappeared. This has happened in such recent memory that even The Boy, so young, was born into a healthy world. No reason is given for this destruction, perhaps because no reason would be adequate. McCarthy evokes the general apprehension of post-9/11. The Boy and The Man make their way toward the sea, perhaps for no better reason than that sea has always been the direction of hope in this country. The surviving population has been reduced to savage survivalists, making slaves of the weaker, possibly using them as food. We’ve always done that, employing beef cattle, for example, to do the grazing on acres of pasture so we can consume the concentrated calories of their labour. In a land where food is scarce, wanderers seek out canned goods and fear their own bodies will perform this work for the cannibals.
Viggo Mortensen portrays The Man as dogged and stubborn, determined to protect his boy. Kodi Smit-McPhee is convincing as a child stunned by destruction, depending on his father in a world where it must be clear to him that any man can die in an instant. The movie resists any tendency toward making the child cute, or the two of them heartwarming.
London Assurance
Live Performance 28 June, MET Opera Live at St James Cavalier, Valletta
Doors Open 7.30 pm
Sir Harcourt Courtly is lured away from the epicentre of fashionable London by the promise of a rich and beautiful bride, Grace, several decades his junior. Arriving at Oak Hall, Gloucestershire, he marvels at this rural Venus until her charms are eclipsed by her hearty cousin, the foxhunting Lady Gay Spanker. Meanwhile his disguised son turns up in flight from his creditors and falls head over heels for Grace. When Lady Spanker discovers the young couple, she needs little prompting from the visiting chancer Dazzle to lead Sir Harcourt astray. “London Assurance is the funniest and most assured comedy in all of London.” – Sunday Express. Tickets €15 (Live) €10 (Encore).
Bookings for St James Cavalier can be made on boxoffice@sjcav.org or by Tel. 2122-3200. For bookings at the Manoel Theatre call: 2124-6389, or visit website: www.teatrumanoel.com.mt, Email: bookings@teatrumanoel.com.mt.
This information is correct at the time of printing. To submit a cultural event kindly email: ebrincat@independent.com.mt.
