The silence reigning in churches at Victoria will be broken with an interesting repertoire of soulful music as part of the first edition of Lejlet Lapsi Notte Gozitana during this weekend.

A chamber concert, presented by the French Embassy and featuring Jean-Marc Apap on sax alto and Richard Galliano on piano accordion, kicks off a full programme of sacred music at St George’s Basilica on Friday at 8 p.m.

The Victoria Clarinet Quartet will give another chamber concert in the Sentinella Hall, at the Citadel at 9pm. The quartet was established three years ago with the aim of compiling a different-but-balanced repertoire which varies from familiar to rare music pieces. During the evening, the ensemble will include music by Julius Fucik (Entry of the Gladiators), Mozart (Eine Kleine Nachtmusik), Ennio Morricone (Morricone’s Melody), John Lennon and Paul McCartney (Yesterday), Henry Mancini (The Pink Panther) and Carmelo Pace (L-Imnarja), among others.

On Saturday a recital will take place on the 18th-century organ in St Michael’s Hall, St George’s Basilica at 7pm. A sacred music choir concert will follow by Laudate Pueri, directed by Fr George Frendo, at 9pm. The choir is the first Maltese choir to perform as an all-female choir.

At 8.30pm, the Schola Cantorum Jubilate will give a 45-minute sacred music choir concert at the Gozo Courts of Justice.

At the Franciscan Sisters’ Church, the evening starts with a sopranos’ concert of sacred vocal music by Rosabella Pavia, Giorgina Gauci and Claudia Tabone, accompanied by Stephen Attard. The concert will be followed by more sacred music by the Chorus Urbanus, directed by John Galea, at 11pm.

The programme rounds off with another sacred music choir, the Gaulitanus, directed by Colin Attard, at the Gozo Cathedral at 1am on Sunday.

History, traditions and art are being documented and presented in various exhibitions. A display of bozzetti, or sketches, of paintings and works of art found in places of worship in Gozo will be held at the Bishop’s Palace, opening on Saturday at 5pm until midnight. Bozzetti include those by Giuseppe Cali, Lazzaro Pisani, Carlo Ignazio Cortis and Austin Camilleri.

The Banca Giuratale at Independence Square will host an exhibition of drawings by Mattia Preti, opening on Friday from 9am to 10pm, on Saturday from 9am to 1am and on Sunday from 9am to 6pm.

“Images of Gozo Past” is the title of another exhibition of old photos at the National Archives, opening on Saturday from 6pm until midnight. On the same day, Ensemble d’Art Gozitain will display works by Gozitan artists at St George’s Basilica from 7pm until midnight. A sculpture exhibition by Victor Spiteri will take place in Library Street from 9am, and George Scicluna will exhibit his works at his art studio in Dawwara Street from 9am. The Ministry for Gozo will host another art exhibition, “New Inspirations 2”, by the Diocesan Youth Commission from 6pm until midnight.

On Saturday, an exhibition will document the history of Banda Cittadina La Stella and the feast of St George, patron saint of Gozo, at La Stella Band Club from 9am. Another exhibition, “Santa Marija – A Feast for Gozo and its Inhabitants”, will be held at the Aurora Opera House from 9am. A traditional cribs exhibition will be put up at the Bishop’s Palace from 5pm until midnight and Good Friday processional statuettes will be displayed for viewing in St Joseph Street from 6pm. The Franciscan Sisters’ Convent will host an exhibition about their founder, Madre Margherita from 6.30pm.

Further information can be obtained on tel.: 2155-9832, by sending an email to: [email protected] or from the website: www.

gozoculture.com.

Gozo reveals its hidden assets

Visitors interested in gaining an insight into Gozo’s history will be able to visit the Old Prison and the Museum of Archaeology during extended hours at Lejlet Lapsi Notte Gozitana on Saturday.

The Old Prison at the Citadel overlooks Cathedral Square and is adjacent to the Law Courts, to which it was originally connected. In its present form, the prison complex is divided into two sections: the entrance hall, which served as a common cell in the 19th century; and a free-standing block with six individual cells. The prison was in use from the mid-16th century until the beginning of the 20th century.

Escapes are recorded to have taken place both during the rule of the Knights of St John and the British rule. Incarceration, coupled with hard labour, was also applied as punishment. The daily food allowance for inmates was made up of a substantial amount of bread and pasta, some cheese or salted fish and, occasionally, some olives. For water, the prison had a cistern in the corridor collecting rainwater from the overlying roofs.

The walls of the cells and corridors in the old prison are covered with graffiti. It is considered to be the largest collection of historical graffiti in one single place on the Maltese islands. The representations are often of ships, and date from different periods. There are also handprints, crosses, names, dates, games, and anthropomorphic figures etched into the limestone walls. Some inmates also appear to have scratched a tally of their length of stay behind bars. The graffiti are a fascinating human insight into the lives of those incarcerated here

The Museum of Archaeology, also at the Citadel, illustrates in chronological order Gozo’s cultural history, from prehistoric times to the early modern period. It is housed in a 17th century building, Palazzo Bondi, which originally served as a town hall where the Knights of St John used to receive their distinguished visitors. At one time, it was the residence of a prominent Gozitan family after whom the palace is named.

The town house was restored in 1960 and inaugurated as the first public museum in Gozo, exhibiting archaeological as well as ethnographic artefacts. Following refurbishment, it was re-opened in 1986 as the Archaeology Museum of Gozo.

The ground floor is devoted to the Neolithic Period, the Temple Period, and the Bronze Age (5200-700BC) and the collection includes relics from Ggantija Temples.

The first floor is devoted to the Phoenician, Punic, Roman, Medieval, and Knights’ periods. The collections on display include jewellery, coins, marble statues, inscriptions, oil lamps, and part of a limestone olive-pipper. The collection also includes a number of inscriptions. An interesting and touching one is that carved on Majmuna’s tombstone, which laments the death of a young Muslim girl at the age of 12 years.

The Old Prison, the Museum of Archaeology, the Crafts Centre, the Museum of Natural Science and the Folklore Museum, all at the Citadel, will be open on Friday, Saturday and Sunday from 9am to 5pm. On Saturday, the Old Prison and the Museum of Archaeology will also be open between 6pm and midnight.

Tours are also being organised taking visitors to places of various interests: audio-visual tours of the Cathedral, the Cathedral Museum and the Citadel will run around the Citadel Bastions between 10am and 6pm and from 9pm until midnight.

On Saturday, different guided tours of one hour each every 10 minutes take visitors around Victoria’s prime World War II shelters, the city’s mandraggio and its architectural highlights, churches and sacred art, and the city’s craftsmen and traditional food producers. Visitors may also choose a guided tour of St George’s Basilica and the neo-Byzantine Chapel.

These activities are being held as part of Lejlet Lapsi Notte Gozitana at Victoria, organised by the Ministry for Gozo and the Ministry for Tourism and Culture.

Further information can be obtained on tel.: 2155-9832, by sending an email to: events@

gozoculture.com or from the website: www.gozoculture.com.