This week, 9 difference entities in the field of the protection of cultural heritage hailing from the realm of Government agencies, the Church and the University of Malta come together to create a National Node for the purpose of acceding to the European Research Infrastructure for Heritage Science (E-RIHS).

Heritage Science is a trans-disciplinary scientific domain founded on the combined knowledge of fine arts, humanities, science, and technology (humanities, STEM, and ICT. It provides a holistic approach to cultural and natural heritage preservation, documentation, interpretation, and management. The main aim of the co-creation of knowledge is Heritage Science.

This agreement paves the way for full collaboration in the field of heritage and research in a European framework. It has been set up primarily to strengthen and expand the use of science. 

E-RIHS consists of a partnership of 13 countries as founding members, including Malta, and involves over 100 heritage science institutions from all over Europe.

The E-RIHS Malta National Node will consist of the Ministry for the National Heritage, the Arts and Local Government, the Superintendence of Cultural Heritage, Heritage Malta, the Restoration Directorate, the National Archives, Malta Libraries, 9 University of Malta departments and faculties, the St John’s Co-Cathedral Foundation and the Archdiocese of Malta.

E-RIHS’s goals and activities are to support the advancement of the scientific understanding of Heritage and, in this way, contribute to its conservation, also promoting Heritage Science, and in particular, its cross-disciplinary approach to research questions related to the history, interpretation, diagnosis, appreciation, and preservation of Heritage. It supports researchers in developing comprehensive, advanced scientific and technological expertise, including training.

Professor Joanne Cassar, in her very good brief about the work which E-RIHS does, threw me back to January 2019, when I was in charge of this exciting portfolio for the first time.  I am very pleased to see that what we started that day, with the visit to Malta of E-RIHS officials, where a seminar was held with all the entities that signed the MOU, came to a fruition this week after months of hard work and despite two years of a global pandemic.

I am pleased to say it advanced beautifully. Here, I would like to take this opportunity to thank Professor JoAnn Cassar, Head of the Department of Conservation and Built Heritage and Deputy Dean of the Faculty of Built Environment of the University of Malta. She introduced E-RIHS in Malta, and thanks to her dedication, she managed to make this happen. I am also grateful to the representatives of the entities collaborating on this project.

I am eager to see our partners foster innovation in the scientific and exploratory process, services, and management levels in Heritage Science, stressing the technological interoperability and convergence of methods through the definition of best practices.

This pan-European research infrastructure supports research on heritage science, which encompasses interpretation, preservation, documentation, and management of heritage, with a mission to deliver access to heritage researchers on high-level expertise, data, laboratories, equipment, and facilities. The goal is to integrate world-leading European facilities into an organisation with a leading role within the global heritage science sector, drawing together a cross-disciplinary community of researchers and users, supporting advancements in heritage science through networking, innovation, training, and education.

The E-RIHS consortium thus promotes good practice in heritage research. It develops methods designed to respond to the specific needs of cultural heritage assets, whether material or digital: objects, collections, buildings, and sites.

This is the core of innovative research and the multidisciplinary underpinning of each study. Heritage research is a crucial example of how this can be created.

I would also like to take the opportunity to unveil another similar initiative, which concerns the National Cultural Heritage Research Agenda raised by the Superintendence of Cultural Heritage in 2018. This Agenda complements the purpose of the ERIHS at the local level through collaboration between entities and individuals in Malta but is specifically intended to address priorities, problems, requirements for fundamental studies, research gaps, and solutions to improve and disseminate research on cultural heritage in the Maltese Islands.

I want to say a heartfelt thank you, which is extended to all of these entities which have been incredibly supportive during the last three and a half years of intense discussion, and who have expressed a spirit of collaboration that can only bring about the better preservation of our shared heritage through high-level research on an international scale.

We all look forward to working together on the E-RIHS initiative and the national research agenda for cultural heritage.

The Three Tenors have returned to St George’s Square

The Opera in the City – The Three Tenors concert returned in a better and larger format this year, with the participation of the Malta Philharmonic Orchestra, under the musical direction of Mro. Michael Laus.

Last Saturday, this concert was held at St George’s Square, in Valletta. Opera in the City – The Three Tenors is an annual event in the Valletta Cultural Agency’s program, with the participation of three Maltese tenors of international fame, Nico Darmanin, Cliff Zammit Stevens, and Alan Sciberras, accompanied by the Malta Philharmonic Orchestra.

This is the third concert in the series, following the tremendous success of the first and second editions. This year we had the privilege of having not only one but three remarkable voices perform some of the most beloved arias and songs.

The idea for such concerts came about in December 2020 when the Valletta Cultural Agency started to hold small, intimate events in Republic Square, near the Bibliotheque.

This was an extraordinary event; it invited the audience on a beautiful musical journey.  It showcased Maltese culture’s role in its various forms. 

Special thanks must go to the Valletta Cultural Agency, which promotes artistic events and, in particular, opera (bel canto) in the heart of the Capital.