Treasures from Malta

Giovanni Bonello has distinguished himself in both culture and the law. In culture he has left an indelible mark in researching, discovering and publishing his countless finds. He has provided  new angles on the history of art in Malta as well as writing about myriad aspects of Maltese history. He has also written about the law, both critiques of contemporary judgements as well as delving into aspects of legal and constitutional history. As a human rights lawyer in the 80s he was at the forefront of change, at difficult times where it took pluck to stand up and speak truth to power. He later took up a position as Judge at the European Court of Human Rights where his  judgements, and particularly his separate opinions, were not just competent but groundbreaking. In sum, not only has he looked back and uncovered history, but he has also made history. 

Kim Dalli is an actress who has worked as a journalist in real life, as well as inhabiting the role in Herman Grech’s recent play ‘They Blew Her Up’. Her love for writing has also been directed towards script-writing and in this podcast she tells us about a very special project she is currently working on that casts her in the multi-faced role of researcher, script-writer and actor. 

Kim is passionate about the history of women and is channeling this interest into the discovery of war-time Malta to bring these obscure characters to life onto our screens, reclaiming the plaudits they are long due. In this episode, Kim discusses the excitement of discovery in researching family papers and archives, the craft of the actor and the highs and lows experienced on stage.

Alex Camilleri is a Maltese-American film director who is particularly inspired by Malta and has set his debut film, LUZZU, in Malta. And what a film ! LUZZU became the first Maltese film to show at the highly prestigious Sundance film festival earning positive reviews. The lead actor, Jesmark Scicluna, a real life fisherman with no previous training in acting, won the World Cinema Dramatic Special Jury Award in acting at Sundance. LUZZU has gone on to be selected for the New Directors/New Films and BFI London Film Festival. It has also made the longlist nomination for the European Film Awards and will be released theatrically in major territories around the world, including U.S.A, France, and the UK over the coming months. In this conversation, Alex talks about his career in the film industry, working his way up through the ranks until he managed to make a dream come through, setting his very own feature film in Malta. He talks about writing, directing and editing LUZZU, the challenges he overcame and tells us what it takes to create such a well-received feature film.   

Music credits towards the beginning of the podcast (from the LUZZU film score): 
Original Score Written, Recorded, and Mixed by Jon Natchez
Violin: Paul Jacob Cartwright
Harp: Mary Lattimore
Cello: Ro Rowan

Richard England is embedded in the national psyche as the Starchitect from Malta. He has won several international awards for his architectural work. He has been honoured by States, by various Universities and by all of the important international architectural associations. But beyond architecture, which is perhaps his most public face, he is a man of many parts. In this podcast we discuss not only his iconic buildings but also his poetry, art, writings and his remarkable record collection as he reflects on a  career that saw him working for, and rubbing shoulders with, the greatest creative minds of the time. We delve into spirit of place and spirituality but also look back at the 60s when an incredible grouping of artists and thinkers came together in Malta to create sparks that are still felt today.  

Marquis Nicholas de Piro is the founder of the beautiful Casa Rocca Piccola House Museum in Valletta. He has opened his home to the public to share the many decades of shrewd art collecting. He was years ahead in recognising and appreciating various decorative art forms and unfashionable pieces of art well before others jumped onto the bandwagon. He was instrumental in the revival of the art of lacemaking by creating a competition for contemporary makers while collecting the very finest pieces of Maltese lace and historic costume to survive. As a founder member of Fondazzjoni Patrimonju Malti he has helped curate major Patrimonju exhibitions and sourced important artefacts for these exhibitions. Several publications that he has authored have become standard texts for art historians, such as the 1st and the entirely revised and expanded 2nd edition of 'The International Dictionary of Artists who Painted Malta'. Nicholas is also somewhat of a creative, penning novels and poetry which evoke nostalgia for the Malta of yesteryear. 

Andrew Alamango is a musician and archivist who has been the driving force behind Etnika, the band that reworked Maltese folk music and got the younger generation dancing to its beat. He also set up Malta’s Lost Voices, to make the earliest recordings of Maltese music accessible to the public, as well as creating the Magna Zmien project which digitizes old photographs, audio and audio visual material from private collections before it is all lost. He breathes new life into these old records by making them accessible to artists and an appreciative public. In this podcast we talk history, identity, għana (traditional Maltese folk singing). We delve into the richness and diversity of the multi-cultural influences that mark out Maltese music and popular culture and how this can be presented to contemporary audiences. 

Miriam Gauci is an outstanding Maltese soprano who made it big on the international stage. From her formative years at Milan’s La Scala she never looked back, appearing time and again in leading roles in all the major opera houses worldwide. She has worked with the world’s foremost conductors such as Claudio Abbado and Riccardo Muti and directors like Franco Zeffirelli and  starred alongside the likes of Plácido Domingo. In this conversation with Fran Balzan, she opens up about the highs and lows of performing opera and gives us unique insights into the driving passion that fueled her decades-long career. Miriam Gauci has been honoured by both the Maltese and Italian republic. 

Punctuating this discussion are recordings of famous arias from the album ‘Soprano Arias from Italian Operas’ performed by Miriam Gauci. Alexander Rahbari conducts the Belgian Radio & TV Philharmonic Orchestra

Tuning in from leafy Surrey, we meet with Dr Kathrina Farrugia-Kriel, dance historian, academic and author. From her early days twirling around the dining room chairs, Kathrina’s love for dance has grown and grown. It has driven her to pursue her studies in the U.K. and to forge an academic career that not only saw her lecturing in the area of dance studies but also culminated in several publications and her present role as Head of Research within the Faculty of Education of the Royal Academy of Dance. 

When he’s not examining artworks, writing books, curating exhibitions or lecturing, Prof. Keith Sciberras is invariably to be found in an archive. And with good reason. He’s made several discoveries and his infectious enthusiasm for all the surprises that a careful trawl through the archives yields, bubbles over in this conversation. Whether he’s speaking about Caravaggio or carpets (those depicted in still lifes!) you can tell that he’s always on the brink of a discovery and likes nothing better than to share it with his students and fellow art historians. As head of the Department of Art and Art History at the University of Malta he is instrumental in forming the next generation of art historians and he argues (and we agree) that their creativity and training arm them with unique qualities that can contribute greatly to the workforce.  

Bernie Mizzi is on a lifelong mission to infect everyone with a love for the arts. As an educator she has been in a unique position to do so. In this conversation, she tells us all about her career in education, from school head to Pro-Chanceller at the University of Malta and various positions besides. These enabled her to influence arts programming in education whether at policy level or on the ground as a teacher in direct contact with students. And as if that weren’t enough, she’s set up a Foundation to promote the arts and popular culture with a long term vision to preserve collections and under-appreciated aspects of Maltese cultural heritage. What’s not to love?