Lego bricks or beautiful architecture? Across the water, there's a world heritage city.

Around 20 years ago, if you mentioned the word ‘Tigne’ to a local, the reaction you would have had would have been something along the lines of:

Oh, a lot of Chinese people live there. They work in Red China Dock. Some of them are spies. But they’re very polite.

That’s where a bunch of long-haired, rock bands rehearse. Thank God they’re almost far away enough that nobody hears them!

Don’t go there. It’s a mecca for communists and druggies! They hang around in the barracks, smoke pot and pretend they’re doing some theatre.

Things change. From a virtual no-go zone for the middle-class in the 80s, Tigne’ is now the latest in a series of multi-million dollar developments, mixing modern retail space with residential apartments. If you want to buy an apartment, click here – it won’t come cheap. Typically, apartments at places like Tigne Point are snapped up by the rich, the expats and property investors – it’s really no surprise that around a third of Malta’s residential property stock is currently vacant.

The Point, Malta’s largest shopping mall, has just opened its doors to the public. That’s 14,000 square metres of retail space for 49 retail units. Right now, half of Malta seems to have taken up residence there – to experience the shops, the eateries and the very 21st century space. As a development, Tigne’ will continue to attract mixed opinions – from the purists, who are horrified at the increasing high-rise of Sliema to the pragmatists who say it’s development that keeps the economy running and complement the architects for designing attractive modern retail and living spaces cheek by jowl with the remnants of world class heritage.

As I blinked at the crowds, the brands and the glittering lights at 11am on a Saturday morning, I thought, for a moment, that I could be anywhere. London, Berlin, Shoppingarcade.com. Malta may one day become a yellow version of Hong Kong, or a showcase for lifestyle shopping malls.

And then I remembered that sometime in 1982, I had my first speaking part in a production of a play at Tigne. It was ‘The Jew of Malta.’ I wonder what Marlowe would have made of the economics and the brave new concrete world, blinking eyeless at Valletta, across the water.

Photo: Pierre D. Zammit

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A beach. To clear the cobwebs of the windmills in your mind.

A penny for your thoughts.

Where do you escape to, on a crowded island?

Sometimes, in winter, you can find your space in what are usually the most crowded of places. The sandy beaches are deserted. Go to Ghajn Tuffieha, Golden Bay or Gnejna, and you are likely to meet no more than the lone walker and a dog. And if you’re into cloud-busting, this is the best time of the year to admire the cumulus, altostratus, cirrus and cumulonimbus.

My favourite escape? Go down the set of steps next to the Tower built by Grand Master de Redin at Tower Road Sliema, to the rocky beach known as Exiles. In summer, the place is mainly home to the young and beautiful, eyeing each other basting in suntail oil. In winter, you often have the place to yourself. Find yourself some shelter from the wind in a crater, battered to smoothness by generations of waves and wind erosion. Get a book. Or just watch the canopy of clouds above your head, the interplay of long shadows and light and blues and greens of the water.

In winter, Exiles is the place for restless souls, walks to lick one’s wounds, regenerate one’s soul, watch a child grow up in front of your eyes. And prepare for a new year.

Photo: Therese Debono

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Say cheese! Goats waiting for milking at Mgarr gbejniet (cheese) dairy.

Malta’s aspiring artists and photographers are getting good at sniffing out new venues in which to exhibit their work. There aren’t that many galleries around hosting contemporary artists (St James Cavalier, the Museum of Fine Arts, and No. 68 do a lot to help, and there are few other private ones around…). Many up and coming artists are turning to the more pioneering of Malta’s cafes to seek exhibition venues. Cafes in return use their walls to support the arts, give themselves a more art-house feel and make their environments all the more welcoming for their patrons.

Exhibition Venue
A new cafe on the block – New Zealand-style cafe ‘Mint’, in Sliema – is aligning itself quickly with deserving creatives. This weekend sees its walls hosting a small, but eclectic collection of photography by Anne Muscat-Scerri and Amanda Holmes.

About the Exhibition
Anne and Amanda usually concentrate on family and child photography, so this display marks a departure for them – in fact there’s not a person in sight. “The last time we put our photos on show, we were newcomers to the scene. So it made sense for us to exhibit pictures of children – the subject matter we feel most comfortable with,” says Amanda. Both women are mothers to families of three young girls and mostly find themselves pointing the lens at their offspring. “This time though we realised it would be a good challenge to display completely different subjects that enable us to explore different styles from the whimsical to semi-abstract.

“Photography is a great medium for capturing the beauty and capriciousness of everyday life. For this collection, our aim was to reflect our immediate surroundings in a surprising way, questioning our view of the supposedly mundane. All the pictures have been taken in Malta, some of very typical subjects, yet the photos are anything but typically Maltese,” explains Amanda.

So at Mint you’ll find for example a boat picture, that’s not the typical image of a brightly-painted luzzu, but that captures a detail of a hull with muted colours and many repairs, testifying to the harsh conditions boats and their crews encounter. The two photographers wanted to show pictures of objects and scenes that people would chance upon in their daily life, but they’ve taken the shots in a way that could surprise and perhaps make us re-evaluate our environment.

Cafe opening times
Exhibition runs from 5 Dec – early February 2010.
Mint: 30/39 Luzio Junction/Stella Maris Street. Open Tues-Sat 09.30-19.00; Sun 10.30-19.00.
www.mintmalta.com
For more info, contact: Amanda or Anne and see also: cloudberryimages.com.

Photo: Anne Muscat Scerri.

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The soul of Brazilian samba, via Rome, now playing Malta

The project Olá Brasil! is proud to present MPB3 in Malta. The band MPB3, comprises three Brazilian musicians who are leading the Brazilian musical scene in Rome at the moment – Evandro dos Reis (the band leader – voice, guitar and cavaquinho); Marcio Boaventura (cavaquinho, banjo and percussions); and Jorge Ronald Faller (percussions). They are playing Surfside, Sliema, Wednesday, 2nd September. In fact, this is their second set here; they played last Wednesday too. So don’t miss them this time round!

The MPB3 (‘MPB trio’) repertoire is primarily ‘Brazilian Popular Music’. They throw themselves into the frenetic rhythms of Roda de Samba and its more modern version Pagode (Zeca Pagodinho, Fundo de quintal, Jorge Aragão); the more famous and classic Samba de Raizes (Noel Rosa, Nelson Cavaquinho, Cartola, Paulinho da Viola); the refined melodies of Bossa Nova and Brazilian classics such as Djavan, Ivan Lins, João Bosco, and many others.

The members of MPB3 have been living and playing in Rome for some years now. Apart from their own personal projects, they meet regularly, every Thursday, under the name of Caciques de Roma, in a bar in upcoming Rome suburb San Lorenzo where they give life to the most famous Roda de Samba in the city. The streets of San Lorenzo are alive to their Samba till the early hours.

MPB Biogs

Evandro dos Reis (photo above), the group’s leader, from Sao Paolo, Brazil, studied singing, classical guitar and cavaquinho. He moved to Italy in 2002 already having recorded two albums there – “Latin Vibe, vol. 1&2” with Giacomo Bondi. In 2003, he collaborated with Jovanotti on stage at Live8 in 2005. In the early summer of 2005, he joined The Orchestra di Piazza Vittorio, one of the most famous ensembles in Rome. He plays guitar, cavaquinho and sings.

Marcio Boaventura, also from Sao Paolo, came to Rome in 2008. He started researching Brazilian Popular Music, mainly the Samba de roda, Pagode, Partido alto and Samba de raizes. Last year, he was one of the initiators of the most famous Roda de Samba in Rome, together with Evandro and Ronald and many other musicians united under the name of Caciques de Roma. He plays cavaquinho, banjo and percussion.

Jorge Ronald Faller completes the trio and is also from Sao Paolo. Before the group, he led a life roving between Brazil, Argentina and Europe. He’s played percussion from early on. Since moving to Rome, he has been teaching percussion. He is also an active member of Scuola de Samba Roma-Rio and has played with the Coro Aquarela do Brasil and many other Brazilian groups in Rome. Today, he is one of the most appreciated Brazilian percussionists in the city.

For more details, and similar upcoming events, contact: Andrew at events@gaiainternational.org

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