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maltatoday | WEDNESDAY • 18 JULY 2018 2 NEWS CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1 Jean Paul Sammut insisted the animal park was closed, when contacted by MaltaToday for an explanation. "The advert for the animal park was a mistake. It [the ani- mal park] is closed," he said. Sammut kept repeating that the park was closed when asked whether any people had been allowed to enter since the fair opened last Thursday. The Fiera l-Kbira is in its fifth edition and will come to an end on Sunday. The leaflet adver- tised entry into the animal park at a discounted price of €2.50 for adults, instead of €5. A Planning Authority spokes- person confirmed with Malta- Today that the animal park is illegal and cannot be opened to the public. The zoo was shut and sealed by the PA three years ago after a tiger lashed out at a five-year- old boy, leaving him with griev- ous injuries to his face. The ani- mal park remains unlicensed. Efforts since then to relocate the wild animals to foreign zoos proved futile. Last year, Polidano, known as iċ-Ċaqnu, was charged in front of Magistrate Joe Mifsud over the 2015 incident and accused of running an unlicensed zoo and keeping wild animals not allowed in Malta. The two handlers, who were keeping the tiger on a leash when the incident happened were also charged. The three men pleaded not guilty. The case is ongoing. ksansone@mediatoday.com.mt Montekristo lawyer insists animal park is closed MASSIMO COSTA GABRIEL Caruana, the re- nowned Maltese artist who passed away on Monday aged 89, has been described by visual artist and lecturer Vince Briffa as "the eternal child" of artists. "Gabriel was the eternal child when it comes to art making," Briffa said, "[He was] always experimenting, exuberant and innovation." "Gabriel has left a legacy, par- ticularly in the area of ceram- ics," he highlighted, "He was a true modern master." Caruana was considered one of Malta's most accomplished artists and a pioneer in the modern art scene. The ceramist and sculptor had exhibited his work in vari- ous countries including Great Britain, USA, Germany, Hol- land and Italy. He studied in Malta, Italy and the USA, also under the late British artist Victor Pasmore, who had described Caruana as a "wonderful artist." "A wonderful artist cannot be classified and described with academic formulas. Caruana's art is always fresh and free, al- ways alive and bold: it possesses the same verve that gave birth to the modern independence in painting and sculpture, Pas- more had said." Local artist Kenneth Zam- mit Tabona said that having worked for many years for Mid Med Bank in branches designed by Richard England, he was surrounded by Gabriel Caru- ana's creations Since England thought, that Caruana's style complimented his architecture. "This was the 70s when ce- ramic sculptures like these were considered to be outre. What I especially loved were the draw- ings which later on I insisted on displaying in my own office," Zammita Tabona told Malta- Today. "Henry Moore may have been the initial inspiration but Ga- briel's drawings had a life and energy all of their own ... a vi- sionary who was also a gentle giant whose humility belied his great talent if not great genius." Richard England, the archi- tect and artist, had described Caruana as the "example of all truth in art… [an] eternal seeker of myth and magic." Caruana was born in Balzan, Malta in 1929. Early in his artis- tic career he showed a marked preference for the international modern art movement and as a result the traditional element has never been part of his work. He worked in a variety of me- dia, exploiting their possibilities to the fullest extent but he ex- celled in the medium of ceram- ics. He was among the pioneers of modern art in Malta and his works found recognition both in Malta and abroad. The Old Mill, Birkirkara, orig- inally a flour mill built in the time of the Knights of Malta, was run by Gabriel Caruana as the Culture & Crafts Centre to exhibit both his own work and that of visiting artists from around the world. He held solo exhibitions in Malta, England, Italy and Swit- zerland and group exhibitions in Osaka, Detroit, Munich, Tripoli, London, Israel, Mel- bourne, and several times in Malta. He participated several times in the International Competi- tion of Artistic Ceramics in Faenza, Italy and his works are displayed at the Interna- tional Museum of Ceramics of Faenza, at the Whitworth Art Gallery, Manchester, at City of Manchester Art Gallery, and, at the National Museum of Fine Arts Malta. He had a studio in Rome, and another in Malta. In 1999, he was honoured by the Maltese nation with the Medal for Artistic Achieve- ment. Gabriel Caruana, ceramist, born 7 April 1929; died on 16 June 2018. Gabriel Caruana, 'the eternal child', passes away Gabriel Caruana poses beside a self-portrait The promotion leaflet which was distributed across the island advertises the special offer related to the illegal animal park at Montekristo Estate