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4 maltatoday | SUNDAY • 11 NOVEMBER 2018 THIS WEEK CULTURE Ahead of this year's edition of ZiguZajg, Malta's foremost arts and culture festival for children and young people, TEODOR RELJIC speaks to Fondazzjoni Kreattività chairman Rupert Cefai about what we can expect from the eighth edition of this consistently successful event How would you trace the evolution of ZiguZajg from 2011 to now, and what kind of influence did Fondazzjoni Kreattività have on its development? ŻiguŻajg was born of a clear need to provide young audiences with high- quality performances and creative projects. Since 2011, the festival has grown to provide exactly this; an an- nual collection of great repertoire that children look forward to every year. This means that young people will grow up with an experience of what great art really is, and will grow up to expect more. Fondazzjoni Kreattività gave the festival the backing and the stability to allow it to form a long-term strategy and to grow both in size and quality year after year. What do you think makes ZiguZajg unique in the Maltese cultural ecology, and why do you think it has enjoyed such a strong and enduring impact? ŻiguŻajg shows the best that there is on offer both locally and internation- ally year after year; put simply, the festival treats its young audience with respect and creates a great programme of great work. At the same time, the Festival works with local practition- ers, commissioning work and pushing them to create the best work that they are capable of producing. The Festi- val has enjoyed a long-lasting impact because of this; parents, teachers and the children themselves know that ŻiguŻajg will show them something amazing, and look forward to it every year. In terms of the local sector, ŻiguŻajg has built itself a reputation as being a professional and reliable commis- sioner and co-producer; artists enjoy working with us within the Festival's structure. Apart from working with artists and performers, ŻiguŻajg also provides an opportunity for students seeking a career in arts management. Many of those who have worked with- in the Festival Team, have gone on to work full-time in the creative sector. ZiguZajg is also one of the only events on the island that brings together a variety of cultural bodies working in unison. Could you tell us a little bit about what entities are involved in this year's edition, and what they will each be contributing? Yes, every year we work with many public cultural organisations, asking them to co-create work with the festi- val. This year, we're working with the MPO and the MYO to create a beau- tiful piece The Adventures of Peer Gynt, ŻfinMalta to form a devised piece Play|Ground, and with Teatru Manoel on the children's opera Amahl and the Night Visitors. We're also working with Teatru Malta on a site- specific piece in collaboration with Image Aiguë in France, to produce a piece called L'homme qui marche. As expected also, we're working with Valletta 2018 on a number of creative projects. ŻiguŻajg wants to place the creative arts at the centre of children's lives and experiences. This will only be possible if all cultural bodies work together to produce great work for children. The fact that the ŻiguŻajg brings these organisations together year after year is testimony to the importance that is now being placed on the festival's en- deavours. What would you say are some of the highlights of this year's edition? It's always difficult to choose a par- ticular highlight! ŻiguŻajg always Teodor Reljic Placing the arts at the centre of children's lives