Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1122280
THIS WEEK ENVIRONMENT maltatoday | SUNDAY • 26 MAY 2019 4 WALKING is something of a counter-intuitive measure on the island, where despite our country's small size the car seems to have taken prec- edence, resulting in an infra- structural, social and cultural race to the bottom character- ised by congestion and poor air quality. But artist Kristina Borg and curator Raffaella Zammit – Executive Director of the Ga- briel Caruana Foundation – are pushing back against this unfortunate bugbear of Mal- tese life by doing the thing we're always told to do when it comes to such initiatives: getting them while they're young. "Walking practice is not simply a means of transport. I do walk from A to B, but walking goes beyond that," Borg said. "It's an artistic practice in itself, a means of exploration of our landscape and social environment – be it urban or rural – where our body on the move leaves an impact on the surroundings." Borg recalls the moment she realised Zammit – a long-time vocal proponent of alternative methods of transportation on the island – would make a very viable creative partner for a project that deals with these dynam- ics… which is also where the kids came in. "We brainstormed different approaches and prospects of walking practice and ap- proached the Birkirkara Pri- mary School – St Theresa College," Borg and Zammit said, explaining how 'Nimxu Mixja' introduces Year 5 stu- dents to walking as an "ar- tistic process in a transdisci- plinary way, linking to more than one subject of the cur- riculum". "Through playful activities, the students were able to fos- ter a sense of community and a deeper understanding of their schooltown. The Year 5 classes had the chance to experience four walks and a post-walk processing session each," Borg and Zammit said. The experiment was cer- tainly appreciated by both the pupils and their educa- tors, with St Theresa College headmistress Mariella Zikic enthusing over how the pro- ject, "provided the children with exciting and different experiences to help them learn". "The pupils enjoyed this The Birkirkara school children taking part in the ongoing 'Nimxu Mixja' project have taken a definitive stand in favour of a better urban environment, as TEODOR RELJIC finds out in conversation with the project's initiators Kristina Borg and Raffaella Zammit, as well as the insights of educators within the town's St Theresa College 'Less poop, more trees' The project aims to broaden one's experiential horizons even within one's own hometown - something that we cannot take for granted when we're discouraged from walking and concentrating Teodor Reljic