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CULTURE BOOKS maltatoday | SUNDAY • 22 SEPTEMBER 2019 6 ŻEJT iż-Żejtun, the event cel- ebrating the olive picking sea- son and olive pressing for oil will be celebrated in Żejtun on Saturday 28 and in the mornig on Sunday 29 September. The name Żejtun in its original Semitic connotation signifies the fruit of the olive trees and the cultivated olive tree, synonymous with the Mediterranean and popular since biblical times. As the town name indicates olive tree cultivation and its by-products were a prime ac- tivity in the South Coast of Malta in the Punic and Ro- man era with Żejtun at its' centre. Over the years, especially with the Arab occupation of Malta at the end of the first millennium cotton gradually replaced the olive tree. In recent years, olive tree cultivation, olive pressing for oil and its association with the healthy Mediterranean diet, have made a comeback. Żejt iż-Żejtun celebrates and commemorates all this. The event organised by the Żejtun Local Council will kick off on Saturday at 7.30pm with the 'bandu' an- nouncing the event which will be followed by a defile of village folk and farmers on carts carrying the olive har- vest for pressing. Drummers and flag bearers in medieval costumes as well as folk sing- ers and dancers will be pre- sent. Agricultural tools, typical agricultural products and folk art will be exhibited in the ambience of an old coun- try village and fair. Pride of place will be given to the olive tree. Maltese ftajjar and bread dressed in freshly pressed olive oil will be dis- tributed for free tasting. This year an international festival of folk dancing is be- ing organised, with 12 for- eign dance companies par- ticpating. During the evening, organ- ist Joseph Caruana will give an organ recital on the grand organ of the parish church. Renowned traditional singers like Mikiel Cutajar (Is-Su- perstar) and Zeppi Spagnol are going to take part in this year's event. On Sunday morning the festival will feature several folk activities, band music, a defile' of horses for the ani- mal blessing and - of course - olive pressing. Olives at the centre of all festivities THE first in a series of publications dedicated to a theoretical reassessment of modern art, The Unreality of Realism offers a critical analysis of Realism as mani- fested in nineteenth and twentieth-century art. Beginning with the prem- ise that the study of art history is an inquiry into power mechanisms, and hence also the relationship between truth and power, Giuseppe Schembri Bo- naci examines a myriad of canonical positions that have framed the history of modern art. This book debates the topic of Realism as an art historical category from a theoretical and philosoph- ical perspective. It contextualises interna- tional and Maltese modern art in a broad geographical and temporal framework with comparative strength, and unveils compelling as- sociations between artists and artworks. The Unreality of Realism continues on Schembri Bonaci's previous schol- arly work in a bolder and more extensive manner. The author provides a revision of former argu- ments and posits novel ones to invoke a frank dia- logue on the versatility of artistic and intellectual concepts and their evolu- tion across space and time. The Unreality of Realism Books by Giuseppe Schembri Bonaci