Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1253597
maltatoday | SUNDAY • 31 MAY 2020 5 THIS WEEK CULTURE sum of its people in retrospect? The change was enormous. On a superfi- cial level, the city looked cleaner and better kept, but deep down it became an empty shell. The community found it harder to or- ganise activities in its own city space often having to battle with bureaucracy, business interests, political interests, and a drastical- ly reduced demographic. I interviewed 95 individuals for my research most of which lived and/or worked in Valletta. That was in 2014. By the time I was writing my thesis the number of those living and/or work- ing in Valletta had dropped by half. That is a massive upheaval. I could also see most shops and businesses being turned over to the tourism industry – and being turned into generic boutique hotels and cafeterias with mostly foreign personnel. I could also notice that unlike those foreign businesses and residents who had moved into Vallet- ta in the early 2000s, who felt a connection and integrated with the community, the new wave was completely detached from the community. The Valletta community lost decades old businesses (from Allied Newspaper offices down to the small specialised shops across town), the Valletta food market (one of the biggest failures of the Valletta 2018 pro- jects), whole stretches of residential areas (I counted at least a dozen boutique hotels on St Ursula Street from Ta' Ġieżu Church to St Ursula's monastery – a stretch of a mere three blocks), they lost whole streets and squares to tables and chairs (Old Theatre Street, Republic Square, St John Square, Merchant Street, St John Street, etc), they have lost the Marsamxett skyline with the hideous overdevelopment of the Gżira/ Sliema/St Julians area and most impor- tantly they have lost a huge percentage of its residents because of an over inflated and unregulated property market. Valletta is our capital city. Whatever happens in the city is a reflection of what happens all over the country. Their losses represent our losses, and the sooner we wake up to that reality the better. We think money can buy us happiness – that it is the solution to all. But when that money runs out – and it will run out – what will be left? Nothing but our stories. Am I being nostal- gic or idealistic? Well look at our lockdown social media feeds: they are all about people sharing stories. Could you tell us a little bit about your upcoming project 'Ritwali'? What were some of the main prompts that led you to structuring a project of that kind, and what kind of parameters are you envi- sioning for it? First off – a confession. I am what my friends term a 'mejda tal-qubbajd' (an un- translatable term but basically means a 'fes- ta freak'). I am fascinated by human rituals. They represent a mixture of ancient and modern stories – a series of communal ac- tions that bind us together and help us un- derstand each other. These rituals can cover a wide range of events from festas, Christ- mas, Carnival, Lent, Easter, and so on. The project RITWALI started off with a desire to seek a more holistic understanding of ritual beyond the entertaining or the spectacular. What are the common elements? How are these rituals enacted? What symbols and actions do they use? Very often those who participate in these rituals operate in a very closed environment and lack the time and means to explore their own rituals deeper. On the other hand, the current pandemic has led to the cancellation of many rituals. We already live in a hectic world where the current politico-economic model is obsessed with the generation of capital, and ignores and discourages things like communal ritual. Many of these rituals are struggling to find participants – often turning to commercial activities to sustain themselves. This risks destroying rituals or at the very best stripping them of meaning. RITWALI is thus a project that seeks to bring these rituals together and address these issues. It works along three strands. The first is the collection of crowdsourced material to create a digital archive that showcases those rituals to a wider audi- ence. The second is devoted to critical writing and academic research on rituals that helps us in the understanding of these rituals. The third would be an interactive calendar that showcases these rituals. All three will be interconnected allowing users to navigate from one to the other. Thus, we aim to increase awareness and participation, encourage critical thinking, invite new audiences, and facilitate growth. For more information on the musical pieces presented as part of Alex Vella Gregory's thesis, visit: http://alexvellagregory.com/ "Beltin are witnessing all the buildings they have lived in being emptied and in some cases completely gutted. Some pretend that this is 'natural progress' while others acknowledge the loss" Through both musical composition and academic analysis and informed by countless interviews with Valletta locals, Alex Vella Gregory's PhD pays homage to the capital city's dynamic socio-cultural make-up, beyond the commercial and tourist-friendly postcard impressions