Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1445232
maltatoday | SUNDAY • 23 JANUARY 2022 8 ALMANAC My essentials RODERICK CAMILLERI 34, Artist, Curator and Art Educator I think that I have quite a bustling life, mentoring and guiding art students, curating and designing art shows as well as producing artwork. One of my main passions is researching and creating new artistic content, exploring new materials and experiment with different techniques and approaches. I find reading, visiting exhibitions and travelling more fun than a barrel of oysters. 1 2 4 5 1. Book 3 2. Film/TV 3. Internet 4. Music 5. Place A recent, or maybe, not so recent film which left a deep impression is 12 Years a Slave, a biographical drama film based on a true story of an African-American. It is a powerful and emotional work representing the pain and suffering caused by past slavery. The plot seizes you almost straight away with a visceral vigour of imagery and the fluidity of the sto- ryline. I highly recommend watching. WELL, I think that the most visited sites are the news por- tals to keep myself updated with current events. Apart from these sites, I don't think I have a particular site or channel which I visit on a regular basis. I really enjoy progressive rock. One of my favourite bands is surely Dream Theat- er. Tracks such as A Change of Seasons and Pull me Un- der are simply incredibly massive and timeless. Besides their great artistic melodic content, I really admire this band for its consistency and productivity. They always aim to push the boundaries and experiment with new musical possibilities. AS I mentioned before, I re- ally like travelling and vis- iting different countries. However, due to Covid, these past two years kept us bound and locked within our safest zones. If I had to refer to one of my local favs, I would say il-Pwales. It is a lovely area in Saint Paul's Bay, situated near- by to ix-Xagħra tal-Għansar and close to is-Simar on the borders of Xemxija. I really appreciate the pristine habitat of the place, and I usually go for a refreshing stroll. I usually like to read more than one book at a time, mak- ing it a bit difficult to pick a specific book over the others. However, a recent text which I recommend reading is David Attenborough's recent book A Life on Our Planet. It is an eye-opener, bold and highly revealing, disclosing extraor- dinary autobiographical nar- rations of a man who explored some of the world's most amazing places. His personal memoirs also shed light on the drastic decline of the planet's ecosystem and offer possible ways of how to restore it.