Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1470553
maltatoday | SUNDAY • 12 JUNE 2022 10 ALMANAC My essentials RICHARD SALIBA 79, artist I commenced my training in drawing and painting in 1960 at the age of 18 when I started attending the Government School of Art in Valletta. We had some great teachers then amongst whom I recall Vincent Apap, George Borg, Carmelo Mangion and Esprit Barthet. 1 2 4 5 1. Book 3 2. Film 3. Internet 4. Music 5. Place A recent phenomenon on the local scene are the pod- casts of Jon Mallia which I find greatly irreverent and subversive but also highly entertaining, something that we needed in our insular and politicised country. 'PIANO Concerto No. 2' by Russian composer Sergei Ra- chmaninoff and the 'Gymno- pedies' by French composer and pianist Eric Satie. These compositions inspire me greatly in finding the right mood when I am painting and searching for that poet- ry that I try to infuse in my work. MY favourite places in Mal- ta are those around Buskett, Mtaħleb, Baħrija which in- spire me greatly in my paint- ings. They are, moreover, amongst the few places that still unspoilt, where one can breathe the pure air of the Maltese countryside. My fa- vourite place still remains the city of Rome, the city I first visited when I was a teenager. The amazing remains of an- tiquity and the marvels of the baroque age with its palaces, architecture and museums are a never-ending inspiration and a joy to all lovers of art and good taste. ONE of the books that I really enjoyed reading was 'Gabriele D'Annunzio, Poet, Seducer, and Preacher of War' by Lucy Hughes Hallet. D'Annunzio is recognized as one of Ita- ly's foremost poets of the last century. This was not his only achievement; he was a widely respected politician who had a great following. He used his fame to sell his work, seduce women, and promote his ex- treme nationalism. In 1915 D'Annunzio's incendiary ora- tory helped drive Italy to enter the First World War, in which he achieved heroic status as an aviator. A film that I greatly enjoyed seeing was Giuseppe Torna- tore's film 'Malena'. This film about a beautiful women's or- deal in war time Sicily, during which her husband was on the battlefield during the last war, is truly an ode to one of Italy's iconic film stars, Monica Bel- lucci, who contributes little in dialogue but compensates in no small way with her haunt- ing beauty. The music by En- nio Morricone contributes in no small manner in making the film a poetic experience that one will not easily forget.