Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1527639
9 maltatoday | WEDNESDAY • 9 OCTOBER 2024 ART CULTURE ARTS Council Malta has an- nounced a collaboration with Fondazzjoni Kreattività with the aim of encouraging children and young adults to pursue their in- terests in artistic work in Malta and abroad, while providing op- portunities to further emerging creatives' professional training and networks. The agreement will see Arts Council Malta putting in a to- tal investment of €30,000. Of this, €20,000 will fund a collec- tive exhibition, featuring over 12 artists, as part of the Spazju Kreattiv and ŻiguŻajg Interna- tional Arts Festival for Children and Young People programmes, with Fondazzjoni Kreattività contributing a further €15,000. The collaboration will also see both organisations co-organis- ing workshops and educational events focusing on the exhibi- tion theme and creative art tech- niques throughout the exhibi- tion. Additionally, The Council will invest €10,000 in the Incubator, a mentoring programme for EU project writing produced by the European Network for Cultural Centre (ENCC). This 4-day ini- tiative will involve over 35 cre- ative professionals and feature mentorship from 6 international experts. Both initiatives will be jointly managed by Arts Council Malta and Fondazzjoni Kreattività with the aim of engaging children and young adults with contemporary art while safeguarding the sus- tainability of the creative sector by offering educational and pro- fessional development opportu- nities. Director of Funding and Strat- egy Mary Ann Cauchi said: "This agreement is another important step towards implementing Malta's cultural strategy. It ad- dresses the main pillars priori- tised by Strategy2025, strength- ening collaborations between cultural organisations and art- ists and practitioners, while al- so directing public investment towards education. Mentorship programmes like Incubator play a crucial role in this, helping us support the professional devel- opment of artists, empowering them to flourish in their cultural and creative practice." The Executive Chairman of Fondazzjoni Kreattività Rupert Cefai stated that "this agree- ment marks a crucial collabora- tion between Arts Council Mal- ta and Fondazzjoni Kreattività. Central to Fondazzjoni Kreat- tività's mission is the cultiva- tion of strong partnerships with cultural organisations, artists, and creatives. Initiatives like the Incubator, hosted at Spazju Kreattiv, play a key role in this mission, as they not only nur- ture the professional growth of artists but also equip them with the tools and confidence to ex- cel in their creative and cultural endeavours." The exhibition will run be- tween November 8 and January 5, 2025, as part of the Spazju Kreattiv and ŻiguŻajg Interna- tional Arts Festival for Children and Young People programmes organised by Fondazzjoni Kreat- tività, with accompanying work- shops and events. Arts Council Malta announces €30,000 funding towards cultural educational initiatives The Executive Chairman of Fondazzjoni Kreattività Rupert Cefai (left) with Arts Council Malta Director of Funding and Strategy Mary Ann Cauchi ACROSS the Mediterranean, there ex- ists a series of fortified places of worship including churches, monasteries and mosques that have been preserved from the Late Middle Ages. This was the theme around which ap- proximately 30 scholars of medieval architecture, art historians, and archae- ologists from prestigious Italian and in- ternational universities gathered at the Archaeological Park of the Aeolian Is- lands Bernabò Brea Archaeological Mu- seum in Lipari (Aeolian Islands) from 3 to 5 October. Prof Charlene Vella from the Depart- ment of Art and Art History at the Uni- versity of Malta participated in this con- ference presenting a paper on the older, late medieval sections that survive in the architecture of the church now dedicated to St Anne at Fort St. Angelo in Malta. Titled "Defending Sacred Spaces: For- tified Churches and Monasteries in the Medieval Mediterranean (9th to 14th Century)," this conference marks the sec- ond international gathering on medieval Mediterranean architecture, following an earlier event in 2022, also held in Lipari, of the series 'Mediterraneo Medievale. Architettura, archeologia, arte' The focus at this second conference was on fortified religious architecture in Mediterranean countries, spanning from Greece to Morocco, Croatia to Tunisia, and including Spain, France, Malta, and Italy. The conference was organized by the Archaeological Park of the Aeolian Is- lands and the Laboratoire d'archéologie médiévale et moderne en Méditerranée (LA3M) at Aix-Marseille University. Sup- ported by the Assessorato dei Beni Cul- turali e dell'Identità Siciliana and the Dipartimento BBCC, the conference is the brainchild of Rosario Vilardo, Director of the Archaeological Mu- seum, and Fabio Linguanti, an architect and architec- tural historian (Politecni- co di Torino / LA3M – Aix Marseille Université), who al- so served as the convener. The event was endorsed by the University of Catania, the Archdiocese of Messina, Lipari, and Santa Lucia del Me- la, and the Municipality of Lipari. The conference featured presentations from scholars from various countries. Among these were Raoul Romero Medi- na (Complutense University of Madrid, Spain) examined fortified religious archi- tecture in Andalusia as an expression of power rather than military spaces; Lamia Hadda (University of Florence, Italy) pre- sented on the Great Mosque of Susse in Tunisia, highlighting its dual nature as a sacred space and fortress; Marie Ange Causarano (University of Messina, Ita- ly) discussed the Abbey of Casalvecchio Siculo, part of a network of Italo-Greek monasteries across the Strait; Adriano Napoli (University of Catania, Italy) pre- sented research on the medieval towers of Greek-rite monasteries; and Valeria Car- ta (University of Cagliari) who discussed the Santuario di Nostra Signora di Bonar- ia in Cagliari. Art historian from University of Malta at international conference in Lipari Prof Charlene Vella presented a paper on the older, late medieval sections that survive in the architecture of the church now dedicated to St Anne at Fort St. Angelo