Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/195525
40 maltatoday, THIS WEEK SUNDAY, 20 OCTOBER 2013 PechaKucha 'slide night' comes to Valletta PechaKucha Night has arrived in Valletta. PechaKucha Night (PKN) is a 'slide night' where the format guarantees short snappy presentations, on any topic, and the first Malta edition will take place on October 24 at British Legion Bar, 111 Melita Street, Valletta at 20:00. PechaKucha Night was devised by Astrid Klein and Mark Dytham of Klein Dytham architecture and first held in Tokyo in their club, SuperDeluxe, in February 2003. PechaKucha Nights are now happening in close to 700 cities around the world. It's the perfect platform for people to show and share their work and for face-to-face social networking. PechaKucha Nights are mostly held in fun spaces with a bar – spaces for 'thinking and drinking'. Good PechaKucha presentations are the ones that uncover the unexpected - unexpected talent, unexpected ideas. Some PechaKuchas tell great stories about a project or a trip. Some are incredibly personal, some are incredibly funny, but all are very different. The global PechaKucha network is organized and supported by Klein Dytham architecture, and each PechaKucha Night is run by a city organiser. About the organisers Nicole Bearman is a veteran PechaKucha organiser, having been producer of PechaKucha Night Sydney for seven years. She is an arts professional who has worked as a producer, curator, editor, writer and consultant across the creative industries in Australia, and now Malta. Jon Banthorpe is a freelance art director and designer working in both Malta and abroad. He was a founding member of Malta Contemporary Art, and is an active organiser and curator within the Kinemastik short film organisation. He designs books, websites and other things. For more information contact Nicole Bearman (99 913929) or Jon Banthorpe (99 84 8013) or log on to www.pechakucha.org. PechaKucha Night Valletta is supported by V.18 and Kinemastik. Restoration of St Angelo altarpiece The newly-restored 17th-century altarpiece, a wooden high-relief sculpture of St Anne with the infant Mary that adorns the Chapel of St Anne at Fort St Angelo, was unveiled yesterday by the Hon. Parliamentary Secretary Jose Herrera. This is one of the various projects that have been undertaken by heritage and environment NGO Flimkien ghal Ambjent Ahjar (FAA), as part of its remit to protect and promote Malta's vast and rich architectural and cultural heritage. The conservation carried out by conservator David Frank Bugeja turned out to be lengthy and demanding; as in addition to the extensive surface damage, the works revealed severe infestation in the interior of the wooden statue. This confirmed FAA's concern that if not taken in hand immediately, the altarpiece would have been lost. The conservation work has been sponsored by the Atlas Insurance as part of its corporate social responsibility programme as well as by artists who participated in an exhibition, 'Three Cities – Eve of the Renaissance' who provided the original seed money for this project. FAA Coordinator Astrid Vella thanked the Atlas Group, the artists, as well as the restorer for their generosity and hard work, adding that that whilst the Knights of the Sover- eign Military Order of Malta dedicate their resources to running medical and humanitarian projects on every continent of the world, FAA has been happy to support them and the St Angelo restoration effort with the conservation of this important work of art which dates back to the 1600s and adds to Malta's rich cultural heritage. Atlas Insurance CEO, Michael Gatt shared his satisfaction on seeing the altarpiece restored. "We at Atlas are proud to be able to support the preservation of our heritage as part of our corporate social responsibility. We firmly believe in the importance of assisting NGOs like Flimkien ghal Ambjent Aħjar in their aims, not only to rehabilitate our heritage but also to keep Malta's history alive for the generations to come." Parliamentary Secretary Jose Herrera concluded the presentation by thanking Flimkien ghal Ambjent Aħjar, conservator David Bugeja and Atlas for their work to save this prized piece of art. Herrera confirmed his government's commitment to support NGOs and private enterprises that undertake such initiatives and announced that a number of provisions such as waiving of VAT charges on such projects are being planned in order to further assist NGOs in their sterling work. Glyphosate – demands and way forward 374. ARAAR Trees can be broadly divided into two groups: flowering trees and conifers, with these last far outnumbered by the flowerers, species wise. In Malta we only have 3 or 4 native conifers, and 20 years ago one of these was virtually unknown to the general public. But that all changed when the Environment Secretariat of those days declared it our national tree. Yes, it's the lovely, scaly-leaved, evergreen Araar. It became a star almost overnight and suddenly everyone wanted to plant Araar in their garden, school or afforestation project (there are over 500 planted at Foresta 2000 alone). And this was a good thing because the tree was seriously rare in Malta, with singles or a few growing wild at just 3 or 4 sites. The Araar (Gharghar) is not endemic to Malta but it's still special to us in that in all Europe it only grows here. Okay and in Spain. Have you signed the REFERENDUM PETITION to BAN SPRING HUNTING? Please write to cashmalta2013@gmail.com. Thanks. Text Victor Falzon | Photo Desirée Falzon Given that tests made by Friends of the Earth have clearly shown that glyphosate is present in humans, we want to know how the glyphosate found in human urine samples has entered the body and what the impacts of persistent exposure to low levels of glyphosate might be. What happens to the glyphosate that remains in the body? Friends of the Earth demands that the EU and national governments start a monitoring programme for glyphosate in food and feed, including imported animal feed crops such as GM soy. Levels of glyphosate (and its breakdown product AMPA) in the environment should also be monitored, covering aquatic systems and soil. These monitoring programmes should be comprehensive and the results should be made available to the public without delay. On a national scale, governments must introduce a glyphosate reduction programme and desiccation (spraying crops shortly before the harvest) should be banned without delay. All other uses for glyphosate should be evaluated by 2015, existing maximum residue limits (MRLs) should be re-evaluated, and there must be no further increases in the MRLs. No glyphosate resistant genetically modified crops should be authorized in the EU. At the same time, food processors and retailers should minimise their customers' exposure to glyphosate residues by specifying glyphosate-free products from their suppliers. They should extend their internal pesticides monitoring programme and include glyphosate in their regular testing. Visit Friends of the Earth's website for more information about our work, as well as for information about how to join us www.foemalta.org. You can also support us by sending a blank SMS donation on 50618070 (€4.66) or 50619223 (€11.65). GREEN IDEA OF THE WEEK 275 Still using rechargeable batteries? – Next time you need to buy a gift or something for your home, look for products that don't need batteries, such as wind-up or solar-powered gadgets and toys. If you really can't avoid batteries, choose rechargeable ones - they'll save you money in the long run.