Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/459448
VII This week maltatoday, Sunday, 8 February 2015 Horizons, have just released a new-style book called Malta Poema Viziva by Victor Fenech. The book is a paean to the Maltese islands through selected episodes from local history by means of authentic photos and colour designs. It can in fact be taken as a series of tableaux accompanied by a small body of poems on historical timescapes as also some socio-political com- ments on our times. Into these themes the author has injected a mixture of 'capric- es' with the word 'Malta', as also examples of 'Concrete Poetry' which in the latter half of the Twentieth Century had enjoyed a bonanza in both the Americas and in European countries like France, Switzerland and the UK. These contrasting styles of com- munication are meant to convey a literary message by means of graphic structuring of words, the 'word-image' in this case being the name Malta. "I wanted to create a bird 's eye view of Maltese history, mainly the resilience of a small island people who worked their way through centuries of colonial rule to finally attain Independ- ence," Fenech said. "I realised I could not take in the whole vista, so concentrated mostly (but not exclusively) on the last two cen- turies leading to contemporary Malta. And I wanted to express it in a different literary style to the poetry I was writing at the time." Inevitably the book has a cer- tain idiosyncratic nature. It is a hybrid project which the author started on his typewriter in the 60s, has worked on it in fits and starts, and has now deemed it time to deliver. "The idea really first struck me in 1966, when I was studying at London University and at our regular poetry meets I got in contact with various well-known poets and modes of poetic expression. Like sound poetry, visual poetry, and that mid-century phe- nomenon Concrete Poetry which for two to three decades was extremely popular in experimen- tal circles in Europe and South America. I could see in its word- image combo an excellent way to express my views, because from the beginning I felt that for this particular work, or project, the visual element would be a must," Fenech said. Fenech added that he actually started work on an old typewriter (some work of which is still reproduced in the book) only to find that the typewriter was very limiting, "even with additional letraset and some monochrome photos," since colour reproduc- tion was costly at the time. The project was shelved, but "the advent of technology changed all that". Fenech points out that the delay ensured the project became "a must last year", to coincide with a number of important national anniversaries. Fenech enlisted the help of graphic de- signer Robert Caruana to help him collate the "hybrid " book. "The final result I aimed at was an amal- gam of text, photos, designs, caprices, and whatnot to give it an eclectic feel – which also extends to the content it discusses, namely history and poli- tics, language and literature, even modern day aberrations which are now eroding the very fabric we have built with so much hard- ship and sometimes great pain. The nature of the last section is in fact that of sociopolitical pro- test to current corrupt practices which have driven many Maltese into a love-hate relationship with their island home. Indeed a case of Quo Vadis, Malta?" Art before the Knights Charlene Vella sheds light on a rich but somewhat neglected period in local art history, as she speaks to TeOdOr reLJIC about her book, The Mediterranean artistic Context of Late Medieval Malta What led you to focus on this particular period of Maltese history? When I was an undergraduate student at the University of Malta, I took study units that dealt with the various periods of the history of Maltese art, amongst others. One of them was on Malta before the Knights, specifically the Late Middle Ages and Renaissance taught by Professor Mario Buhagiar. The course was an eye-opener, and the professor's love for the subject and my fascination for a period of art his- tory which is often very much mis- understood, made me want to learn and discover more. So, when I chose to pursue my postgraduate studies in Art History, it seemed natural to work with Professor Buhagiar on the art of Malta's Middle Ages. This book, in fact, is the result of four years of research that was presented as my Masters' thesis. How much awareness do you think there is about this artistic milieu among the general Maltese population? Those in the know would know of some examples of Maltese Medieval artefacts, but the general public still needs to be better informed on this period of our his- tory that really moulded the identity of the islands. It is little known that Medieval Malta possessed sophisti- cated networks of artistic patron- age. It is similarly little known that many works of art of significant importance had already reached the Maltese Islands before the arrival of the Knights of St John in 1530. For instance, everybody knows about the Knights of St John and the origins of Valletta, but not much about the complex history of the Maltese Late Medieval gentry and their beautiful palazzi in Mdina for example. Mdina is the best example, even though it was much altered when buildings were given a Baroque facelift in later centuries. If one looks up at the top floors you can still see countless Late Medieval two-light or mullioned windows – an extremely elegant Gothic type of aperture that attests to the strong presence of Spanish influence on Malta between 1282 and 1530 – among other things. However, in the villages too, one can still come across numerous Late Me- dieval elements such as the muxrabija – a peep window that was inherited from the Muslim tradition – and several roundel carvings with geometric or foliated motifs, and more. Another fascinating aspect are wall paintings, such as the Mellieħa Sanctuary icon of the Madonna and Child, which is probably the oldest extant image of the subject on the Maltese Islands, but it is not as old as some of us would like to think. Legend has it that St Luke himself painted this and other icons when he was shipwrecked with St Paul in A.D. 60, but it can stylistically be dated to the thirteenth century. What were some of the main challenges in putting this work together? The book deals with research that covers over 400 years of our history. I therefore had to read about the history of the several different rulers that conquered the islands and their territories abroad. Also, the book deals with paint- ings, wall paintings, sculpture and architecture, which means that I had to be well-read on all of the medieval aspects relating to them and the methods used. This research does not only study medieval works of art and architecture extant on Malta and Gozo, but it places them in their meaningful art historical context. The book is in fact called 'The Mediterranean Context of Late Medieval Malta: 1091-1530' precisely because I studied the artistic influ- ences that reached the Maltese Islands from Western Europe and North Africa, and reinterpreted the existing knowledge by studying works of art abroad. This meant that for four years I travelled vastly in Italy, Sicily, Tunisia, Spain, particu- larly Catalunya, and France, studying works of art and architecture and finding out the similarities between the Maltese works and those in these countries. It was intense, but it never put me off from wanting to further my studies. 'Another important focus is to show that Malta before the Knights was not the artistic desert that it is often thought to have been': What would you say are some of the most striking examples of this? I'd say that among the highlights I must mention the Ħal Millieri se- ries of frescoes of saints, a Venetian bell dating to 1370 with an image of St Paul in the Mdina Cathedral Museum and an International Gothic Catalan polyptych of St Paul that was the main altarpiece of Mdina's Late Medieval Cathedral. This Cathedral was certainly one of Malta's most important buildings, and it was endowed with these and other artefacts that survive, and its architecture must have been sensitively developed. This is also studied and discussed in the book. We then have a number of exam- ples of Italian Renaissance works of art that were similarly imported before the Knights reached the islands. Mdina Cathedral possessed a marble holy water stoup (now in Gharb, Gozo) and a baptismal font (still in the Cathedral) imported from the Domenico Gagini and his workshop in Sicily. Another Sicilian Renaissance connec- tion is evidenced through several panel paintings by the nephews of Antonello da Messina. Da Messina was an undisputed master of the Early Renaissance in Italy, and after his death, his nephews followed in his footsteps, producing altarpieces and other devotional works for Sicilian, Calabrian, and Maltese patrons. These include two newly-restored panels by Antonio de Saliba in the church of Ta' Ġieżu in Rabat, Malta, the Madonna and Child Enthroned at the Żejtun Parish Museum at- tributed to Antonio, and two panels by Salvo d'Antonio in the Mdina Cathedral Museum, one of which is a long panel or predella that was the lowest tier of an altarpiece in the church of the Nunnery of St Peter in Mdina. These paintings now form part of my PhD research, which I am in the process of com- pleting under the tutelage of Dr Donal Cooper from the University of Cambridge. would you say are some of the Mdina for example. Mdina is the best example, even though it was much altered when buildings were given a Baroque facelift in later centuries. If one looks up at the top floors you can still see countless Late Medieval two-light or mullioned windows – an extremely elegant Gothic type of aperture that attests to the strong presence of Spanish influence on Malta between 1282 and 1530 – among other things. However, in the villages too, one can still come across numerous Late Me- dieval elements such as the muxrabija – a peep window that was inherited from the Muslim tradition Quo Vadis Malta? new book of concrete poetry charts Malta's history in anniversaries Charlene Vella 'The Beheading of St Paul' from the St Paul polyptych, Mdina Cathedral Museum St Augustine of Hippo, Fresco in the church of the Annunciation at Hal Millieri, Zurrieq