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maltatoday, SUNDAY, 5 JULY 2015 This Week 39 Tenth edition of Malta Arts Festival gets underway next week Locals become tour guides through newly launched immersive tourism project – enhancing the communities PREPARATIONS for Malta's larg- est international arts festival, now in its tenth edition, have been ongoing for months now. Art- ists from around the world will be placed side-by-side with their Mal- tese counterparts for 14 perform- ances and a separate programme of workshops, master classes and fringe events. The Festival opens with a free event on July 10 at Valletta City Gate at 21:00. Pendulum Choir is an original choral piece for nine a cappella voices and eighteen hy- draulic jacks. The choir stands on tilting platforms, constituting a liv- ing, sonorous body which express- es itself through various physical states and whose plasticity varies at the mercy of its sonority – be it abstract, repetitive, lyrical or nar- rative sounds. Experimental and multidiscipli- nary artist Miguel Chevalier, comes to Malta with a new commission – Pixels Wave 2015, a generative and interactive virtual reality installa- tion with a giant carpet of moving lights that will fill Republic Street at City Gate, in front of Malta's New Parliament Building. The in- stallation, which will open on July 10 and remain throughout the fes- tival, will consist of various multi- coloured scenes, one following another in random fashion, each composed of symbolic motifs from the digital universe, mathemati- cal symbols, and also fragments of Malta's history. Another free event is Meeting the Odyssey, a social and artistic col- laborative project set on the ship named Hoppet that has sailed from the Baltic to the Mediterranean Sea. Each summer from 2014 to 2016, artists and organizers from different European countries trav- el together, giving workshops and performing theatre pieces. Land- ing an Odyssey is the other side of nostos – being back home after a long absence. It is homesickness, the impossibility of recognizing, of being recognized. Meeting the Od- yssey in Malta is being held in col- laboration with Transport Malta and Cospicua Local Council. This will be held between the July 10 and 12; 16 and 18 at 21:00 at Dock No. 1, Bormla. Kibbutz Contemporary Dance Company (KCDC), one of the lead- ing dance companies in the world, is widely identified with the work of Artistic Director Rami Be'er whose exclusive and unique cho- reographic character has become the company's trademark both in Israel and abroad. With its technically strong and physically eclectic cast of dancers and its dynamic sensibility, KCDC characterises Israeli dance at its best and performs regularly in the most respected theatres and at leading festivals worldwide. Their original dance piece If At All is a moving theatrical event in figurative and abstract circles, from the closed form to the open struc- ture. If At All which is supported by the Israeli Embassy will be held on July 11 and 12 at 21:00 at Ar- gotti Gardens, Floriana, always as part of The Malta International Arts Festival. If At All will be followed by The Musical Voyages of Marco Polo also at Argotti Gardens, Floriana at 21:00. Two of the most respected ensembles of Mediterranean mu- sical tradition, En Chordais and Constantinople, join forces to rec- reate a colourful musical journey in tribute to Marco Polo. Commis- sioned by the Silk Road Art Music Festival of Hong Kong, this multi- disciplinary performance offers a unique tableau of historical, musi- cal and visual materials as well as new compositions. For more information and a full programme log on to www. maltaartsfestival.org PARLIAMENTARY secretary for Local Government Stefan Buon- tempo, inaugurated a tourism project on Tuesday which places the residents of Ħal Safi, Qrendi and Ħal Kirkop at its centre. The project, entitled "Discover- ing Malta and Gozo through its people and culture" is the result of a joint venture between the Malta Tourism Society and the Institute for Tourism, Travel and Culture of the University of Malta, in collab- oration with the Ħal Safi, Qrendi and Ħal Kirkop local councils. Through this project, two itiner- aries were devised, which will lead visitors to visit different places of interest. However, the most im- portant aspect of their tour will be their total immersion in the local way of life, as the tour is based on the tourists' interaction with lo- cals with the aim of maximising their tour experience. Buontempo said the project "enhances our communities, as it recognises the fact that the inhab- itants are the added value of our towns and villages." He praised the project for being "innovative in its simplicity" as it steers away from the concept of conventional excursions and is aimed at provid- ing a holistic experience of what it means to be Maltese to visitors through food, customs and inter- action with locals. He referred to the importance given to village feasts with re- gards to tourism. However, he remarked that "the village feast takes place only once a year. Our towns and villages are beautiful all year round and we should appre- ciate them throughout the year, after all, we live in them all year round." Buontempo said, "The great- est merit of this project is to put residents at the forefront of the itinerary as the protagonists, to- gether with the environment they inhabit. The project will help resi- dents acquire skills on how to in- teract with their visitors through storytelling and narration of their experiences. Visitors will be able to be guided off the beaten track by knowledgeable locals who can help them discover some of the lesser known histories which no guidebook so far could possibly recall." First week of Malta International Arts Festival will feature digital installations, dance performance and music by local and international artists The Malta Tourism Society and the Institute for Tourism, Travel and Culture of the University of Malta, in collaboration with the Hal Safi, Qrendi and Hal Kirkop local councils collaborated on the project Parliamentary secretary for Local Government Stefan Buontempo Dance production Kibbutz