Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/556862
maltatoday, SUNDAY, 16 AUGUST 2015 This Week 33 WHO are the people living in Valletta? What does it mean to be a Belti? How do Beltin see their city? While Zvezdan Reljic photographed the twenty volun- teers, these were the questions anthropologist Elise Pisani asked. There are many different ways to define what makes someone a Belti, there is no single legitimate definition. "Artists come to live in the old capital for its unique feel, its mo- dernity deeply embedded in nos- talgia. Some people fell in love in the city and then fell in love with the city. Others, 'born and bred in the streets of the city' claim that they have no home but Val- letta," Pisani said. The street life is in every one's mouth. It's "grandness", its "five- star buildings", or the playfulness of everyday encounters, the ur- ban feel without the anonymity and loneliness. However, Pisani adds that it "would be a mistake to think that every inhabitant of Valletta shares this pride like a decora- tion pinned on their chest". "As some confess, they refrain from stating that they live in Val- letta; but even those who keep their roots discreet still go out of their house to spend hours look- ing at the sea. "When in a melancholic mood they sit on St. Barbara's bastions and when in love they meet at the breakwater. Whether emphati- cally proclaimed like a poem to life, or hidden like a shame- ful family secret, the city always penetrates the body and memory of its citizens," Pisani says. Artist's bio Zvezdan Reljic is a publishing industry specialist with 30 years of hands-on experience in pho- tography, pre-press, printing and graphic design. He graduated from the Graphic Arts School in Belgrade in 1983 with a spe- cialisation in Photography Re- production. During his career he worked for several pre-press, newspaper and magazine design departments. He currently holds workshops on black-and-white film photography and darkroom printing and is working on sev- eral of his own photography projects. Researcher's bio Dr.Elise Billiard holds a Ph.D in Anthropology from the Universi- ty of Aix-Marseille. She has also exhibited her photographs and installations in Germany, France, Roumania and Malta. In 2012, she published, with photogra- pher David Pisani, a collabora- tive research project on Valletta's City Gate entitled "Transit". Last year they published another pho- tographic project on Paceville and its public spaces, entitled "Night&Day". Dr.Elise Billiard lectures at University of Malta. The Beltin exhibition will take place at Heritage Malta, Melita Street, Valletta from August 31 to September 20 WHAT'S ON The Valletta 2018 Foundation will explore what it means to be a Valletta resident – a 'Belti' – with a new project combining research and film photography, culminating with an exhibition starting at the end of the month and forming part of the Valletta International Visual Arts Festival (VIVA) Valletta: showcasing its inhabitants PHOTOGRAPHY BY ZVEZDAN RELJIC Villa Mekrech opens its doors for a musical summer party FLIMKIEN għal Ambjent Aħjar (FAA) invites guests to a musical summer party on Friday 21 Au- gust at Villa Mekrech, Għaxaq. This privately-owned Baroque villa has an enchanting garden, which is being opened to the pub- lic for the first time in recognition of FAA's ongoing campaign to save the outer garden from devel- opment. This is a unique opportunity to enjoy this Baroque garden which is never usually open to the pub- lic. Organised in collaboration with 'F Sharp Events', this musical evening will include a concert by Deborah Attard singing light pop- ular songs, tenor Arthur Micallef singing well-known Neapolitan songs and an operatic aria, as well as mezzo-soprano Christine Dalli singing musica da camera and an operatic aria. The evening includes plentiful finger food and wine to be enjoyed in the cool, tree-lined setting of Villa Mekrech's garden. FAA has been campaigning against the ruination of Villa Me- krech's garden ever since 2008, when MEPA granted a permit to build blocks of apartments in the outer garden of Villa Mekrech. In 2010, FAA succeeded in securing scheduling (protection) of the villa and its gardens, but this is still be- ing challenged at the MEPA ap- peals Tribunal. Admission for FAA members is at €38, while non-members pay €40. The dress code is smart, jack- ets are optional. The event begins at 7:30pm on Friday 21 August, in Triq Santa Marija, (facing the parish church façade) corner with Sqaq no. 2. The event has been generously sponsored by F Sharp Agency, Attard & Co. Ltd, Ecovis and Far- sons. To book visit ticketengine.faa.org. mt or www.faa.org.mt Portraits of two 'Beltin' Zvezdan Reljic photographing one of his subjects Villa Mekrech in Ghaxaq