Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/688389
maltatoday, SUNDAY, 5 JUNE 2016 41 MARTINA BORG THE death of 47-year-old Ma- nuel Micallef, better known as DJ Lito, shocked the nation due to its abruptness, when he was involved in a traffic collision in Cospicua, which overturned the car, killing him on the spot. For many, DJ Lito will always be remembered as a champion of the local rock scene, indeed some might even call him synonymous with the scene he cared about so dearly, but those who know him better, will no doubt remember his tendency to go against the grain, sometimes wading straight into controversy, however unwittingly. "You could almost always depend on him to not run with the herd. So whenever I hear his name I think of someone with a different point of view from whatever else most peo- ple are thinking about," Spazju Kre- attiv's artistic director Toni Sant told MaltaToday. Indeed his outspoken personal- ity landed him in hot water some months ago when he made some inappropriate comments on social media, after a supercar careened into spectators at a charity car show 'Paqpaqli ghall-Istrina' injuring a number of them grievously, last Oc- tober. The comments ultimately led to his dismissal from Capital, where he had had a long-running rock show. Asked whether the comments risked tainting his memory, Rad- ju Malta 2 producer Ray Bajada pointed out that the comment had amounted to a "silly comment", which ultimately didn't reflect any ill wishes or negative aspect of his personality. "I have only seen shock, sadness and deep respect shown during these last few days. Personally I can say it definitely did not... He was a rare diamond, albeit uncut and rough, still a diamond," Bajada said, adding that the brightness of his per- sonality had ultimately "outshone any dimming that an uncouth public comment might have evoked." Similarly, Sant pointed out that social media users and the national media had all shown respect to the DJ, noting that people had even set up a Facebook page in his memory. "If Lito ever became a household name it was through this notorious happening, but it was an integral part of the real Lito… He never had a public persona really. He was in his public life as he was in private life," he said, describing his sometimes black humour. Sant, who has known Lito since they were both teenagers, in the same rock circles, went on to de- scribe Lito as a "joker and prankster with a heart of gold". "My fondest memories of Lito come from his support for the M3P Foundation. He was very enthusias- tic about the preservation of intangi- ble heritage relating to the local rock scene and it was in this spirit that he chased me every year for almost the past decade to promote my annual Mużika Mod Ieħor Listeners' Picks poll, which he saw as a truly demo- cratic and representative barometer of the year's music releases." Bajada, who does not have such a long history with Lito, explained that he however had a deep respect for him, for being one of the first to strive in giving local band musicians an identity and a voice. "Everybody I know who knows Lito, loved him and respected him, for he was real, and although we did not share the same circles, it was al- ways a pleasure to meet him," Bajada added. True to their words, a tribute con- cert will be held for the DJ towards the end of June, with funds collected at the event going to the Community Chest Fund, the charity behind the aforementioned Paqpaqli crash. The fact has escaped Sant's notice, who said it was rather ironic that the con- cert would benefit the Community Chest Fund, given Lito's "substantial reservations about the charity". "I'm sure that if he could have his say on the beneficiaries of this trib- ute concert he would certainly not pick the Community Chest Fund, but instead one of the various Cot- tonera-based initiatives, such as Mid-Dlam għad-Dawl, which was quite close to his heart." This Week Local rock champion with a heart of gold – DJ Lito remembered DJ Lito International art experts in Malta for Valletta 2018 Curatorial School THIS August, the Valletta 2018 Foundation and the University of Malta will bring together curators from major international art insti- tutions and over 150 local art prac- titioners and students. Through lectures and interactive workshops, the Curatorial School will explore a variety of topics that are highly relevant to professional networking, career development and the historical and theoretical study of the expanded curatorial field. The theme of this year's Curatori- al School is Curating the New. Par- ticipants will explore how contem- porary art curators negotiate ideas and commission new work from artists. Other programme topics include the ownership and defini- tion of 'new' ideas in curated ex- hibitions, how artists and curators negotiate 'new' ideas and emerg- ing practices and 'new' media with each other, and what new dialogues are initiated by curators between artists in group shows. International guest speakers in- clude Yuko Hasegawa (The Muse- um of Contemporary Art, Tokyo), Fumihiko Sumitomo (Arts Mae- bashi, Japan), Renate Buschmann (Director of imai, Dusseldorf), Antje Weitzel (The Berlin Bien- nale), Michaela Crimmin (The Royal College of Art, London), Se- bastian Cichocki (The Museum of Modern Art in Warsaw), Nadim Samman (The Moscow Interna- tional Biennale for Young Art) and Suzanne Wallinga (A Tale of a Tub project). A series of interactive workshops will complete this exciting pro- gramme, offering participants the opportunity to respond to tasks put forward by guest curators and receive extensive feedback on as- pects of curating, producing and presenting new ideas. Workshop themes include 'Curating Light Art Projects in Public Space', 'Curating in a Maltese Context', 'Curating New Productions', 'Art in the Pub- lic Domain' and 'From Concept to Exhibition'. Curatorial School Director Raph- ael Vella said that now entering its third year this week-long pro- gramme has become an established point of contact between interna- tional curators and young artists or curators based in Malta. Vella believes the Curatorial School will create real opportunities for emerg- ing curators to exchange ideas with international counterparts and ini- tiate more long-term projects and relations with foreign institutions. Artists, curators and student are encouraged to apply to attend to further their careers through in- sightful lectures and professional networking. Applications are open at http://valletta2018.org/registra- tion until June 24 PHOTOGRAPHY BY ELISA VON BROCKDORFF