Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/753405
maltatoday, SUNDAY, 20 NOVEMBER 2016 31 This Week Bursting the baroque bubble might be a lot of fun, but wouldn't necessarily resonate with the tone of the games. Instead I look to writers like Jorge Luis Borges, Robert W. Chambers and Thomas Ligotti; writers who take this sort of oblique approach to mythologies that take well known ele- ments and make them deeply unsettling. Wijngaard: Firstly, I'm a HUGE 'Souls' fan. So, when we had the opportunity to work on a story together it was fantastic. I was actu- ally sat with Dan in a café when he was writing the script, months before I was attached as the artist. So I jumped at the chance when it arose. I understood Dan's direction of the script like second na- ture. It never felt like work and was probably the most fun I have had on a comic outside of LIMBO. It's a far stretch visually from LIMBO but I always like to push myself visually, fantasy is actually something I'm more comfortable with as an artist. Both Dark Souls and Assassin's Creed are spun off from video games. How does this affect your respective takes on them in comic book form? Are there any key challenges you have to contend with when helping shift one property from video game to comic book? Watters: Assassin's Creed is a really interesting franchise in that everything, be it game, comic or novel, is part of one grand conti- nuity that Ubisoft take great care over crafting. The series I'm cur- rently writing with Alex Paknadel, (writer of Boom! Studios' Turn- coat and Arcadia) is wrapping up the Phoenix Project arc, which has been building through the last few years of the games. So, we're dealing with characters like Otso Berg, Galina Voronina and Violet da Costa who are well known to the Assassin's Creed faithful, and bringing conflicts to a head which have been gestating for years. Which yeah, brings with it a certain pressure to do right by the characters and the franchise, but also opens us up to throw differ- ent questions at them, and really challenge their established reali- ties, their views of the world, something that I think we have a little more scope to do in a comic than in a video game. Wijngaard: As an artist, it was a great learning process. Assassin's Creed was my first foray into licenced work, I was working closely with Ubisoft and Titan making sure everything looked and felt like part of the Assassin's Creed universe. I always appreciated the art direction of the video game series and took for granted the amount of research and attention to detail go into each respective chapter of the universe. My book was based in the 'Syndicate' London era, I was already a fan of that particular game but I now feel connected to that universe and its characters on a personal level. As you may know, Malta played host to the Assassin's Creed film production – lending it some crucial locales. Having dipped your own creative oars into that world, are you excited to check out some of the locations used in the film adaptation? Watters: Definitely. The island has such a wonderfully rich and eclectic history, which I've been reading up on as much as I've had time to, so I'm really excited to explore Malta as a whole. I think the film comes out a week or a two after the Malta Comic Con, so hop- ing to recognise some of the sites in celluloid form. Wijngaard: I didn't actually. But I will definitely be keeping an eye out now, I'm very excited about visiting Malta. Like Dan, I'll be keeping a keen eye out when I see it on the big screen. On that note, are you excited about forming part of the Malta Comic Con? What kind of vibe are you expecting from the event? Watters: Good friends who fly over regularly for the con have been badgering us to attend for a few years now, telling us that it's one of their favourites, so really looking forward to getting over and seeing it for myself. We're just coming off the back of Thought Bubble in Leeds, so the Malta Comic Con seems like it'll be a great way to ring out the year. Wijngaard: Absolutely, I have been meaning to attend for a few years. Unfortunately, my work schedule always interfered. I've heard so many great things about the Con from friends and creators that have attended and can't wait to jump on that flight! The eighth edition of the Malta Comic Con will be taking place at MFCC, Ta' Qali on December 3 (10:00 to 18:00) and December 4 (11:00 to 19:00). For general information, tickets and a full line-up of local and international guests and participants, log on to http:// www.maltacomic-con.com/ or search for 'Malta Comic Con 2016' on Facebook Detail from Caspar Wijngaard's work on the Dark Souls series from Titan Comics Ahead of its third edition, TEODOR RELJIC speaks to Joseph Lia, Artistic Director of the Malta International Organ Festival, which will this year be taking place from November 19 to December 9 across various cathedrals, basilicas and churches in both Malta and Gozo What is the history of the Malta International Or- gan Festival, and how has it evolved over the three years it's been held? The festival started humbly in 2014. It is evolving and will con- tinue to evolve to include differ- ent concepts, and attract new audiences and audiences from abroad. Apart from the fact that it's strictly focused on the organ, how would you say it differs from other festivals organised around the island over the years? The organ is the main instru- ment and clearly, the primary focus of the festival, for obvi- ous reasons. However, it will be used and presented as variously as the composers tend to use it: be it as soloist, part of ensemble, or to accompany and as basso continuo. The festival is also notable for its use of commu- nity spaces, away from the usual concentration of cultural events in Valletta, and it is actually the only festival that actively in- volves both the islands of Malta and Gozo within its remit. It will also encourage direct audience partici- pation – as in the case of the concerts by Wayne Marshall – and the mu- sic will be taken to dif- ferent communities. And the audiences who would typically attend concerts in Valletta will, thanks to the Festival, be encour- aged to appreciate the beauty of the churches in Birkirkara or Zejtun, and the artefacts they possess. The Festival will also explore venues like Loop Bar in Strait Street, Valletta so as to capture new audiences, and some of its events will also be taking place at country- side chapels (with an in- stalled positivo organ). What would you say the various venues used by the festival contribute to the overall experience? The churches are the best ven- ues. They are loaded with arti- facts which our fathers crowd- funded to make their church the best one around. Could you pinpoint some of the highlights of this year's edition? I would say that the Bir Miftuh concert – encompassing the vi- olin, cello and organ – is a defi- nite highlight, along with the November 30 concert, when we will get to hear the Malta Phil- harmonic Orchestra Brass En- semble accompanied by the or- gan and also during the Grand Finale. What do you make of Malta's musical scene? What would you change about it? If I were to compare it to St Petersburgh – the city I lived in for eight years – the Maltese scene is still somewhat lacking in quality. Thankfully, the vari- ous festivals organised through- out the year help to inject some quality into the Maltese classical music scene. In Malta, we are mainly con- centrating our efforts on the contemporary and baroque, and most of the funding is going in that direction. However, we are forgetting that other styles and genres of classical music exist, and that they're equally impor- tant. In order to understand classical music, one cannot just fossilise themselves into the ba- roque. In other countries, audi- ences evolved as they were grad- ually exposed to different styles; in Malta, we make the mistake of trying to jump ahead without any transition. The Malta International Or- gan Festival does not, in fact, re- strict its audience's experience to just one style – it ranges from baroque to contemporary. For more information and a full programme of events, log on to http://www.maltainterna- tionalorganfestival.com/ The Malta International Organ Festival will be taking place across various religious venues in Malta and Gozo Joseph Lia