Images of the North West

These are images to accompany the adjacent post, more or less in the order of the text. Somehow I managed to put up two copies of the same picture and I still don't know how to get rid of it! Here are headings for each photo.
1. Skorba standing stones
2. Floor of one of the ancient dwellings found next to Skorba temple
3. Ta Hagrat
4. Plant and rock at Ta Hagrat
5. The cat of Ta Hagrat
6. Rolling stones - one theory is that these were used to move the stones into place
7. The fault line
8. Tiny garigue plants with my loaned stick
9 & 10 Sedimentary rock layers

The North West

Something about the North West of a region seems to bring out the more rugged, wild side. I was born on an island on the wild West coast of Scotland; in the North West of Australia I have traveled through the dramatic landscape of the Kimberley; in the North West of Tasmania, I have been humbled by the Tarkine wilderness area, that is now under threat.

Malta is a tiny island, heavily developed with an ancient history of human influence, yet the North West retains something of the natural landscape and boasts the first of Malta's National Parks, il Majjestral. This is the area that the Malta Ramblers chose for their weekend pre-Christmas retreat this year.

Alex Vella and Sam Grech had laid on a full programme for us. I am not used to the luxury of having someone else make all arrangements for me and I really enjoyed falling in with the group for a whole weekend. If I had twinges of conscience about staying at a luxury hotel that intrudes outrageously on the landscape, my misgivings were assuaged by the fascinating natural and cultural resources we were able to access readily from such a base.

I missed out on the first walk on Friday afternoon because there was too much happening at home, the bus route between Valletta and Golden Bay is tortuously slow and I was unsure about how my recently sprained ankle would deal with what promised to be a difficult walk. The route led along the Westerly cliff of the park and dipped down into the boulder strewn drop-off below the fault line that forms the cliffs. For now, I have to content myself with looking down on this rich terrain from the garigue above. I have attended an excellent lecture by Analise Falzon, Parks Ranger, in which she discussed how the tumbled, boulder strewn areas below the cliff edge becomes a protected habitat for a variety of flora and fauna. The park area also extends out into the sea.

I arrived at the hotel on Friday evening in time to be stunned by the magnificent sunset view over Golden Bay to the Ghan Tuffieha headland. It was a dramatic cocktail before finding my way down for the first of our indulgent buffet dinners. There is something about being in a large group of people that gives us all permission to eat far more than we need. Perhaps it is a deep memory of more ancient times when clans and communities would come together to celebrate a successful hunt in a lean season or fatten up before an anticipated period of scarcity. Whatever the excuse, it was a great way to mellow out before the quiz night that had been planned for us by the unstoppable Sam.

Saturday was planned as a full day of walks and visits that we could drop out of at several points during the day if we wanted an early return to the hotel. First we walked to the Elysium, a plant nursery run by the GAIA foundation where Maltese native flowers, shrubs and trees are reared from seed to be planted around the island. This was a great opportunity for me. I came away with an enormous list of possible plants for my dream roof garden.

The groundswell of public opinion in favour of preserving and extending the cultivation of endemic species is now supported by the development of nurseries such as Elysium. I am hopeful that it won't be too long before roundabouts and public gardens will boast collections of garigue and endemic plants. I recall when I lived in Redlandshire, south of Brisbane in Australia, the local council ran a native plant nursery where they had laid out examples of private gardens using only endemic species. Local people were enabled to consider how to develop their own gardens using endemic plants rather than exotics.

From the nursery, we walked up over garigue paths past Ghan Tuffieha bay where my father painted a water colour of the bay sixty years ago. The old hotel that must have been operating in those days is now abandoned and falling into ruin awaiting permits to develop. I am hopeful that the unpredictability of the terrain in that area and a changing climate about over development of tourist sites will prevent that from happening.

From there, we followed paths and country roads until we arrived at Zebbiegh where we paused for lunch. Very few of us felt like eating after an over-indulgent buffet breakfast. Some decided that the morning's walk had been enough for them and caught a bus back to the hotel. My ankle had felt vulnerable on the garigue and I was grateful to another Rambler who arranged for her husband to meet us at Zebbiegh with a stick for me to use.

The lunch stop was close to the Skorba temple which was our first afternoon visit. I have walked past the site several times and have read about it in the archeological books I have on my shelves but this was the first time I was able to enter the site with a knowledgeable guide. The site is quite small and bounded by more recent development but nevertheless is very significant in terms of a fuller understanding of the temple building era.

The site at Ta Hagrat in Mgarr which was our second visit is no bigger than Skorba but the familiar layout of circular apses is more readable. The site is unique in having steps leading up to the main entrance.

I was tired as we completed our tour of the two temples and was happy to catch a bus back to the hotel along with several other members of the group including our leader, Alex! The remaining members walked back along the cliffs to join us at another over indulgent buffet dinner followed by a quiz night.

On our last day we were scheduled to walk through il Majjestral National Park accompanied by leading naturalist, Analise Falzon. We met up with her at the entrance to the old British barracks which have recently been handed over to the Parks administration. As we walked up through the barracks we were treated to a first-hand glimpse of the tensions that needed to be negotiated between Parks administration and habitual users of the area.

During our initial briefing, several off-road vehicles roared past us and Analise explained how signs or closed gates usually had a life-span of less than one week before being ripped down or vandalised. Traditional hunters and fishers also expected to have parking areas as close as possible to their hunting or fishing spots. Even family picnicking puts unexpected demands on the park administration. One family arrived and established themselves in one of the buildings of the barracks as though it was their own weekender and another family who were using the electronic vehicle track assumed a right to start a BBQ fire using sparse garigue wood.

It will be a long road to establish a shift in patterns of useage for the park. Organisations such as the Ramblers have a role to play in modeling appropriate behaviour and we have also undertaken to help with some clean up work in 2012 but it will require a lot of good will on the part of government and NGOs before we begin to see a shift from a culture of exploitation to one of nurturance.

Once we got out onto the garigue, it was most clearly the culture of nurturance that Analise was able to demonstrate as she stopped us by rich groupings of flora and explained to us the diversity of plants that grew in the various habitats generated by geological processes.

The walk finished at the Manikata medieval farming community at the edge of the park where we had a rustic lunch. This area is now managed by a co-operative of local farmers who have done a great job restoring the old dwellings, caves, apiaries and gardens. By this time, the scheduled short morning walk had extended well into the afternoon and I was happy for the offer of a lift back to Sliema where I would find more frequent buses to Valletta and home.

It was a great weekend that left me pondering several of the dilemmas and contradictions associated with the task of moving from a culture of exploitation and over-development to one of nurturance and conservation. Development such as the luxury hotel at which we stayed cannot now be reversed but perhaps we can find ways of enabling the man-made to support and nurture the recovery of the natural and we can certainly be more careful in granting permits for further development. Some cultural practices exploit and damage the natural environment and it will be difficult to shift these patterns unless we can show that there is real joy in cherishing what we have left and this legacy is the right and responsibility of all.

Pictures for Sunday

Sunday in Valletta and the images are more or less in the order I write about in the following blog!

Sunday in Valletta

Summer changed my routines, stirred me around a little, made me restless. That's my excuse for leaving the blog for six months.

Now it's winter and the scaffolding of my life is slipping back into place. Lunchtime concerts, weekend walks, writing my blog...

And there is a new feel to Valletta, a new liveliness, more people strolling the streets and they're not just tourists trotting behind a bright umbrella. What are they here for? It's not the restoration work that seems to be happening everywhere, nor the new festivals like Ziguzjag, nor the Christmas decorations (same as last year except for the gorgeous glass ball tree that heads up the post) nor the instant trees with seating down Merchants street. There's an excitement, something is happening in Valletta.

Yesterday I woke to a beautiful sunny day. The harbour entrance was calm and the new footbridge to the breakwater almost glowed in the morning light. (I tried to put a picture here but it insisted on going at the top)

I decided to go out for the Sunday papers and then wander down for the open day at the Museum of Fine Arts.

Something was happening in St George Square. The fountain was off, there was a blow-up gateway where Republic street enters the square and a crane was holding a big screen announcing the President's fun run. Even more startling was the sight of Queen Victoria on her plinth as always but in solitary splendour - no cafe table, chair or umbrella in sight. I have never seen her square denuded of hospitable clutter. The surrounding buildings including the National library and the old sun calendar above Cordina's stood out magnificently.

As I strolled on down Republic street, a sense of gathering hung in the air - band players were arriving in ones and twos with their instruments tucked under their arms, people were leaning cautiously over the barriers to touch the glass balls of the Christmas tree to make sure it wasn't plastic.

At the museum of Archaology, I decided to call in and see the exhibition of Spanish Treasures from the Khalili collections, Magic Metal. This remarkable collection of Damascene metal objects is set up in the upstairs gallery and the accompanying book, Ornament and Malta, An Introduction, draws together the Moorish and Spanish influences on Malta's decorative arts.

I was on my own at the exhibition apart from the young woman security guard who engaged me in conversation and encouraged me to continue my stroll to the Museum of Fine Arts as well as taking in the War museum (another day perhaps?).

I was certainly not alone as I came back out onto Republic street! The walkers in the President's Fun Run turned the street into a purple river, chattering and swirling around the silver Christmas trees, pushchairs, wheelchairs, dogs making little eddies in the stream. I stood on the ramp outside the museum for several minutes before plunging in and walking against the current up towards South street to turn off to the Museum of Fine Arts. I rejected the idea of crossing the stream to go to St James Cavalier and catch their 11.00 am Sunday concert.

The air of something about to happen hung about the museum as well. There was the sound of a piano in the courtyard and as I went up the stairs I could see children drawing on a large board set up on the mezzanine. I glanced at the familiar Mattia Prettis and spent a bit of time browsing the book stall for bargains. Then went down to the basement for the Paul Caruana exhibition, Short Stories, a charming, nostalgic look at growing up in Valletta.

Back in Republic street, the bands were playing and walkers were dispersing into side streets and cafes. My pace had slowed to an amble now, partly due to my sprained ankle but mostly because I really wanted to linger with this new Valletta feeling. In St George's square, children were gathering around Minnie mouse demanding hugs.

I turned the corner for home, my backpack heavy with Sunday papers and reduced price art books. Sweet Sunday in Valletta...

Walled cities

These are the city walls in Athens and Istanbul. I wonder which of the cities I visit over the next three weeks will be walled cities?

I'm traveling again for three weeks from this evening - Madrid, Portugal, three cities in Morocco, back to Madrid, then Valencia and Barcelona. I'll look out for the walls and when I get back I'll take some photos of Valletta and Grand Harbour bastions. The concept of the walled city is no longer useful yet the fascination remains.

The middle sea

This is Oceanus in the Museum of Archaeology in Turkey.

I have seized on a new project. I will document all my travels around the Mediterranean sea on a huge chart that I have acquired from the chart office I discovered just across the road from me in Valletta. I will put the chart up on the pristine walls of my renovated flat and gradually fill in the journeys I have been on and will plan in the future. I will also add little snippets about the people in the past whose journeys I cross in my travels.

I have looked back at my blog and some of the early posts will help. My travels this year are directly relevant and in the time that remains to me I will fill in the gaps of the places I have not yet visited.

But for this evening I am off to Ghanafest in Argotti gardens, Floriana, Malta!

Greece and Turkey

I have been traveling through Greece to Istanbul with a friend from Australia. As I settle back into my home base in Malta I have started to reflect on the difference between living here and living in Australia.

Apart from the obvious contrasts that I have spoken about in previous posts, the location of Malta at the heart of the Middle Sea means that the discoveries I make about the countries that border the Mediterranean have implications for Malta as well. I feel the same awe as the Australian when I find myself standing in a place I learnt about in school, but now, as a Maltese resident, I feel an insider connection with a shared history that has shaped and been shaped by this powerful sea.

The people whose names are whispered or shouted in Thessaloniki, Alexandropoulis, Istanbul are people whose stories have shaped Maltese culture as well. The travels of St Paul, the glory of Byzantium, the campaigns of the Ottomans, all resonate through the cultural landscape of Malta.

I'll try to capture a little of that in my next posts. In the meantime, the photos are of the Greek flag above a monastery in Meteora and the Turkish flag on a fishing boat on the Marmara sea.

Fort Manoel

Last Sunday the Malta Council for Culture and the Arts compiled a tour that got me thinking about the relationship between conservation of our historical heritage and big commercial ventures.

Fort Manoel has been beautifully restored but we have not yet paid the devil's dues. The conservation work on the fort is complete but Midi have not yet started on the development that will fund the investment.

Most people in Malta now feel saddened when they look at the overdevelopment of Tigne Point which dominates the peninsula and pushes the fort into insignificance. I hope that the development of Manoel Island will be more restrained and will leave the green surrounds of the fort so that its dramatic symmetry will still be readable.

The conservation work has not attempted to recreate the original. Where new work has been needed to enable the shape of the past to emerge, the conservators have not attempted to pretend that the new work is old. New work suggests the original intention but does not attempt to mimic intricate patterning.

The photos are of the ditch, the walls, the arsenal and the chapel. The enormous square at the centre of the fort has been used as an outdoor concert venue in the past and it is probable that the surrounds will become tourist venues. In the meantime, we enjoyed Sunday morning with the fort to ourselves.

Valletta, capital of culture, part 1

There should be something happening every day. That's one of the propositions put forward at the meeting I attended about Valletta as EU capital of culture in 2018.

That will be the easy part because it's already happening. Even the physical infrastructure is already in place and there are certainly artists producing high quality work here in Malta. What will need a lot of groundwork and imagination is community engagement in art production, not just consumption, and contemporary artwork that challenges the status quo.

I want to give a brief glimpse of what's already happening by summarising some of my cultural activities over the last couple of months. Rather than give a chronological list, I'll group according to some of the cultural venues that are currently in use in Valletta.

I have to start with the churches. Not only are they the hub of the year round programme of fiestas, exhibitions and processions, but now they also play host to lunchtime and evening concerts. Sometimes these are associated with fund-raising projects such as the restoration of the chapel of St Catherine of Italy. The model of lunchtime concerts that was adopted here with the collaboration of St James Cavalier has now been emulated by several other churches in the capital sometimes with the effect of direct competition for audiences.

The restoration of St Catherine's is now nearing completion and perhaps in the spirit of community cultural development, the programme has been reduced to Sundays only and is currently held in the Music room of St James Cavalier. For several years, their programme has raised the profile of the venue, played a major role in raising restoration funds and seeded the idea of high quality lunchtime recitals. Now other venues can capitalise on this foundation and offer their own programmes. So over the past few weeks I've attended lunchtime recitals at St Paul's Anglican Pro-Cathedral (every two weeks on a Tuesday), a beautiful evening concert by Malta's only male voice choir, Cappella Sanctae Catharinae at the Jesuit Church in Merchant Street, and next week I'll take a friend, visiting from UK, to a lunchtime recital of Baroque music at St Francis church in Republic street. Unfortunately, the two lunchtime recital venues are now competing so I have to choose which to attend.

St James Cavalier, or perhaps I should name in particular violinist Sarah Spiteri and pianist/composer/bass singer Alex Vella Gregory, play a key role in much of the cultural activity happening around Valletta. They run their own lunchtime concert series, Performers Platform, on Wednesdays in the Music Room, but also serve as a hub for information and bookings.

St James is a multi-arts venue. The brilliant restoration of the old Knights' cavalier includes several gallery spaces showing top quality work by Maltese artists and sometimes expatriate artists with links to Malta. For a while, Malta Contemporary Art found a home in the upper galleries, but for some reason they have moved out this year as I learnt when I attended the first lecture in a series called Contemporary Art in Dialogue with... organised by Dr Raphael Vella of University of Malta at St James Cavalier.

In part 2, I'll talk about the other cultural spaces in St James Cavalier and get on to the other venues around Valletta.

One last carnival

Next post I'll return to words but photos are good for carnival!