FPM 30 Years

ON THE EVOLUTION OF FONDAZZJONI PATRIMONJU MALTI ACROSS THREE DECADES

FPM

CELEBRATING THIRTY YEARS OF OUR COMMITMENT TO CULTURE

30 Published with the Summer 2022 issue of Treasures of Malta

YEARS OF

YEARS OF

YEARS OF

YEARS OF

COLLECTIONS

PLACES

RESEARCH

PEOPLE

From exhibition highlights to collectors’ remarks and the untold stories of curators >> p.4

An illustrated diary of hidden gems and public spaces engaged with for our projects >> p.24

On the flight of the publishing wing and the driving forces behind our publications >> p.46

From fond memories to the realities of working behind the scenes >> p.52

GIULIA PRIVITELLI

WHY CULTURE MATTERS

The mission of Fondazzjoni Patrimonju Malti is today as it was thirty years ago, committed to spreading awareness of the island’s heritage, locally and internationally. The idea still fuelling Patrimonju to this day started, perhaps more humbly, with the dream of making selected ‘hidden’ and largely unknown treasures in private collections available to the public—as an artefact glinting in the light or as a more lasting impression in a catalogue.

Rita Flamini, the initial dreamer, understood that dreams quickly fade unless shared with others (enter, Maurice de Giorgio), and have little import on the ‘real’ world unless they provide an inspiration for others, waking them from the dreamy landscape of ideas into that of possibilities.

Indeed, without the engagement of countless individuals invited at some point or other to participate in this ‘dream’ or longing, without the collectors, the supporters, the lenders, the scholars and researchers, the volunteers, professionals, artists, dedicated followers of the arts, and guardians—all, in a way, the makers—of our cultural heritage, that of Patrimonju would have been but a toddler’s fantasy, and the gap between dream and reality an impossible, impassable impasse.

1992—2022

Susan Stewart, in her book On Longing, traces a structure of desire rooted in the repetitious exercise of closing the gap that separates experience—be it dreamt, imagined or lived—and the language used to express it. Moreover, she explores this ‘gap’ in the context of the relation between the collectors and their

collection. The desire to bridge this gap, however, is not exclusive to the collector. It is one faced by the practitioner, the historian, restorer, cultural theorist, and anyone, really, engaged in the production of culture; it exists within every context that seeks to bridge, somehow, ideas and their expression, between

the material and the immaterial, the tangible and intangible, the determined and indetermined, the infinite and definite, the organic and the structured, thoughts and words, and so on. This gap manifests itself in what the artist creates as much as in what the archivist retrieves from continued on page 3...

FPM THIRTY YEARS SUPPLEMENT, 1992–2022

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CREATIVE DIRECTOR Michael Lowell DESIGN AND LAYOUT Lisa Attard SENIOR EDITOR Giulia Privitelli PHOTOGRAPHY Lisa Attard Peter Bartolo Parnis Joe P. Borg Alan Carville Daniel Cilia Gaetano Gambino George Scintilla

LIFE-FOUNDER PRESIDENT Michael Frendo LIFE-FOUNDER MEMBERS The late Maurice de Giorgio Rita Flamini John Lowell the late John Manduca BOARD OF GOVERNORS Joseph Grioli (Chairman) Dr Giovanni Bonello (Deputy) Prof. Joseph V. Bannister Marquis de Piro Dr Pascal A. Demajo Dr Max Ganado Dr Michael Grech Matthew von Brockdorff FORMER MEMBERS Marianne Azzopardi The late Joseph Brockdorff Dr Joseph Buttigieg Josef Camilleri Marguerite Critien The late Lino Cuschieri Dr Ramona Frendo Dr Albert Ganado George Glanville Albert Marshall The late Dr Mark Micallef Remiġ Sacco The late Joseph C. Sammut Myriam Spiteri Debono The late Dennis Vella Cecilia Xuereb

JOSEPH GRIOLI

MICHAEL LOWELL

This is an important year for Fondazzjoni Patrimonju Malti.

This year, we celebrate 30 years since Patrimonju’s foundation: 30 years of envisioning and realising projects; 30 years of collaborating with and engaging countless professionals, artists, creatives and authors; 30 years of commitment to offer our audiences, our readers, lenders, contributors, and our supporters, unique and high-level cultural experiences, productions, award-winning exhibitions and publications; 30 years of effort poured into ideas dreamt up between risk and possibility; 30 years of giving graciously and receiving in humility and gratitude. It has been 30 years of growth characterised by a willingness to keep abreast with the changing times, while retaining the identity, mission, and hopes with which Patrimonju was first conceived.

Of course, it would be disrespectful of me not to acknowledge all the energy and dedication that was poured into this great undertaking before my time as Chairman of Patrimonju, then headed by the greatly missed but never forgotten Mr Maurice de Giorgio. He has certainly left large shoes for me to fill. Though much ground had already been covered, his vision has also signalled a way for me—for us—to follow. And it points towards ever greener and still-to-be explored pastures.

Finally, were it not for the generosity of countless individuals and corporate entities that we’ve been afforded throughout the years, our achievements would have been but a fraction of what they are. It is due to their support and the generosity of the people who have accepted to work, collaborate, and publish with us, that we were always able to aim high, offering the best we possibly could. With all this history and all the people egging us on, we cannot but look forward to introducing and welcoming you to our new premises in Valletta early next year, with what we hope will be yet another showstopper.

I recently came across a poem by Mary Oliver which very much reminded me of the growth of Fondazzjoni Patrimonju Malti: ‘… out of the ground’, she writes, ‘red and yellow skulls pummelling upward through leaves, through grasses, through sand; astonishing in their suddenness, their quietude…’. She is here describing mushrooms sprouting all over after a period of rainfall, but there is in this something remarkably close to Patrimonju’s own humble origins and its almost instant flourishing. It certainly reminded me of the resilience of Patrimonju to make it through trying times and difficult terrain, especially given the last couple of years we’ve experienced. There were—are—admittedly, times of heavy rainfall when all, perhaps, seems to be quiet. But that quietude would be bursting with life.

Such was the lull in Malta’s cultural sector in and from which Patrimonju emerged, or when during the restoration of Palazzo Falson—due to the intensive nature of the project—Patrimonju was not able to focus on organising its much-awaited exhibitions. Yet, soon after Palazzo Falson opened its doors as a Historic House Museum in 2007, Patrimonju quickly bounced back, sprouting new ideas for small- and large-scale exhibitions, each improving on the previous one, and reaching new heights with our latest (and first) award-winning project, Music in Malta. It is the same with our publications, and with every other collaboration or commitment we set our minds and hearts to.

Indeed, over the past decade alone we have put up two largescale exhibitions, and five small ones; took over the administration and curation of the Victor Pasmore Gallery, in Valletta, and now even entrusted with the entire collection of the Victor Pasmore Foundation; collaborated on some major projects put up locally such as the Picasso & Miró exhibition at the Grand Master’s Palace; and have

LETTER FROM LETTER FROM THE CHAIRMAN THE CEO been engaged as museum consultants for the Notarial Archives’ ERDF project. Not to mention the 17 books we have added to the already long list of educational and informative volumes which directly feature or are connected to Malta’s impressive cultural heritage, and the publication of the 84th issue of our journal, Treasures of Malta, published three times a year, unfailingly. To this, we can proudly add the launching of our very own podcast, Treasures From Malta, now entering its fourth season, and the generous acquisition of new premises from which to continue our operations and introduce audiences to more of Malta’s artistic treasures.

For all this (and more), for our team, collaborators, supporters, lenders, and audiences, I could not be more thankful. And so, as Mary Oliver concludes, ‘…when they are done being perfect, [they] slide back under the shining fields of rain’, ready to sprout again.

‘ I AM HUMAN, AND WHATEVER CONCERNS HUMANITY IS OF INTER EST TO ME. ’ (TERENCE, THE SELF-TORMENTOR, 1.1.25; OFTEN QUOTED BY THE LATE FR PETER SERRACINO INGLOTT. CF. TREASURES OF MALTA, SUMMER 2021, P.76)

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Exhibition set-up of Antique Maltese Clocks, at the National Museum of Archaeology (Auberge de Provence), Valletta, 18 April – 16 May 1992.

In its own way, this exhibition made history, for never before had an exhibition of this kind been staged, nor had there been written material, other than the superficial, on Maltese clocks and clock-makers.

With this exhibition, Patrimonju took its first decisive step to organise such exhibitions.

...continued from cover a manuscript or the archaeologist from the earth, since all form part of a system of relations through and from which all ideas, artefacts, artworks, and their interpretation, emerge. This gap is very much like a wound which pains every researcher, every artist, every collector: a constant reminder of the incomplete, of a burning intimate question which remains open and unresolved. Perhaps unwittingly, unexplainably, it is the burning space into which those indefatigable thinkers, artists, collectors, feel most compelled to step into.

‘Every passion borders on the chaotic’, tells us Walter Benjamin in an article called ‘Unpacking my Library’ published in a collection of his essays, Illuminations. ‘…but the collector’s passion borders on the chaos of memories’, he continues.

In the practice of collecting, the object is fished out from this great ocean of ‘chaos’, consciously chosen or gifted, loved or given to be loved and remembered, prevented from being lost and funnelled down the unfiltered collective stream of history. The object, seen in this way, is itself a vessel of memory in which, to some literal extent, the owner

invests some part of his or her life and passion. Again, referring to private collections, Benjamin describes ownership as ‘the most intimate relationship that one can have to objects’. Collecting art is a way of entering a silent conversation with artists, but what makes it exceptionally intimate is the very fact that artists, the actual makers of the objects, are absent. The conversation is, instead, given depth and meaning through the direct relation between the collector and the artwork. It is perhaps, what Benjamin meant when he wrote that it is ‘not that they [the collected objects] come alive in him; it is he who lives in them’, and for the same reason why ‘the phenomenon of collecting loses its meaning as it loses its personal owner’.

Yet, collections are not just about the objects, the places where they are kept, and the people to whom they belong; they are part of a system of transactions and exchanges, of ideas and words, actions, and expressions that shape a culture. In researching collectors’ items, these underlying connective threads are exposed, enriching our knowledge about a given object’s making and transformation, its

context, history, and movement: a fragment of a greater story that reveals, I believe, a fundamental human need burning in every human heart: the quest for belonging.

But in what way is the practice of collecting, of research, and ultimately of publication and display, an echo of the quest for belonging?

Without the intimate relation between objects and people, without the pseudo-incarnation of man in objects, as Benjamin described, objects cannot live, nor can they move. Culture—or material culture, rather—matters because at the heart of it all is the human person who seeks always to be in relation: with one another, with built and natural spaces, with creations, across time and across borders.

To provide a window into a collection is to afford a privileged yet partial access to a secret—a little yet concentrated glimpse into what ultimately can only remain a secret. Here is the pulsating life of every collection, archive, or artwork: the heart of such cultural material is akin to that part of beauty which cannot be grasped and possessed, a creative source, which is paradoxically constant and ever-changing, approachable

but ungraspable, always calling to be discovered, rediscovered, and ultimately, remembered.

Patrimonju seeks to bring those fragments, those partial secrets, together in what may be seen as an act of remembrance in the true sense of the word. Perhaps, already thirty years ago, Patrimonju could feel the waking struggle of forgetfulness, the daily threat that blankets most dreams. It is this threat which the determined child of thirty years ago was intent on overcoming. And yet, it could not possibly imagine what that would entail: the countless collections it would be exposed to and entrusted with; the places it would visit, feeding its imagination, its vision and understanding; the spaces that it would settle in and, in turn, transform; the people it would welcome and encounter, exchange and learn from; the exciting discoveries it could proudly share; the ideas it could hold and nurture; the words that formed it and which would then be channelled and poured out into the world for others to enjoy, to be nourished, inspired and encouraged by.

And thus, in its young adult life, having given much and received more, Patrimonju is still able to dream.

FPM THIRTY YEARS SUPPLEMENT, 1992–2022

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YEARS

COLLEC OF

30 YEARS OF COLLECTIONS

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Fondazzjoni Patrimonju Malti’s particular talent lies in its rare ability to gather pieces from often priceless and treasured private collections for display to the general public. Over the past three decades, Patrimonju has gained the trust of numerous passionate collectors and collaborated with several individuals and cultural entities in its mission to raise awareness and

CTIONS educate through such hidden treasures. From the first to its most recent project, Patrimonju has aimed for ambitious, innovative, and high standards of quality in its production of sensitive and exciting displays, generating a great deal of interest among audiences as well as an enviable reputation, both at home and abroad.

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FPM THIRTY YEARS SUPPLEMENT, 1992–2022

Brown (grained to simulate wood) and gilt two-handed wall clock (Private Collection, Malta)

Commode, Maltese, early 18th century (Private Collection, Malta) Silvered red deal and bombe-shaped, emblazoned with the coat of arms of Grand Master Antonio Manoel de Vilhena (1722–1736) and decorated with diagonal Maltese crosses.

‘Commode’ is the seventeenth- and eighteenth-century term for a chest of drawers found in principal rooms.

Commodes are often more elaborately decorated. In the nineteenth century, the term was applied to bedside tables.

Antique Furniture in Malta St James Cavalier (Spazju Kreattiv), Valletta (16 March – 14 April 2002) Photo: Peter Bartolo Parnis

This clock is still in its original state, with a two-handed quarter-striking movement signed on the back plate by C. Pisani, and made in the mid-nineteenth century. It has a top ornament with three finials and the shield incorporates the coat of arms of a noble Maltese family. It also has a largish fixed bracket. The clock face depicts a seascape with galleons in the centre and flowers on the spandrels.

Antique Maltese Clocks National Museum of Archaeology (Auberge de Provence), Valletta (19 April – 16 May 1992) Photo: Daniel Cilia

30 YEARS OF COLLECTIONS

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“ OUTSTANDING EXHIBITION. SHOW IT TO THE WHOLE WORLD! ” COSTUME IN MALTA (21 MARCH – 26 APRIL 1998)

‘Mandolino’ by Antonio Vinaccia (active in Naples c.1754–1784) (Private Collection, Malta) Though lutes, guitars and violins were among the instruments that were constructed locally, they were also being imported during the time of the Order of St John, as attested to by this fine exemplar. This mandolino is composed of four double courses, tortoise-shell scratchplate and decoration, with bone and ebony inlay, and purfling, and mother-of-pearl inlay around the soundhole. The peg box features decoratively turned bone pins.

The inscription inside reads ‘Antonius fecit, Neapoli, A.D. 1767’.

Music in Malta: From Prehistory to Vinyl Metropolitan Cathedral Museum, Mdina (14 April – 16 June 2019) Photo: George Scintilla

Edward Caruana Dingli, Margaret, Lady Strickland, née Hulton (1867–1950). Countess della Catena, second wife of Lord Strickland.

Signed ‘E.C.Dingli’, dated 1930. Oil on canvas, 120 x 91cm, (Private Collection, Malta) Edward Caruana Dingli (1876–1950): Portraits, Views & Folkloristic Scenes Grand Master’s Palace, Valletta (8 May – 6 June 2010) Photo: Peter Bartolo Parnis

FPM THIRTY YEARS SUPPLEMENT, 1992–2022

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“ THIS NEWSPAPER RAISES ITS METAPHORICAL HAT TO A UNIQUELY MALTESEGOZITAN AND FLORENTINE EXPERIENCE, TO ITS ORGANISERS AND TO THE MINISTRY RESPONSIBLE FOR BACKING IT SO SENSIBLY. “ MALTESE PREHISTORIC ART. 5000–2500 BC - THE TIMES, 30 MARCH 1996

Gentleman’s waistcoat, 1790–1810 A double-breasted ivory taffeta waistcoat embroidered in multi-coloured silk thread. The back and the lining are in canvas. The waistcoat reaches to just below the waist and can be tightened at the back for a better fit. The high collar is embellished with silk embroidery. The decoration is worked around three salmon-coloured silk satin lozenges, applied onto the ivory silk of the front panel in between the two rows of embroidered buttons. A leaf motif in silk, silver-gilt and sequins is embroidered onto and around the lozenges. Rows of small embroidered flowers also adorn the waistcoat front together with two bunches of leaves.

It was only within the latter half of the last century that we had come to recognise that clothes speak a language of their own—an awareness that revealed itself world-wide through the proliferation of costume museums and exhibitions. With this exhibition, Patrimonju felt that it was time to update our own national awareness and outlook on clothes as well as rescue our costume heritage before the passage of time and the perishable nature of fabric took their toll.

Costume in Malta Grand Master’s Palace, Valletta (21 March – 26 April 1998) Photo: Peter Bartolo Parnis

Sacristy Lavabo, 33cm (height), 14cm (base), 1709, Caltagirone (Cathedral Museum, Mdina) The lavabo consists of a globular body with a circular aperture on a flared neck, with a flat-edged outward-turning rim. The ceramic body is covered in white glaze while the colour scheme used consists of blue, yellow, manganese brown, and copper green.

The lavabo carries a dated religious inscription, which occupies the upper part of the vessel while relief decoration is used extensively on the recto of the vessel. This is evident in the two medallions with masks in relief, placed on either side of the inscription. The use of relief decoration in eighteenth-century maiolica ware from Caltagirone increased the artistic content of these objets d’art. The originality of this vessel provides a sample of the kind of production of ecclesiastical artefacts found in the churches of Caltagirone after the destruction caused by the 1693 earthquake. The latter event also affected the evolution of maiolica decoration in a retardataire decorative style used in this example, with typologies which find their grass-root inspiration in fourteenth-century ceramics.

Antique Sicilian Maiolica in Malta St James Cavalier (Spazju Kreattiv), Valletta (22 September – 21 October 2001) / Castello di Donnafugata, Ragusa (9 November – 2 December 2001) / Palazzo del Seminario, Caltagirone (13 December 2001 – 27 January 2002) Photo: Gaetano Gambino

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“ ‘SILVER OF MALTA’—A DAZZLING DISPLAY OF LOCAL CRAFTSMANSHIP ” THE SILVER OF MALTA - THE SUNDAY TIMES, 5 MARCH 1995

Coffee pot, assay mark only MA, Cross above, 27cm high (gross: 980gr.), c.1690 Statue of twin figures on a couch from the Xagħra Stone Circle, Gozo, 9.3 x 14 x 13cm (Ġgantija Interpretation Centre, Xagħra, Gozo) Contrasting the cache of cult figures retrieved from the Xagħra Stone Circle, is another remarkable object, this time of two obese figures sitting side by side on a finely worked bed.

Carved from globigerina limestone, the statuette represents one of the pinnacles of prehistoric art from Malta, incorporating a three-tier supporting structure for the bed, and on the upper surface, displays curvilinear incised patterns comparable to the designs encountered at Tarxien and in the Ħal Saflieni wall paintings. The figures themselves are enigmatic. They sit side by side, their ample skirts enfolding them together. Both figures had long pigtails down their backs, and sharply cut bobbed hair at the front. The right-hand figure holds a cup on the lap, and the left-hand figure cradles a child (?), also dressed in pleated skirts.

Furthermore, colour markings indicate that the figurine, which stands steadily by itself, was intended to be seen. It may have been placed in a purpose-built shrine within the megalithic structures surrounding the stone bowl, where it was found. (excerpt from Caroline Malone and Simon Stoddard ‘Representations of Death’, in Maltese Prehistoric Art. 5000–2500 BC [Malta: FPM, 1996], 50-51) Maltese Prehistoric Art in Malta. 5000–2500 BC National Museum of Archaeology Ministry for Gozo, Victoria (31 March – 28 April 1996) / Palazzo di Parte Guelfa, Florence, Italy (8 June – 7 July 1996) Photo: Peter Bartolo Parnis

A pear-shaped coffee pot, on gadrooned rim foot; its body cast and chased with baroque shells and scrolling acanthus, en relief, over partly matted flutes which continue in regression towards the upper rim; flat-chased with panels of foliage strapwork on matted ground, and repeated beneath the rim. The spout figures a male mask in high relief, surrounded by scrolls and demi-acanthus, with hinged shell-cover and female caryatid scroll handle. The domed cover is chased with large gadroons and converging foliage, with bud finial.

The silver treasures which were generously made available by collectors, private and public, represent a patrimony that had endured the severe test of time; it is not an exercise in sterile nostalgia but an excellent reminder of the sensibility of tradition. This exhibition combined the flavour of elegance with the enchantment of beauty, at the same time presenting a history of the evolution of silver in Malta. It, in fact, provided an insight into the art of civilised living.

The Silver of Malta Grand Master’s Palace, Valletta (31 March – 30 April 1995) Photo: Peter Bartolo Parnis & Joe Attard

FPM THIRTY YEARS SUPPLEMENT, 1992–2022

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“ IL-WIRJA TAGĦKOM QED ISSIR INDIMENTIKABBLI APPUNTAMENT TA’ KULL SENA. “ COSTUME IN MALTA (21 MARCH – 26 APRIL 1998)

Willie Apap, Female figure reading a book, oil on canvas, 69 x 60cm.

Signed and dated, 1945 (Private Collection, Malta)

Girolamo Gianni, Grand Harbour from Valletta Marina, oil on board, 20.5 x 51.5cm.

Signed ‘G.Gianni’ and dated 1885 (Private Collection, Malta)

Willie Apap: Revelations Victor Pasmore Gallery, Valletta (18 October – 30 November 2018) Photo: Peter Bartolo Parnis

Girolamo Gianni in Malta National Museum of Archaeology (Auberge de Provence), Valletta (5 April – 30 April 1994) Photo: Peter Bartolo Parnis

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“ A HISTORICAL JOURNAL THAT HAS LONG CRIED OUT TO BE CATALOGUED AND DEPICTED. “ MUSIC IN MALTA (14 APRIL – 16 JUNE 2019)

Pablo Picasso, Faun Uncovering a Sleeping Woman, copper plate, aquatint on Montval laid paper, 44 x 34cm, 12 June 1936 Picasso & Miró: the flesh & the spirit (collaboration with Fundación MAPFRE) Grand Master’s Palace, Valletta (7 April – 30 June 2018) Photo: © Sucesión Pablo Picasso, VEGAP, Madrid

Edward Lear, Għar Ħasan, painted in the artist’s studio after an on-site watercolour, 17.2 x 26.8cm, dated 30 January 1866 (Private Collection, Malta) Edward Lear: Watercolours and Words Palazzo Falson, Mdina (18 October 2014 – 4 January 2015) Photo: Peter Bartolo Parnis

Antoine Camilleri, Study of Two Male Nudes (self-portraits), ink on paper, 40 x 32cm, 1973 (Private Collection, Malta) The Devil of the Brush Palazzo Falson, Mdina (16 December 2017 – 25 February 2018) Photo: Peter Bartolo Parnis

FPM THIRTY YEARS SUPPLEMENT, 1992–2022

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“ L-ESEBIZZJONIJIET TAL-PATRIMONJU QEGĦDIN IWAQQFU LIVELL EĊĊEZZJONALI LI ŻGUR QIEGĦED IWASSAL GĦAL AKTAR APPREZZAMENT TAL-WIRT MALTI. “ PORTABLE ALTARS (8 APRIL – 7 MAY 2000)

Green glass scent bottle with silver lid and snake, 5.6 x 3.2cm, Birmingham England, 1897 (Private Collection, Malta)

Gold and paste-set pair-cased verge watch, Salvatore Micallef & Giglio, Malta, c.1800 (Casa Rocca Piccola Collection, Valletta)

Bracelet, silver-gilt filigree, 42mm (h), 68mm (dia.), 19th century, Malta (Casa Rocca Piccola Collection, Valletta)

Popularity and demand for scent bottles meant there was always a continual need for novelty. Scent bottles were fashioned out of every conceivable material from nuts to stones, creating flasks in almost a limitless variety of shapes. The creators of these unusual bottles even patented their original designs.

The growth of tourism in the nineteenth century provided a new market for scent bottle makers, that of middle-class travellers looking to purchase inexpensive souvenirs, and indeed, many scent bottles of the period fall into this category. Typical examples include opaline glass bottles with views printed on paper and set into the lid; German porcelain bottles were often topped with crown-shaped stoppers, and in Venice, many were fashioned from aventurine glass. Scent bottles are still very popular among tourists today.

This temporary exhibition on antique watches called ‘fob’ or ‘pocket’ watches, was the fifth in the series of shows which take as their starting point an artefact or collection at Palazzo Falson, and build around it by loaning several other artefacts from Maltese private and public collections to explore a particular theme in depth. The appeal of such watches can be both in the technical advancements that mark it out and in the beauty of its visible parts, be they the dial or the outer case, which is frequently decorated with engravings or enamelled scenes. The watch featured here boasts such a case, and, moreover, is notable for its bearing on the identity of the watchmaker and retailer, in this case, the local name of Salvatore Micallef and Giglio.

Filigree in Malta has been worked from at least the Knights’ Period (1530–1798), but reached its apogee in the nineteenth century, becoming one of the crafts, together with lace and stonework, for which Malta became famous. Filigree with the addition of coiled ‘burr’-like motifs and granulation, as in this fine example, is called cannetille, and was particularly popular in the early nineteenth century. Furthermore, as is the case of the bracelet featured here, the addition of miniscule seed pearls, threaded in small strings onto the filigree, is typical of Maltese jewellery and draws its influence from southern Italian traditional jewellery, enhancing its value, elegance, and delicate appearance further.

Scent Bottles: From Ceremony to Seduction Palazzo Falson, Mdina (8 November – 31 December 2011) Photo: Peter Bartolo Parnis

Watches: From Timekeepers to Trendsetters Palazzo Falson, Mdina (6 November 2015 – 10 January 2016) Photo: Peter Bartolo Parnis

Vanity, Profanity & Worship: Jewellery from the Maltese Islands Casino Maltese, Valletta (31 March – 26 May 2013) Photo: George Scintilla

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“ BRINGING TOGETHER AND DOCUMENTING THIS WONDERFUL EXHIBITION IS A MAJOR FEAT WHICH THE FONDAZZJONI SHOULD BE PROUD OF. “ ANTIQUE SICILIAN MAIOLICA IN MALTA (22 SEPTEMBER – 21 OCTOBER 2001)

Carved lady’s head pipe, 11 x 36cm, Meerschaum, wood, silver. Silver marks for Vienna and maker’s mark ‘PW’, Vienna, Austria, late 19th/early 20th century (Private Collection, Malta)

Enamel and gold snuff box, 2 x 8.5 x 5.2cm, probably made in France, 18th century (MUŻA, Valletta – Heritage Malta)

‘Marotte’ Doll mounted on whistle handle, 38cm, wood, textile, bisque, Armand Marseille, Germany, 1908 (Pomskizillious Museum of Toys, Gozo)

Meerschaum pipes are highly valued amongst collectors, particularly if they have a deep golden colour which is acquired through repeated use of the pipe.

Meerschaum is a light porous mineral which is quarried mainly from Asia Minor. It is an ideal material for pipes as it effectively absorbs the condensation in the smoke emanating from the burning tobacco, resulting in a cool dry smoke. The tars and oils given off stain the white Meerschaum a golden colour, and this gradually spreads upwards from the bottom of the bowl. Meerschaum is a light substance which is very easily carved. Indeed, the most beautiful figures, which may in actual fact be considered veritable sculptured artefacts, are those made of Meerschaum, with Vienna acquiring a monopoly of such carved pipes throughout the nineteenth century.

Collectors of snuff boxes seek to obtain the best exemplars of the different periods and types. The National Collection, from which the snuff box featured here was loaned, has been augmented with the Judge Parnis collection. Judge Parnis was a collector of all manner of small decorative objects and particularly snuff boxes, which he donated in large quantities to the Museum. The history of boxes and box-making goes back many centuries, but it is only with the discovery and importation of tobacco to Europe and the development of one of its uses as snuff that a very particular type of box became necessary. The snuff box sees its origin in the seventeenth century, but reaches its apogee in terms of design and craftsmanship in the eighteenth and beginning of the nineteenth century, with Paris and a clutch of Parisian makers creating paragons to which everyone else aspired.

Whistles have been used in so many different spheres of life, encountered at every stage from the cradle to the grave. There are whistles which are given as gifts to babies at birth or to children as toys, others are connected with different types of work or with organisations, so show connections with bygone rituals of courtship and fertility, while others still are associated with hunting or the countryside.

The example shown here is a toy whistle for a child. Toys exist in a combination of whistle, rattle and pellet bells, and several of these have been handsomely crafted in precious metals or other materials.

Sound producers were traditionally given as gifts to a child at birth, a custom which dates back to antiquity—sound-producing instruments which have been used by different societies to ward off evil.

Pipes: From Habit to Art Palazzo Falson, Mdina (21 October – 12 December 2010) Photo: Peter Bartolo Parnis

Snuff Boxes: From Accessories to Objets d’Art Palazzo Falson, Mdina (25 November 2016 – 26 February 2017) Photo: Peter Bartolo Parnis

Whistles: From Ritual to Toys Palazzo Falson, Mdina (30 April – 21 June 2009) Photo: Peter Bartolo Parnis

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“ ONE OF THE MOST INFORMATIVE. BEAUTIFULLY SET UP. SO MUCH TO ABSORB. THANK YOU. “ PORTABLE ALTARS (8 APRIL – 7 MAY 2000)

Cotoner sedan chair (Żabbar Parish Church Museum, Malta) This sedan chair was built at the height of the reign of the Roi Soleil, between 1660 and 1680. Perhaps for the first time, and certainly in the collection displayed in this exhibition, the chair displays the monarchial aspirations of the Grand Master of the Order of St John, particularly through the grandeur of its style and references to the blazon of a prince. Religion may have been a more appropriate subject for the excellent paintings en grisaille, however, Abraham—if it is Abraham and not a shepherd looking for his nymph around the corner—blends admirably into the general pastoral ensemble.

The Sedan Chair in Malta Metropolitan Cathedral Museum, Mdina (22 June – 18 July 1993) Photo: Peter Bartolo Parnis

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“ SIMPLY ENCHANTING. “ COSTUME IN MALTA (21 MARCH – 26 APRIL 1998)

Altar in the form of a bureaubookcase, red and white deal, 269 x 290 x 158cm, mid-18th century, Maltese (Private Collection, Malta) This exhibition consisted of twenty-two altars, representing six different types with variations of some sort. During the last half of the eighteenth century, the preferred type of domestic altar was the bureau-bookcase type, as is the example featured here. These are often painted and gilt in various techniques typical of the period. In this example, the reredos is achieved in trompe l’oeil and is attributed to Francesco Zahra (1710–1773), while the antependium is painted with Rococo floral and foliage motifs with a central medallion representing St Anne and the Virgin.

Portable Altars in Malta Grand Master’s Palace, Valletta (8 April – 7 May 2000) Photo: Peter Bartolo Parnis

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A COLLECTOR’S REMARK PETER CASSAR There is no hiding the fact that I caught the virus of collecting from my parents, who have an eye for fine works; my mother, moreover, is an art historian. I was still a teenager, a few years back, when I secured an open-ended loan from them that helped me start my own collection!

My interest is mainly focussed on modern and contemporary Maltese art and my collection presently includes more than 100 works by the most important artists from the 1950s to date.

The biggest kick I get out of collecting is when I find a new or ‘lost’ work that would have been known only from a chronicle or old photos—and I’ve had a few of those stories, including some major discoveries—and the excitement of visiting unexpected locations to see them in person! I certainly have no qualms in sharing my collection for public enjoyment. Quite the contrary, in fact, it would give me great satisfaction to do so, perhaps, accompanied by a lecture, a review in an article, and so on, with the necessary discretion, of course.

Collectors deserve more recognition for what they do in support of our artistic heritage, and the livelihood of artists, conservators, and the art community in general, and I feel that much more can be done in that regard.

My dreams? At the rate my collecting is going, who knows? I might even open a private museum one day … it will certainly be worth a visit!

LAWRENCE PAVIA My interest in Maltese stamps and seeing works by Emvin Cremona, Frank Portelli, Antoine Camilleri and other prominent twentieth-century artists must have spurred my interest in art, until I could afford to start venturing in buying small works. Luckily, my wife, too, has a similar keen interest in art.

We were lucky enough to have been able to visit the studios and become acquainted

‘ MY ART COLLECTION READS LIKE A DIARY, EACH PIECE BEHAVING LIKE A PROUSTIAN MADELEINE, EVOKING AND REKINDLING MEMORIES AND DEEP FEELINGS OF WARMTH. ’ JOSEPH AGIUS, ‘MY FAVOURITE OBJECT’, IN TREASURES OF MALTA, CHRISTMAS 2019.

View of a table setting from The Silver of Malta exhibition, Grand Master’s Palace, Valletta, 31 March – 30 April 1995. (Photo: Daniel Cilia)

with a number of artists, including Antoine Camilleri, Esprit Barthet, and eventually several other younger artists. Visits to studios, art galleries, and auctions continued to temper our interest.

We tried to keep to a theme: buying works by twentieth-century Maltese artists or international artists with a Maltese connection. In addition, our collection has a focus on Maltese self-portraiture and Maltese works by British artists Julian Trevelyan and Mary Fedden.

Art collecting is infinite and the joy one gets when one encounters a work when least expected is tremendous. Sometimes we do get carried away and the passion borders on obsession. Yet, it certainly brings joy, which we like to share with family and friends and, when asked, to lend works for public exhibitions too. We feel it is our duty to share these works and to preserve them for future generations.

Inevitably, one cannot separate research from art collection; one inherently wants to know more about the history and provenance of works one collects. This was the case when FPM accepted to publish my passion-fuelled research in the book titled Trevelyan and Fedden: Encounters with Malta and Gozo (2018).

A STORY FOR EVERY EXHIBITION VICKI ANN CREMONA Costume in Malta was an exhibition that, perhaps more than any other organised by FPM, brought home to the Maltese a hitherto unrecognised aspect of our rich culture and heritage.

The idea was proposed by Marquis de Piro, author and founder of Casa Rocca Piccola House Museum, at the same time as John Lowell, then Chairman of the Manoel Theatre, and the late Maurice de Giorgio, former Chairman of FPM, were thinking of creating a museum for the theatre. I joined this wondrous adventure as

Young lady’s dress, light blue ciselé velvet, c.1780, displayed in the Costume in Malta exhibition at the Grand Master’s Palace in Valletta (21 March – 26 April 1998).

The exhibition, curated by Prof. Vicki Ann Cremona, provided the public with a first glimpse into the development of Maltese fashion. (Photo: Peter Bartolo Parnis)

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The ‘band stand’ set-up from Patrimonju’s latest exhibition, Music in Malta – From Prehistory to Vinyl, held at the Metropolitan Cathedral Museum, Mdina, 14 April – 16 June 2019. (Photo: Lisa Attard)

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Emerald cross of Bishop Alpheran de Bussan, displayed for the Jewellery in Malta exhibition in 2013. (Photo: George Scintilla)

Maltese costume and the artefacts on display.

A tangible result of this exhibition is that others developed the work initiated. Malta now has persons who have cultivated expertise in costume, jewellery, conservation, museum mannequin-making, and other aspects of this historical domain. The next step? A costume museum, of course!

an expert in theatre history, who also had an interest in costume.

The Manoel Theatre collection contained a number of nineteenth-century costumes, but little did we suspect that we would find a treasure trove in museums, convents and, especially, in private households! For over two years, we watched in awe as people brought out treasure upon treasure which either lay long forgotten in some drawer, or was still lovingly cherished.

We created a small team which was trained by two foreign experts, Nathalie Jequel from the Musée Galliera in Paris and Karen Jacobi from the National Museum of Denmark. They taught us how to apply the first interventions in costume restoration, how to clean and store them, and how to make mannequins that would show off

FRANCESCA BALZAN Some years ago, when I was curator at the newly set up Palazzo Falson, a tourism agency which dealt almost exclusively with visiting VIPs contacted me to personally take round the Palazzo a VIP and his family. Despite pressing deadlines, I readily agreed because the truth is I relished every opportunity to show people around as I loved telling them stories about the objects and the former owner. A historic house is crammed with these stories, and it is no use doing research if you cannot share all you discover with others. Anyway, this family arrived, and I thought they looked very ‘ordinary’. I didn’t recognise anyone, nor did I try too hard; I was enjoying myself so much showing off ‘my’ museum. They politely trotted along and took interest in my stories. I must have been with them for an hour at the very least. the costumes to the best advantage and allow visitors to imagine their wearers. Patrons also generously lent paintings that helped situate the costumes historically.

The venue—the Presidential Palace—was the appropriate setting for a stunning display.

Unfortunately, because of some official reason, the exhibition did not last as long as it deserved, but in the few weeks it was held, the breathtaking display amazed visitors and created general awareness of yet another aspect of Maltese life: its fashions through time.

What traces remain of this venture? A book, Costume in Malta, edited by Nicholas de Piro and myself, and a catalogue raisonné which I authored, aided by Evelyn Baluci.

The idea behind both books was to provide as much initial information as possible about different facets of

Two weeks later I bumped into the person who had organised the visit and she thanked me for my time with this family, who I had totally forgotten by then. Surprised at my unimpressed attitude she said, ‘you did recognise him, didn’t you?’ No, absolutely not, and I could not even remember what he looked like.

Turns out he was a Hollywood A-lister, who I must have watched in countless films and then I go and lecture him face-to-face for an entire hour without even suspecting his identity. How could I have been so blind? I have eaten out on this story many times since! My friends cannot believe I was unable to recognise one of the most recognisable faces worldwide and, on reflection, he must have thought me a brilliant actress for not being at all phased by him. Poor man, if only he knew!

CAROLINE TONNA The nature of museums today has moved beyond the objective of simply displaying collections to the public. The challenge for a curator nowadays is to keep the museum alive and relevant, to respond to the continuous influx of digital media, innovative technology, and global challenges such as climate change and a pandemic. At Palazzo Falson, our core value is the shared

L-AQWA Produzzjoni

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ALTHOUGH RATHER UNUSUAL, THE THEMES SELECTED FOR THE SMALL-SCALE EXHIBITIONS AT PALAZZO FALSON ARE INTENDED TO SHINE A LIGHT ON LITTLE-KNOWN AREAS OF THE DECORATIVE ARTS. THE STARTING POINT OF THESE EXHIBITIONS ARE OBJECTS FROM THE PALAZZO’S PERMANENT COLLECTION, WHICH ARE THEN COMPLEMENTED

BY ITEMS ON LOAN MOSTLY FROM MALTESE PRIVATE AND PUBLIC COLLECTIONS. THE EXAMINATION OF THESE OBJECTS REVEALS SOME REMARKABLE STORIES, AS WELL AS AN OPPORTUNITY TO APPROACH THE STUDY OF HISTORY, TRADITIONS, AND CRAFTS IN AN UNUSUAL AND ENGAGING MANNER.

Hand holding egg pipe bowl. Meerschaum, Continental Europe, late 19th-early 20th century, 5.7 x 8.3cm. (Private Collection, Malta / Photo: Peter Bartolo Parnis)

>> PP. 34-35

View of the armoury (restored) at Palazzo Falson Historic House Museum, Mdina. (Photo: Lisa Attard)

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dedication of our small team of museum hosts, maintenance and cleaning staff, a formidable group of volunteers and the support of our colleagues at Fondazzjoni Patrimonju Malti. With their collective support, as curator of the museum, I sought to respond to current challenges and set targets to keep the museum relevant as a cultural and sustainable space for a contemporary society.

One of the successful projects is the installation of the Pollinator Haven on an unused roof area of the museum that has enhanced the visitors’ experience and helped to raise awareness on biodiversity, bringing nature and culture together. Our aim is to inspire other entities and the public to follow our good practices and play a role in spatial planning, and create more green spaces while maximising on the benefits for our well-being.

It is also significant that the museum is keeping up with innovative technology and has developed the first museum-based augmented reality game, Secrets of Palazzo Falson—a fun, interactive, inclusive, and immersive game to play.

Our goal is to attract a younger audience to the museum which they can discover and engage with through the game, solving one clue after the other and moving from room to room.

Indeed, educational and career training is one of our strengths at the museum, stimulating our staff to advance their skills and education, and offer hands-on internships to international students.

Research volunteers are also encouraged to take up research projects and are actively involved in specialised show-and-tell tours for the visitors. We are involved in several collaborative projects with various educational institutes (from primary to tertiary) and have a good relationship with the academic community, organising lectures and conferences together.

The bottom line? Working at Palazzo Falson is a daily challenge but an enriching experience, and it is a privilege to work with passionate and creative people where the highest standards are second to none.

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YEARS OF

PLACES

Apart from being the subject of a Patrimonju publication in 2001 and of several articles in Treasures of Malta, the highest political seat in Malta and the jewel in the crown of Valletta has also housed some of Patrimonju’s most notable displays: on The Silver of Malta (1995), Costume in Malta (1998), the works of Edward Caruana Dingli (2010), and the highly anticipated exhibition of works by two Spanish twentieth-century masters: Picasso and Miró (2018), brought to Malta by Fundación MAPFRE in collaboration with Patrimonju and the Office of the President of Malta.

GRAND MASTER’S PALACE, VALLETTA

NATIONAL MUSEUM OF ARCHAEOLOGY, VALLETTA Highlighting the artistic achievement of the communities that inhabited the Maltese Islands between 5000–2500 BCE, Patrimonju’s ‘nomadic’ exhibition on prehistoric art in Malta was first set up in Malta’s National Museum of Archaeology in Valletta, before moving on to the Ministry of Gozo in Victoria and subsequently travelling to Florence where the display of priceless cultural treasures also drew considerable attention. The National Museum of Archaeology, housed in the former Auberge de Provence—the official residence of the Knights of the Order of St John hailing from Provence—was also the site of Patrimonju’s first exhibition: Antique Maltese Clocks (1992),

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signalling the start of Patrimonju’s commitment to high quality exhibitions and an ever-evolving approach to the publicity of Maltese cultural heritage. One such exhibition, set up shortly afterwards in 1994, was that featuring the artist Girolamo Gianni (pictured here).

ST JAMES CAVALIER (SPAZJU KREATTIV), VALLETTA Patrimonju made use of the cavernous halls and unique spaces of St James Cavalier to house two of its exhibitions. Just a few years prior to the display of antique Sicilian maiolica as well as the 120-piece exhibition on seventeenth- and eighteenth-century Maltese furniture, in 2001 and 2002 respectively, St James Cavalier had been expertly renovated and repurposed

by Professor Richard England to house Malta’s Centre for Creativity, now renamed Spazju Kreattiv.

The exhibition on antique Sicilian maiolica was organised in collaboration with the Istituto di Sociologia Luigi Sturzo of Caltagirone, and later was also put on show in Ragusa and Caltagirone, Sicily, as well as at the Hague, in the Netherlands.

Photos: Daniel Cilia

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In view are some of the prints from the Vollard Suite, on display for the exhibition Picasso & Miró: the flesh and the spirit, held at the Grand Master’s Palace, Valletta, 7 April – 30 June 2018. (Photo: Lisa Attard)

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CASINO MALTESE, VALLETTA The sumptuous halls of the Casino Maltese in Valletta, located in the former premises of the Treasury of the Order of St John of Jerusalem, and where several royal and prominent personalities were hosted since the setting up of a social club in 1852, were transformed into one of Patrimonju’s most exquisite exhibitions, thematically highlighting various types of jewellery: from amulets to devotional and secular pieces of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, local filigree work, and pieces from the last two centuries incorporating new materials and styles. The Casino Maltese was furthermore chosen for the book launch of Patrimonju’s most recent publication, Society Fashion in Malta (2022), by Caroline Tonna, presenting the photographic portraits of one of Malta’s pioneering photographers who captured the art of dress of Malta’s social elite.

Photo: Daniel Cilia

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VICTOR PASMORE GALLERY, VALLETTA Between 2015 and 2020, Patrimonju was entrusted with the management of the unique gallery located in the historic Polverista premises at the Central Bank of Malta Annexe in Valletta, dedicated to one of Britain’s foremost abstract art pioneers: Victor Pasmore (1908–1998).

Though not all produced in Malta, the works on display were largely representative of Pasmore’s artistic practice following his move to the island in 1966.

The gallery also staged temporary exhibitions related to Pasmore, his art, philosophy, and time. One such exhibition was Willie Apap: Revelations (2018), held on the centenary of the artist’s birth, and guest-curated by Maria Cassar.

The gallery was also represented through two of Pasmore’s works in the exhibition Malta. Land of Sea, held at BOZAR, Brussels, which was organised on the occasion of Malta’s Presidency of the Council of the European Union, in 2017.

Further to an agreement with the Victor Pasmore Foundation on 18 December 2020, the Pasmore collection was handed over to FPM, which now aims to relocate the collection to new premises for permanent display at St Paul’s Street, Valletta, and henceforth continue to research, promote, and display his important cultural legacy that impacted Malta and his Maltese contemporaries.

Photos: Lisa Attard

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NOTARIAL ARCHIVES, VALLETTA In April 2018, Patrimonju Museum Operators Ltd was awarded a tender to provide the services of Museum Development Consultant for the Notarial Archives. The brief entailed, among other things, the design of a Museum at No. 217, St Paul Street—a recently acquired building

intended to house the reading room and laboratory. The Museum, sited at ground floor level to the immediate left as one enters, will serve as an interface between the Archives and the general public, telling the story of the Archives’ collection, of the buildings where the Archives are

housed, and of the almost millennial history of the notarial profession. (excerpt taken from Francesca Balzan, ‘A Museum for the Notarial Archives’, in Salvate Nos: Saving the Notarial Archives, edited by Joan Abela [Malta: FPM, 2020], 167).

METROPOLITAN CATHEDRAL AND MUSEUM, MDINA The Metropolitan Cathedral Museum was the venue of arguably one of Patrimonju’s most ambitious exhibitions: Music in Malta – From Prehistory to Vinyl, held between 14 April – 16 June 2019. Through a display of musical instruments sourced from Malta’s private and public collections, including some pieces typically on display at the Cathedral Museum, the exhibition demonstrated how Malta’s musical culture—auditory and visually—fits within a Mediterranean context.

The magnificent eighteenth-century Baroque building, the former seminary built by Bishop Alpheran de Bussan during the rule of Grand Master Vilhena, also housed one of Patrimonju’s earliest exhibitions, that of The Sedan Chair in Malta, in 1993.

Housing the artistic patrimony of the Mdina Cathedral along with other important bequeathed collections, the holdings, history, and archives of the Museum and Cathedral feature significantly in several of Patrimonju’s publications.

The Chapter Hall of the Mdina Cathedral was also the venue for two satellite events of the Music in Malta project: a concert by the Ġukulari Ensemble as well as an evening of strings led by a CelloDuo and String-Trio, performing pieces by J.S. Bach, Beethoven, Kummer, and Dotzauer.

Photos: Lisa Attard

The Ġukulari Ensemble, performing to a full house at the Chapter Hall, Mdina Cathedral, as part of the Music in Malta project, on 5 March 2019.

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MANOEL THEATRE, VALLETTA

The refurbishments of the Manoel Theatre complex in Valletta at the start of the ‘90s, saw one of Patrimonju’s earliest collaborative and long-standing projects (although now, sadly, discontinued): Il-Mużew tat-Teatru (‘The Theatre Museum’), set up in October 1997 in association with the Manoel Theatre Management Committee.

This small yet interesting museum charted the history and cultural value of theatre in Malta through the display of several items assembled from a number of private and public sources and generous donations by private collectors.

The Manoel Theatre was also the spectacular venue for the launch of Patrimonju’s most ambitious project to date—Music in Malta – From

Prehistory to Vinyl (2019)—with the vibrant concert of Etnika performing to a full house.

Having served as the stage for several theatrical and ballet performances in the twentieth century, especially following the unfortunate loss of the Royal Opera House, the venue often features in Patrimonju publications concerned with the entertainment history of Malta. Particularly moving was the launch of Kathrina Farrugia-Kriel’s book on The Art of Ballet (2020) which saw numerous former students of Princess Nathalie Poutiatine, or former ballet performers who had attended her school, reunite for the event and across the pages of the award-nominated book.

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PALAZZO DE PIRO, MDINA Nestled in the bastion walls of Mdina, this seventeenth-century palazzo hosted one of Patrimonju’s most memorable events: that by sound artist and creative musician Renzo Spiteri. The experiential, immersive, and partially improvised sound performance, Evolution, was uniquely orchestrated for the Music in Malta project.

AROUND MDINA With its winding streets, charming squares, serene ditches, and stunning viewpoints overlooking much of Malta’s eastern hinterland and coastline, the old, medieval and fortified city is a prime location for outdoor events. The Music in Malta project offered such an opportunity to discover and enjoy the streetscape of the city, lined with its Baroque palazzos, convents, and churches, alongside the National Youth Band, which brought much festive cheer and colour as it marched through the streets of the city, accompanied by the members, flags and regalia of numerous village band clubs invited for the occasion.

Furthermore, the Mdina ditch was transformed into a vibrant open-air concert venue, where AYWA and Mascarimiri entertained the audience to explosive catchy music and dance, with iconic tunes and electro music inspired from the Maghreb region, the Balkans, and India, as well as traditional rhythmic sounds and polyphonic songs of Southern Italy, with Arabic, Andalusian, electronic and punk infusions.

Photos: Lisa Attard

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2013 ROME 2014 PARIS 2015 PRAGUE 2016 AMSTERDAM 2017 VIENNA 2018 BATH & THE COTSWOLDS 2019 LISBON

HISTORIC HOUSE TOURS In 2013, after a host of events organised locally for Friends of the Museum, Palazzo Falson tentatively embarked on a tour to Rome organised exclusively for the Friends of Palazzo Falson. This tour was so well received that from then onwards—until the onset of the pandemic—tours overseas were held yearly, taking in many of the

major capitals of Europe as well as surrounding regions. The hallmark of these highly anticipated Palazzo Falson tours are private visits to historic houses, belonging to royals, aristocrats, artists and ecclesiastics, to examine the domestic context of these wonderful homes packed with interesting artefacts and beauty. Participants are

treated to a jam-packed itinerary, which includes not a few surprises, frequently meeting with and receiving the hospitality of the owners of the historic homes visited.

Tour guides are generally art historians with a vast experience and a network of contacts that enhances the tours further.

ABROAD Palazzo di Parte Guelfa, Florence (Maltese Prehistoric Art, 1997) Castello di Donnafugata, Ragusa, Sicily (Sicilian Maiolica in Malta, 9 November – 2 December 2001) Palazzo del Seminario, Caltagirone, Sicily (Sicilian Maiolica in Malta, 13 December 2001 – 27 January 2002) BOZAR, Brussels Malta. Land of Sea, exhibition of the Presidency of Malta, 2017) Photo courtesy of BOZAR, Brussels

View of the kitchen (restored) at Palazzo Falson Historic House Museum, Mdina. (Photo: Lisa Attard)

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PALAZZO FALSON HISTORIC HOUSE MUSEUM, MDINA Palazzo Falson in the second oldest structure still standing in Mdina, parts of which date back to the thirteenth century. In 1937, the Palazzo was bought by Olof Frederick Gollcher OBE (1889–1962), who was very concerned with the conservation of the cultural heritage of our islands. An artistic man himself, Gollcher was a keen collector of objets d’art, whose collection included paintings, silver, furniture, jewellery, oriental rugs, armoury, ceramics and glass, and much more.

Gollcher wanted his house to be preserved with its contents and converted into an open museum; in his will he left instructions for the setting up of a foundation bearing his name that was to carry out this ‘living’ wish.

Following a five-year intensive restoration exercise, Palazzo Falson Historic House Museum opened its doors to the public in May 2007, and had early on already established itself as one of Malta’s foremost cultural attractions, offering a varied

programme of events, workshops, lectures and seminars, special visits, tailored international historic house tours, yearly small-scale exhibitions, daily tours by specifically trained staff, and research work by interns and dedicated volunteers. Over the years, Palazzo Falson has strived hard to apply some of the most recent international curatorial practices and trends, including the development of a virtual-reality game, converting part of the roof into a pollinator haven, collaborating in

digitisation projects with the Hill Museum & Manuscript Library, encouraging research and publishing, and participating in local and international conferences.

To top it off is the recent opening of the Palazzo’s roof-top cafe: Gustav Café, where visitors may enjoy stunning views of the island, a hot brew in the winter, and something light and fresh in summer.

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View of the landing (restored) at Palazzo Falson Historic House Museum, Mdina. (Photo: Lisa Attard)

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WHISTLES

FROM RITUAL TO TOYS

2009

The first in a series of small, but highly focused temporary exhibitions about particular themes, was put up at Palazzo Falson between 30 April and 21 June 2009. The exhibition on whistles brought together more than 150 whistles loaned from Maltese private and museum collections, ranging from antique Maltese whistles to bird calls, in a huge variety of materials, shapes, and sounds. The historic, folkloric, and musical significance of these sound-making instruments was highlighted. An audiovisual display within the exhibition hall also permitted the viewer to hear some of the whistles on display.

Photo: Joe P. Borg

PIPES

FROM HABIT TO ART

2010

Over 160 pipes, mostly drawn from private collections, were displayed. Ranging from the common briar wood pipe to the more esoteric opium pipes and pipes used in rituals, this exhibition provided a colourful overview of pipes and pipe-smoking from around the world. Photo: Joe P. Borg

SCENT BOTTLES

FROM CEREMONY TO SEDUCTION

2011

Treasured as a rare and precious substance, scent has played a significant role in ritual and religion, myth and medicine, splendour and seduction for some 4000 years. The exhibition showcased the bottles created to contain the scents of the centuries, tracing their history from their early origins up to recent years. Over 250 scent bottles were brought together from Palazzo Falson’s permanent collection, as well as other private and museum collections.

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EDWARD LEAR

WATERCOLOURS AND WORDS

Edward Lear (1812–1888) was a consummate landscape artist, who is best remembered for his paintings, and his so-called ‘nonsense’ verse. During his lifetime, Lear published several volumes of verse as well as accounts of his many travels. which were motivated by his desire to escape the damp winters of his native London and by his incessant search for new landscapes to paint. During a four-month visit to Malta, he painted nearly 300 on-site and a few dozen studio watercolours. This exhibition brought together a number of these watercolours in an innovative display which matches up the works with Lear’s corresponding diary notes, giving us an unprecedented insight into the artist’s state of mind and working method at the time. Photo: Peter Bartolo Parnis

2014

WATCHES

FROM TIMEKEEPERS TO TRENDSETTERS This exhibition brought together over 50 antique watches specially loaned from private and museum collections and highlighted the technological and artistic qualities of antique watches. The exhibition considered their variations and functions, and took an in-depth look at particularly important watches belonging to notable personalities. This show not only delved deep into these marvellous little machines to see how they work, but also demonstrated their aesthetic qualities and how they were indispensable items of costume, merging beauty and function into a wearable objet d’art. Photo: Lisa Attard

2015

SNUFF BOXES

FROM ACCESSORIES TO OBJETS D’ART This exhibition brought together 200 snuff boxes and related artefacts, sourced from museum, ecclesiastical and never-seen-before private collections in an exhibition that charted the history of the snuff box from the most stunning examples to the variety of boxes that were created to hold the once-precious powder, snuff. Photo: Malta in 360°

2016

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THE DEVIL OF THE BRUSH SPEED AS ARTISTIC VIRTUE

2017

The first in a new series of exhibitions that moves away from the examination of objects for their type and function, and explores concepts and their manifestation in art, the exhibition The Devil of the Brush opened to the public on 16 December 2017. The exhibition celebrated speed and virtuosity, and explored the exciting dynamics between artistic invention and technical brilliance through paintings, statuary, drawings, modelli, and bozzetti executed by the major protagonists of Maltese art between 1650 and 2000. Photo: Lisa Attard

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PAUL XUEREB

THE FLIGHT OF THE PUBLISHING WING

RESEARCH

YEARS OF

When Fondazzjoni Patrimonju Malti was founded in 1992, it aimed to reveal the wealth of artistic and cultural material existing in private collections through exhibitions, utilising these and other activities to encourage and publicise research on many aspects of the history and remains of the Maltese Islands. Since 1994, its much-admired journal published three times a year, Treasures of Malta, has been another tool for spreading knowledge about Malta’s heritage. Meanwhile, Patrimonju’s first single-volume publications included well-illustrated and scholarly catalogues of the exhibitions it organised, such as Antique Maltese Clocks, or the immensely successful exhibitions of The Silver of Malta, and Costume in Malta—the catalogues of which are edited by experts and have remained important reference works.

The importance of scholarly catalogues to introduce a field of studies to non-experts was testified to across the years, even in later publications such as the catalogue of one of Patrimonju’s most exciting and recent exhibitions, Music in Malta, which confirms Dr Anna Borg Cardona as the great expert on the subject, just as Francesca Balzan, whose role in Patrimonju is noteworthy, had evidenced her expertise through the exhibition and accompanying catalogue on jewellery in Malta.

It is of great satisfaction for publishers of researched works to attract good scholars to their publishing list. At first, Patrimonju had its own established author whose numerous, well-written works it could publish successfully. Dr Giovanni Bonello has become a byword for an astonishingly prolific writer of quality works, among which are his long series on Histories of Malta or other articles, chapters and volumes based on his huge collection

of early photographs of Malta and Gozo. When acting as Patrimonju’s General Editor, it was he who asked the British expert on photographic history, Margaret Harker, to write for Patrimonju the standard work on the photographic history of Malta in the nineteenth century—a fine work with which the publishing wing of Patrimonju inaugurated the new century.

During my own four-year editorship at Patrimonju, it was of great satisfaction for me to help the well-known German scholar Thomas Freller, a specialist on Maltese history, to write what is, to my knowledge, the only volume about the Maltese Islands in world literature, a very substantial book that ought to be in every academic and scholarly library. To have an author publicly thank his editor for his ‘essential support’ is truly the most an editor can strive for. Among other notable publications which provided me with the unique opportunity to work closely with authors and editors—both for technical as well as academic support—were Francesco Menchetti’s Architects and Knights (2013), as well as The Bellanti Family (2010), for which I was able to engage Patricia Camilleri for a contribution on the archaeological work of Paolo Francesco Bellanti.

Patrimonju has for several years had competitors in the publication of scholarly, lavishly illustrated and attentively designed books on Maltese art and history, but it is still going strong as evidenced by its most recent publication: Caroline Tonna’s great and beautiful tome on the portrait photographs taken by the nineteenth-century Maltese photographer Leandro Preziosi, or, a few years back, by Giovanni Bonello’s two weighty volumes—Valletta-Lost City—with their invaluable large collection of photographs of the city before its many changes during and after WWII, a book that speaks so well to old readers and astonishes many a younger one. For the scholar, the volume which might perhaps be most treasured is the work edited by two elderly and highly esteemed scholars: Albert Ganado and Antonio Espinosa Rodriguez in Encyclopaedia of Artists with a Malta Connection, a work that has immediately become essential for both students and seasoned researchers in the field of Maltese art history.

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‘ PATRIMONJU HAS FOR SEVERAL YEARS HAD COMPETITORS IN THE PUBLICATION OF SCHOLARLY, LAVISHLY ILLUSTRATED AND ATTENTIVELY DESIGNED BOOKS ON MALTESE ART AND HISTORY, BUT IT IS STILL GOING STRONG AS EVIDENCED BY ITS MOST RECENT PUBLICATION. ‘

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CAROLINE TONNA

FROM OUR LATEST AUTHOR SOCIETY FASHION IN MALTA: THE PORTRAIT PHOTOGRAPHY OF LEANDRO PREZIOSI, 1830–1869 (2022) My research took me to many art museums, period costume exhibitions, archives, and collectors of dress artefacts and vintage photography. I discovered many hidden treasures and was fortunate to meet various interesting people who share the same passion for period costume and early nineteenth-century photographs. The writing process of the book was laborious, but very exciting, especially when organising the material for the pre-publication of the book. Particularly challenging was

the selection of images and, had I to start all over again, I would, in fact, start from the images and then proceed on to writing.

One of the high points of the process was working with Patrimonju’s general editor, Dr Giovanni Bonello, who is also very passionate about early photography, as well as with former associate editor, Michelle Galea—one of the most calm, patient, and meticulous persons I have ever had the pleasure to work with, and from whom I have learnt a lot. It was most enjoyable to work closely with artist photographer and book designer, Lisa Attard, who introduced a contemporary spin to the book. Giulia Privitelli and Caroline Camilleri also, respectively, helped a great deal in the laborious tasks of proofreading and indexing. The teamwork was led

by Patrimonju’s Creative Director, Michael Lowell, resulting in yet another cutting-edge publication by the Foundation. The culmination of this wonderful experience was, finally, the book launch held at

FPM THIRTY YEARS SUPPLEMENT, 1992–2022

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Early Choir Books for the Knights in Malta

CANTATE DOMINO

antate C Domino Early Choir Books for the Knights in Malta

Theresa ZammiT Lupi

Theresa ZammiT Lupi

FONDAZZJONI PATRIMONJU MALTI

the Casino Maltese—an event I got to share with my ever-supporting family, friends, scholars, and keen followers of the arts.

AN AUTHOR’S TESTIMONY THOMAS FRELLER In the years I spent living in Rabat (Malta), I recall being awestruck, each day, by the changing profile of the town, as if the rising sun and moving shades were seemingly carving out the Baroque architecture of its many churches and monasteries. Together with the smell of the local bakeries, the orange trees, and the background soundtrack of the Rabtin, these features created a unique and, of course, subjective blend and atmosphere of ‘Malteseness’ which still—extremely positively—follows me to this very day. It was then, back in the mid-1990s, that my late friend

Dun Ġwann Azzopardi informed me about the plans of Patimonju to establish a new journal which, eventually, would be aptly titled Treasures of Malta. What attracted me from the very beginning was the combination of well-written contributions and a most appealing design; soon, it became a substantial intellectual part of my perception of ‘Malteseness’.

Many years and fifty books later, I still feel very honoured to have been given the chance to contribute in regular intervals to Treasures of Malta. The merit of contributing to this journal lies beyond any individual or scientific purpose; rather, it belongs with the collective effort to increase the understanding and awareness of the broad puzzle of Maltese and Gozitan culture, to make it more complete, and is, therewith, worth all efforts.

For me, Patrimonju and its journal epitomises a form of cultural patriotism—a patriotism in the best of senses: open-minded and innovative, extending beyond any dusted regulations, and committed to promote the unity animating Malta’s past and future.

KATHRINA FARRUGIA-KRIEL Working as an academic writer in the arts and humanities (dance) with global publishers opens up a myriad of transnational experiences. There are cultural exchanges, articulated nuances, the need for clarity, and so much more! Over the last decade, my career in publishing has given me opportunities to work with a variety of university-based publishers, some working on a big corporate model that engages with global peer reviews and buys in copy editors located in different global regions, to smaller academic presses that work around the editor-author relationship in a more ‘truncated’ peer relationship. But what happens when your book project is not only a ‘niche market’ offering to a particular region but also invested in the arts, histories, and cultures of this region?

When I shaped the proposal of Princess Poutiatine and the Art of Ballet in Malta, I was mindful that I needed a publisher who would be able to recognise the art and visuality of the subject matter (dance), and, more importantly, that they would be as committed to

the legacy of the subject matter— an émigré in Malta who developed dance education and training in the twentieth century—as I was. With Fondazzjoni Patrimonju Malti I found an ideal partner.

Based on a small-scale but hugely creative model, this publishing team gave the book its required attention across both the visuality and academic rigour of the book, including thematic development and content, layout and design, photography, and production. Each stage was a pleasure to work with the team, and when the typical publishing hurdles drew near us, we—as a team—found creative solutions.

I am truly grateful to FPM for having produced not only a text that merits its place on every bookshelf in Maltese homes that have an interest in the arts, but also a testament to the legacy of dance as a cultural aspect of Maltese history that can sit alongside other global histories in dance. Indeed, I know that this book also sits on the shelves of many international libraries, including the New York Public Library and the global headquarters of the Royal Academy of Dance in London.

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30 YEARS OF RESEARCH

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MICHELLE GALEA

AN EYE FOR DETAIL Fondazzjoni Patrimonju Malti’s publishing division is as old as the Foundation itself, with the first publication being the catalogue that accompanied its first exhibition in 1992. With fifty-six books, twelve exhibition catalogues and eighty-four issues of Treasures of Malta under its belt, FPM continues to hone its abilities in providing an excellent product worthy of the Foundation’s reputation.

I have had the pleasure of being part of the publishing division for well over a decade, working alongside esteemed editors and highly respected scholars and authors. It is always an honour to be entrusted with someone’s manuscript, as it invariably is the product of years of research, and therefore extremely personal for the author. Working closely with the authors, we offer an objective viewpoint regarding content and structure, as well as a highly individualised design and layout. Seeing a book take shape is an exciting journey, for us as much as the authors, and we focus all our energies on even the minutest detail to ensure that the end result is as perfect as humanly possible.

LISA ATTARD

BETWEEN THE COVERS The design of every book is a collaboration between an author or editor and the team at FPM; a collaboration that begins with a conversation and careful assessment of the content. We get a feel for the voice of the author, and the flow of the narrative through the text and images, and then begin asking questions and making decisions based upon what kind of journey we would like our readers to go on with a book.

A good reading experience is dependent on an interior that is balanced and aesthetically pleasing in its choice of font, type size, line spacing, chapter headings, margins, etc. We think about the treatment of the text and also the images in relation to the text.

We make new photographs wherever necessary, and consider how the images are to appear on a page.

We also think about the book conceptually: how do we nod towards the quirks that characterise a particular period of the study without being too literal?

And finally, a book is also a physical object that has texture, size, and weight. I like to think of a book in relation to the human body, and to play with the form so as to guide the pace of a reader’s experience, and to work with materials to act upon the senses.

We make several dummies of the book throughout the process so as to feel the book physically. The act of turning a page is crucial to the design process.

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FPM THIRTY YEARS SUPPLEMENT, 1992–2022

30 YEARS OF RESEARCH

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FPM THIRTY YEARS SUPPLEMENT, 1992–2022

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YEARS OF

PEOPLE Fondazzjoni Patrimonju Malti was originally the brainchild of Rita Flamini, who in 1992 gathered together a small group of like-minded friends (myself included!) who all had Malta’s cultural heritage at heart, and who also felt that the country’s artistic patrimony was seriously compromised. As a result, Patrimonju was conceived, and the group got together with a few deciding how best to go about creating public awareness of our extensive heritage. Though objects are important, its people-centred approach has not waned since...

30 YEARS OF PEOPLE

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GIOVANNI BONELLO

MAURICE DE GIORGIO: THIRTY YEARS ON I have come across some quite extraordinary persons in my life.

Maurice de Giorgio was not extraordinary; he was unique.

He sailed into my life-space by accident exactly thirty years ago, at the time of the conception of Fondazzjoni Patrimonju Malti, the brainchild of Rita Flamini. Fired by a compelling idea, Rita corralled a few other culture freaks, including me, with the view of translating an emotion into a project, and that project into a high-rev engine. The conspirators all fussed over that infant.

Rita was the proud and concerned mother; who was to be the father?

John Lowell hurled Maurice de Giorgio’s name into the lions’ den.

Until then, I had only perceived him as a successful businessman who never wore the wrong tie. I had not met him before, but I never moved away since.

I got to know Maurice slowly, to find out, day after day, that not only did his ties match his clothes, but his manners suited royalty, and his tastes drove envious aesthetes to depression. Besides all that, he

‘ THE LASTING SUCCESS OF PATRIMONJU WAS DUE AS MUCH TO ITS GREAT CONCEPT AS TO THE ALCHEMY BETWEEN ITS PEOPLE AND THEIR MISSION, AND TO THE UNMATCHED CHARISMA OF MAURICE. ‘

had never-say-die embedded in his DNA. If he espoused an idea, next to nothing would stand in the way of its realisation—a sort of gentle ruthlessness, that soft compulsion to reach the finishing line that never let him down. A Jihadist for culture, with a cast-iron fist in foam-rubber gloves, his great quality was an innate ability to elude disillusion.

Maurice headed Patrimonju for twenty-three years, single-mindedly dedicating his time and his energies to the great assignment. He taught me a lot, but mostly he taught me the beauty of hoping for beauty.

Patrimonju’s President had that rare charm that made you feel disagreeable and dreadful to even consider failing him—or, in any case, to refuse to come on board anything he proposed. I saw very few say ‘no’, whether to his seduction to make personal treasures available for exhibitions, or to fork out sponsorships, or to provide opulent venues for Patrimonju’s activities. The lasting success of Patrimonju was due as much to its great concept as to the alchemy between its people and their mission, and to the unmatched charisma of Maurice.

Maurice de Giorgio set standards, raised all the bars, energised the pursuit of perfection, made good better. He could look back with the utmost gratification on how he had enriched the nation.

But one problem with Maurice was that he could not. He couldn’t look back, only forward.

Were I to analyse the cultural scene in Malta as it evolved over my lifetime, I would be rather tempted to divide it into ‘Before Patrimonju’ and ‘After Patrimonju’.

Just remember the display standards of most exhibitions before Maurice rejected the bazaar ethos; just look at the benchmarks current in most publications before

Maurice hauled Malta, sometimes kicking and screaming, into the twenty-first century; just consider at what point in time ‘u iwa, mhux xorta?’ turned into ‘tajjeb, imma mhux tajjeb biżżejjed’ (‘good, but not good enough’).

There was a philosophy that inspired Patrimonju—the one that believes that objects pregnant with beauty, with memory, with desire, are merely entrusted to their owners, but in the name of the community. And the belief that testimonials of culture acquire added value in proportion to the numbers of those who enjoy them. Maurice had moulded Patrimonju to his fundamental idea: there is no distance between past and present; there is no time between was and is.

Constructing the hagiography of a person carries the risk of distorting the overall profile. Do I make Maurice sound one-dimensional, the fanatic fraught with wrath unless the whole world is rooting for his programme, the crusader who breakfasts on culture and then gargles with culture too? He was anything but. I travelled with him more than once, and each time was a bracing, fun experience, a judicious balance of exhibitions and expeditions, of rumour and humour, of galleries and calories. I never saw him lose his temper, and almost never his temperance.

Maurice’s ninetieth birthday provided the inescapable reason for me to put a Festschrift together, an occasion that allowed me to reconfirm how widely admired, loved, and respected he was. This book was the homage of diverse persons cemented together by one common denominator: Maurice—an authentic liber amicorum.

Francis Bacon, in the sixteenth century, claimed that friends are the thieves of time. Those who contributed were friends who wanted to steal Maurice from the desolations of time to release him into timelessness. The book was organised under secrecy protocols meant to make the CIA jealous: we could not advertise for contributions, which, in a way, turned out to be a felicitous failure as all the evidence indicated that supply would have by far exceeded the capacity of the one volume planned.

I thank all those who Maurice infected with his manic perfectionism and his shameful inability to compromise on standards. But most of all, I thank Maurice for transforming his dream into my dream, his vision into the vision of a nation.

This text contains excerpts from my Foreword in A Timeless Gentleman - Festschrift in honour of Maurice de Giorgio (2014).

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BETWEEN THE OFFICE AND EXHIBITION HALL ANTONIA CRITIEN In the summer of 1996, having just completed my studies at University, I somehow found myself on the roof level of the Patrimonju offices (then at Palazzo Bonici, adjacent to Teatru Manoel) amidst a sea of costumes. The team were getting ready to host one of its most loved exhibitions to date—Costume in Malta. I was so taken by that volume of gorgeous fabric as I helped to steamclean one dress after another, as others were being carefully placed on mannequins. I loved the environment and the excitement exhibition preparation offered; I held on to that memory and, after furthering my studies, I eventually joined Patrimonju full-time in 2000.

My role then was primarily on exhibitions. Visiting lenders’ homes was always the most exciting part; what awaited us was always a mystery. Working closely with the curators was an invaluable learning experience: I learnt so much about

jewellery from Francesca Balzan as we house-hopped, camera in hand, hoping to find the most stunning pieces for the exhibition; I now also consider myself rather knowledgeable about antique furniture thanks to the late Joseph Galea Naudi— one of the most interesting and remarkable people I have ever met— as we spent hours together working on the catalogue for the exhibition.

In truth, every exhibition was a great learning experience for me; seeing them unfold in all their glory is perhaps among the most satisfying things to be had.

Possibly, my biggest—and most daunting—task to date at Patrimonju was compiling the inventory of Palazzo Falson Historic House Museum, Mdina. In 2001, in an agreement with the Gollcher Foundation, Patrimonju was handed the keys to what was then known as the Norman House—to restore and convert it into a house museum. My job was to go through every single item in the house, photograph it, and log it into a database.

Those who have been to Palazzo Falson are aware of Gollcher’s extensive collections of jewellery, paintings, rugs, glass, ceramics… the list is endless! And then came the library and archives which years before had been sprinkled with a very lethal-smelling powder meant to act as an insect deterrent. I doubt I will ever again get the chance to immerse myself so fully in such

an outstanding collection. Having then left Patrimonju to live abroad for a few years and start a family, I’m now employed on a parttime basis in more of a writing and content-creation role: the monthly newsletter, the Treasures of Malta cultural calendar, Victor Pasmore blog posts, and other bits and pieces. I clearly couldn’t keep away!

SAMUEL CASHA The two years I spent at Fondazzjoni Patrimonju Malti were two years that I will always treasure. Firstly, as a student and lover of art, working within the Victor Pasmore Gallery in Valletta enabled me to study the works and career of a man whose importance in the local modern art history is not to be underestimated. At the gallery, I had the opportunity to discuss art, Pasmore, and much more with various visitors— from experts to curious passers-by seeking to learn more. I also had the simple pleasure of being able to stand in front of Pasmore’s artworks for hours on end, as well as, for a time, works by Willie Apap.

Being involved in the Willie Apap: Revelations exhibition was likewise an incredibly enriching and enjoyable experience. Going round Malta with Giulia and Frans viewing collections and picking up the works of art from their private dwellings, meeting the collectors

themselves, and eventually seeing the exhibition come together, is an experience I will never forget.

Additionally, I was also lucky to have been given several opportunities to express my thoughts and ideas on the gallery’s social media and in a number of articles, as well as to organise a few public lectures and to introduce the speakers to the eager audience. I also had the opportunity to briefly help out at Palazzo Falson and in Patrimonju’s Music in Malta exhibition. My time at FPM was a time when I not only grew as a person strengthening several skills, but also a time which, fittingly, deepened my love and appreciation for our Maltese heritage.

CAROLINE CAMILLERI Fifteen years have passed since I first stepped into FPM’s offices and while, on one hand, there have been many changes, on the other, some things have remained the same.

Indeed, Patrimonju has adapted to the times, especially with regard to the digital world: we are out there on the web through our website, social media platforms as well as through our recently introduced podcast. And all this is mostly done in-house! Meanwhile, what has largely remained unchanged is the high standard we aim to reach through our exhibitions and publications. It still amazes me how we

30 YEARS OF PEOPLE

manage to see our projects through until the end, considering the small number of staff! Perhaps we do so by sheer will power, a deep respect for our cultural heritage, and a passion to share it with others. What I feel, in fact, is pride in being part of an organisation which has continued to work hard to promote the hidden treasures of our Islands, and I often catch myself wondering at how much is out there in private collections, enriching and safeguarding our cultural heritage.

I do wish to express my deep gratitude to the late Maurice de Giorgio for having taught me— us—to aim for the highest of standards, to not bow down to compromise—a lesson each one of us has adopted in our own private lives.

And what I wish for FPM, going forward, is to grow and prosper without forgetting why it was set up, and never having to compromise on quality and good taste.

‘ WORKING WITH FPM OPENED UP A TOTALLY NEW WORLD FOR ME: A WORLD OF HISTORY, LEARNING, AND A WORK ETHIC THAT INSPIRED ME TO STRIVE FOR PERFECTION. THERE WAS NONE OF THAT “ANYTHING GOES” ATTITUDE, WHICH UNFORTUNATELY CHARACTERISES A LOT OF WHAT IS DONE LOCALLY. THIS BEING FPM’S 30TH ANNIVERSARY GIVES ME HOPE THAT THE FOUNDATION WILL GO ON FOR YEARS TO COME. ‘ (ANGELA GHIRXI, FORMER FPM ADMINISTRATION COORDINATOR)

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A QUICK Q&A WITH...

SARAH CHIRCOP, FPM’S RESEARCH & PROJECT COORDINATOR One memorable and rewarding moment: The Music in Malta project, all of it! From the research phase to collection, set-up, programming and preparation for performances, writing the introduction to the catalogue, developing new connections and collaborations, sharing the experience with colleagues and friends…

What, for you, is appealing about FPM? The necessity to work with others as well as working with high standards, without compromise when it comes to quality.

A skill that FPM enabled you to explore and develop: Filming and editing.

An improvement you've seen in FPM in your time working with the Foundation: Broadening horizons and diversifying its collaborations.

One of the challenges or things which challenge you the most in your work with FPM: Currently, I would say it’s the pressures of working alone.

Working and voicing your ideas with others is motivating, enriching, and encourages creativity and reflection.

One of your dreams for FPM: To adapt our methods and practices with a more current and contemporary dialogue, whilst still preserving FPM’s mission statement.

FPM THIRTY YEARS SUPPLEMENT, 1992–2022

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1. All smiles at the Vanity, Profanity & Worship: Jewellery from the Maltese Islands exhibition launch, at the Casino Maltese, Valletta, in 2013. Pictured from left: Lisa Attard, Michael Lowell, Francesca Balzan (curator), and Lewis Zammit.

2. The heights we go to... Transporting a sedan chair to the exhibition venue at the Mdina Cathedral Museum, in 1993.

3. Michael Lowell (left), visiting Daniel Gullo (right) at the premises of the Hill Museum & Manuscript Library at Collegeville, Minnesota.

4. A morning well spent designing and decorating working clocks, during a children’s workshop at Palazzo Falson, Mdina, in 2015.

5. Dott. Fabiana Gorassini, an Italian expert in costume restoration, restoring a nineteenth-century costume in Patrimonju’s restoration workshop in Valletta.

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6. A prestigious event for museum professionals to meet, learn, discuss, and point the way forward. Fondazzjoni Patrimonju Malti, in collaboration with ICOM, was invited to organise and host the annual meeting for the International Council of Museums – International Committee for Museums and Collections of Fine Arts (ICOM–ICFA), held between 4–8 October 2011, at Palazzo Parisio, Naxxar.

7. A memorable visit to the Picasso & Miró exhibition at the Grand Master’s Palace with Vittorio Sgarbi (centre) and members of the Department of Art and Art History of the University of Malta. Pictured from left: Pierre Grech Pillow, Michael Lowell, Vittorio Sgarbi, Giulia Privitelli, Prof. Keith Sciberras, and Dr Mark Sagona.

8. Caroline Tonna, curator of Palazzo Falson Historic House Museum in Mdina, treating H.E. the President of Malta, George Vella, and his wife, Miriam, to an exclusive visit of the museum.

9. The late Maurice de Giorgio, former Chairman of FPM, visibly moved as Dr Giovanni Bonello presents him with a copy of the Festschrift published in acknowledgement and gratitude for his indefatigable commitment to the promotion of Maltese cultural heritage. The book, titled A Timeless Gentleman, was published in 2014.

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10. Style and smiles at the book launch of our most recent publication: Caroline Tonna’s Society Fashion in Malta, held at the Casino Maltese, Valletta, in March 2022. Pictured from left: Francesca Balzan, Michael Lowell, Lisa Attard, Michelle Galea, Caroline Tonna (author), Joseph Grioli, Sarah Chircop, Dr Giovanni Bonello, and Giulia Privitelli.

FPM THIRTY YEARS SUPPLEMENT, 1992–2022

View of the library (restored) at Palazzo Falson Historic House Museum, Mdina.

(Photo: Lisa Attard)

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A VOLUNTEER’S PERSPECTIVE JAN AND ELLEN BEUNDERMAN From that very first coffee session on the sunny roof at Palazzo Falson—a ‘job interview’ in the spring of 2008—our engagement to volunteer there once a week has made Palazzo Falson a prime source of friendships for us, an avenue for learning about Malta’s art and history, a fount of ideas and enthusiasms, and the coffee breaks have become a cherished tradition. Francesca Balzan, former curator of the Palazzo, quickly decided that Ellen’s professional record would be most useful in re-evaluating the library collection, updating the methodology used, the catalogue itself, and moving it online, fostering its use for researchers or students. We launched a ‘Book of the Month’ series and created other ways to showcase the collection and make presentations.

Time has proved that even an ex-banker could be useful: pitching in on bringing order in the archives, writing texts, articles or translations, research on aspects of Olly’s life, organising a seminar on old maps of Malta in the Palazzo’s book collection, or helping out during Patrimonju expositions.

We’ve aimed to be there when the call comes for all hands on deck; and Caroline Tonna, the Palazzo’s curator, wasted no time to introduce volunteering from home during the pandemic.

It has been a most rewarding experience to contribute to the Palazzo’s and Patrimonju’s mission surrounded by delightful people.

MARTIN BANKS Fortuitously, I made several visits to Palazzo Falson within a month of it being opened to the public, following the comprehensive refurbishment and re-arrangement as a historic house museum, by FPM, between 2002 and 2007.

The elegant and stylish Palazzo, with its many intriguing and beautiful furnishings and artefacts was instantly appealing; accepting the invitation of the then curator Francesca Balzan to play a part as a volunteer worker was a decision I have not only never regretted—in fifteen years—but for which I have been constantly thankful and grateful.

In the early years, individual tours, daily running, and security tasks meant meeting many diverse and interesting people from around the world who, by the end of their visit, and almost without exception, had fallen under the spell of the Palazzo’s compulsively friendly and appealing nature.

Subsequently, and of continuing interest, has been the researching, cataloguing, and writing about the numerous and widely varied furnishings, artefacts, and documents which go to make up the various collections of Captain Olof Gollcher OBE, housed within Palazzo Falson—FPM’s flagship ‘bricks and mortar’ project— which has become the recipient of many awards for excellence, as well as of letters expressing the congratulations and appreciation of visiting presidents.

For me, volunteering at Palazzo Falson has shown itself to be very much a rich kaleidoscope of interest and pleasure, providing much mutual benefit.

HOSTING, GUIDING, TEACHING ABIGAIL PACE At Palazzo Falson Historic House Museum, we believe that museums are an ideal and safe space for children to learn about the past, understand better the present, and guide them towards the future. As museum educators we strive to involve

the participation of our community of young learners and entice them to be curious and discover the historic and cultural treasures of our museum.

We have created an EduFun project, specifically designed to offer a unique visiting experience for children. We introduce them to our rich culture and patrimony through storytelling, games, and animation inspired from the museum collection. Children are encouraged to engage in handson art-making workshops and take home with them their creative objects to share with family and friends. Recently, we have also reached out to a younger audience, mainly children between the ages of two to four years through our interactive workshops.

Apart from offering free entrance to every child within the 6–12 age group, we also provide museum activity books which could be completed during or after their visit. We regularly organise specifically curated tours for schoolchildren of different levels and age groups.

We recognise that a museum visit can have a profound impact on a young learner’s view of the world. By fostering a culture of participation amongst the younger generation, we aim to help them understand the beauty of curiosity and creativity, and hope to spark a lifelong interest in art and history.

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DISCOVERING STORIES THROUGH TREASURES FROM MALTA FRANCESCA BALZAN The podcast series Treasures from Malta was born during the Covid-19 period and the strict social distancing that was associated with it. Podcasts worldwide saw a massive increase in this period— while we all had to keep away from each other we craved company and enrichment through the meeting

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of ideas. Here, in Malta, we were similarly affected by it and as Patrimonju’s in-person activities ground to a halt, we looked at all the possibilities of connecting online. One of the projects to emerge was the podcast series which was well received and is going strong to this day. It takes the format of conversations between me, as host, and outstanding individuals with a Maltese connection who have excelled in their artistic practice, academic studies, or contributions to the arts.

I’ve loved this challenge, because a challenge it truly was. I was an avid podcast follower anyway, but to suddenly be the one producing podcasts to Patrimonju’s usual exacting standards with zero experience in the short space of a few weeks was a challenge indeed.

After initial contact with the guest, I do a lot of research in order to formulate questions that

could best prod the guest to open up about their life in culture. The recording is technically challenging as sound quality (of which I had no experience) is essential for pleasant listening, and the editing that follows (again, zero experience) meant I had to learn a host of new skills, quickly. After this, the team at Patrimonju help me with feedback on the recording, uploading information to our webpage and promoting each episode on social media.

Despite the tight deadline to release an episode every fortnight, after a much sweated-over recording, I am always deeply, sincerely struck by one fact: how grateful I am to have this absolute privilege to meet these wonderful guests, to take the time to research their lives, and to spend so much time with them drawing out the very facts that make them so outstanding. Without exception, and I truly

mean this, all our guests have been generous with their time, anxious to collaborate and make my task easier, and gracious with sharing so much of their lives. Honestly, how lucky am I to ask questions for a living?

I am used to researching objects and have been doing this for Patrimonju in the various roles I held, but to research real, living people is a greater privilege that leaves me in awe of their accomplishments and with a glow of pleasure at being in the company of big-hearted persons who make us proud to be Maltese. I would have never imagined myself as a podcast host and a recording and editing technician, but I have learnt all this and once again have Patrimonju to thank for pushing me out of my comfort zone and presenting me with an opportunity to grow and learn and contribute in a new manner.

‘ TO RESEARCH REAL, LIVING PEOPLE IS A GREATER PRIVILEGE THAT LEAVES ME IN AWE OF THEIR ACCOMPLISHMENTS AND WITH A GLOW OF PLEASURE AT BEING IN THE COMPANY OF BIG-HEARTED PERSONS WHO MAKE US PROUD TO BE MALTESE. ‘

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THIS SPECIAL SUPPLEMENT, PUBLISHED WITH THE 84TH ISSUE OF TREASURES OF MALTA, AIMS TO BE A MEMORIAL TO A VISION AND TO THOSE WHO REALISED IT.

WITH GRATITUDE TO OUR...

ASSOCIATES APS Bank

BENEFACTORS BOV – Bank of Valletta Corinthia Group HSBC Malta Foundation MAPFRE MSV Life Mr Jean Claude Gandur The Martin Laing Foundation

CORPORATE SUPPORTERS Antes Insurance Brokers Limited Associated Drug Company Limited Fenech & Fenech Advocates Ganado Advocates GO Healthcare Logistics Ltd M. Demajo Group Melita Foundation NEXOS Lighting and Video The Farsons Foundation The Gasan Foundation

PERSONAL SUPPORTERS Mr & Mrs Andrew Hamish Forsyth PATRONS Simon Abrahams & Francesca Del Rio Mr & Mrs Neville Agius Baroness Apap Bologna Sceberras D’Amico lnguanez Simon & Annabelle Ellul Sullivan Mrs Janatha Stubbs Mr Andrew Norman Vincenti Atlas Insurance – Mr Matthew von Brockdorff CamilleriParis Mode – Mr Paul Camilleri Curmi & Partners Ltd – Mr David Curmi Eden Leisure Group – Mr Ian De Cesare Eyetech Ltd – Mr Patrick Cutajar Forestals Group of Companies – Mr Tancred Tabone GasanMamo Insurance Ltd – Mr Julian Mamo Gianpula – Dr Roger de Giorgio Good Earth Distributors Ltd – Mr Matthew de Giorgio GVZH Advocates – Dr Albert Grech IIG Bank (Malta) Ltd – Mr Raymond Busuttil Antes Insurance Brokers Ltd – Mr Lawrence Pavia Joinwell – Mr Sebastian de Giorgio Lombard Bank Malta plc – Mr Joseph Said Mapfre Middlesea plc – Mr Martin Galea Miller Distributors Ltd – Mr Malcolm G. Miller O. F. Gollcher and Sons Ltd – Mr Karl Gollcher PwC – Mr David Valencia RiskCap International Limited – Dr Paul Magro Rizzo, Farrugia & Co. (Stockbrokers) Ltd – Mr Vincent J. Rizzo Rock Trustees Ltd – Mrs Joanna Agius Satariano – Ms Natasha Chapelle Paleologo Shireburn Software Limited – Ms Yasmin de Giorgio Sigma Coatings (Malta) Ltd – Mr Anthony Critien The Alfred Mizzi Foundation – Mr Julian Sammut Tug Malta Ltd – Mr John E. Sullivan Virtù Steamship Co. Ltd – Mr Charles A. Portelli Water Services Corporation – Mr Ivan Falzon

WWW.PATRIMONJU.ORG

STAYING CONNECTED: FPM’S ONLINE JOURNEY MARIA EILEEN FSADNI Thirty years ago, when Patrimonju was just in its infancy, the concept of having an online presence was unimaginable. Today it has become unimaginable for an organisation to exist without one. Along with traditional media, the digital sphere is now a cornerstone of our communications strategy.

Be it Instagram, Facebook, YouTube, or our mailing list, these platforms are yet another essential part of our mission to collect and, more importantly, to disseminate information about Malta’s rich cultural heritage The ever-evolving platforms have also opened new avenues for the team at Patrimonju, allowing us to create video content, including the Music in Malta documentary, the Hidden Details series in collaboration with Palazzo Falson, and the series of Rewind episodes, which revisited past exhibitions.

They pose a challenge to us as communicators: how does one translate thoroughly researched articles, books, or exhibitions into short bursts of information which will capture the attention of users who are inundated with an endless sea of posts?

Adapting the information to fit the platform is essential in creating a professional face for the organisation. We have experimented with Instagram story quizzes, commemorating artists’ anniversaries on Facebook, and sending a weekly newsletter to keep subscribers informed, among other things.

While challenging, the creativity involved in reinterpreting the information to make it digestible for a wider audience has always been my favourite aspect of digital communication. It is precisely these challenges which offer room for growth, furthering our understanding of how we can present, safeguard, and promote aspects of our cultural heritage.