Performers at the Malta Arts Festival

The Malta Arts Festival 2010 opens in the capital city of Valletta on the 1st of July. This three-week event (1st- 23rd July) highlights Maltese identity and promotes intercultural dialogue and the development of the art scene in this pint-size country. Various theatres, palaces, and open spaces throughout the city, including the Argotti Gardens and the courtyard of the President’s Palace, play host to a full line-up of events as diverse as the unique cultural history of the islands themselves.

As in years past, the 2010 programme sees more than 250 Maltese and international artists participate in events that sweep across the artistic spectrum, from music and dance to theatre and the visual arts. The festival opens with a performance by the Malta Philharmonic Orchestra under the direction of world-renowned guest conductor Wayne Marshall. Known for his interpretations of twentieth-century American composers, he will lead a programme of music by George Gershwin and Leonard Bernstein, including Gershwin’s Piano Concerto in F and popular symphonic dances from Bernstein’s West Side Story.

Musical events continue throughout the course of the festival, with a particularly noteworthy component of the programme the two concerts which celebrate the bicentennials of both Schumann and Chopin. Also scheduled are two showings of the Stravinsky Project, with the first held in collaboration with Italy’s Ars Ludi Percussion Ensemble and the second featuring Stravinsky’s famous Histore du Soldat. The European Union Baroque Orchestra, marking its first visit to Malta, will give two concerts, entitled Maladies and Melodies, towards the end of the festival.

Dance events include productions by two different French troupes. La Compagnie du Solitaire will dance their iconic piece, Sans, which is preformed in silence on an empty stage. La Companie Julien Lestel will put on a neoclassical ballet based on D.H Lawrence’s, Lady Chatterley’s Lover, which features eight principal dancers from the Paris Opera and the Marseille National Ballet. It’s one of the most anticipated facets of this year’s programme, with the calibre of the dancers on stage testament to the festival’s burgeoning status internationally.

Proponents of new theatre will also have the chance to discover innovative work in an age-old setting. The play Ospizio has been commissioned and written specifically for the Malta Arts Festival and will receive its debut at Malta’s Theatre Anon in the Ospizio in Floriana. Located just outside of Valletta, this weathered building has a tumultuous past and was used over the centuries as an orphanage and as a hospice for the sick and decrepit. The production weaves the fascinating and oftentimes troubling history of this dilapidated site into its structure, with the audience called on to participate in the play’s development as they simultaneously uncover the Ospizio’s secrets. There will be six performances in total, but with interest high the event is likely to sell out.

For a more traditional theatre experience, London’s Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre Company will close the festival with A Midsummer Night’s Dream. Appropriately given the play’s title – and Malta’s reliably clement weather – the production will be staged outside amongst the elements, in the balmy evening air of the fragrant Argotti Gardens.

Two unique visual-arts events stand out in this year’s programme.The first, “SPACESspazji”, will take place along Srait Street (Strada Stretta) in Valletta, a somewhat neglected neighbourhood in need of revitalisation. This exhibition features five Maltese artists who will each personalise their own empty space along the street. To be unveiled on 2 July and running for the duration of the festival, “SPACESspazji” was conceptualised to reinvigorate this area under the context of the visual arts and to show in an immediate sense the focus the festival can bring to the local community.

Also eagerly anticipated is the Malta Arts Festival’s partnership with The Hulda Festival. Part of Istanbul’s European Capital of Culture celebrations, the Hulda Festival is dedicated to Hulda, the 100-year-old sail boat constructed by Turkish-Swedish artist Illhan Koman . The vessel has sailed through Europe since March 2009 and stops at Malta’s Grand Harbour Marina in Birgu from 3-13 July. While moored, festival goers can board the boat, once the residence and workshop of the artist, and view its travelling art exhibition.

The pristine grounds of the Hotel Phoenicia

Various festival performances are free, whilst the remaining events are moderately priced at €15. Tickets are available at www.maltaticket.com, at Agenda Bookshops, Exotique outlets, Vodafone outlets, Bookends, and Newskiosk. Should there be any left, you could also enquire after tickets at the venue itself an hour before a performance is scheduled to begin. Additional information and a complete programme of events are found on festival’s website or its Twitter page.

For a convenient and art-inspired stay in Malta, consider the Hotel Phoenicia, one of the festival’s sponsors. This luxury 5-star, 1930s Art Deco-styled hotel is located in the heart of Valletta on 7.5 acres of gardens and within walking distance to many of the island’s main tourist attractions, including the venues for several Malta Arts Festival events. The hotel itself also houses many examples of important Maltese artists. With elegantly decorated rooms, a pool, a spa, and five restaurants, the Phoenicia is the perfect choice for a relaxing and chic stay in Malta.