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FESTIVAL OF EUROPEAN ISLANDS CULTURES IN GOZO: NEOLITHIA ARTS FESTIVAL 2001 - "From the Hands of Neolithic Artisans"
pr1676
12/11/2001
12/11/2001
| "Neolithia Arts Festival 2001" in collaboration with the | Ministry for Gozo, is holding an international Arts Exhibition in conjunction with the Festival of European Islands Cultures, from 14th to 30th November 2001, in the Sentinella Hall, Triq il-Fosos, in the Citadel, Victoria. Viewing hours will be 8.00a.m.- 4.00p.m. Monday to Saturday, and from 9.00a.m. – 3.00p.m. on Sundays. |
| A highlight of the Exhibition will be a display of | prehistoric items from sites in Malta and Gozo, on loan from the National Archaeological Museum, entitled "From the Hands of Neolithic Artisans". Ceramics, stone implements, and other artifacts will comprise this exhibit. |
| Contemporary artists will be represented in | "Temple Views" by Maltese photographer Daniel Cilia, who hails from Victoria, with colour photography of prehistoric temples, including dramatic aerial views. His photographs also include detailed close-ups of figurines, such as the "Sleeping Lady" found at the Hal Saflieni Hypogeum, as well as ones from the Xaghra Stone Circle excavation. Background information and a brief history of the specific sites accompany Mr. Cilia’s works. |
| In addition, local and international artists who have | visited the islands will present a mixed media show of paintings, ceramics, sculpture, and poetry entitled "Artistic Inspirations". The rich visual sensations of the Maltese Neolithic temples will be the focus of the multi-media artshow, with artists from Malta, Denmark, Sweden, Canada and the United States. |
| Maltese artists taking part include Isabelle Borg, | Josette Caruana, Anthony Calleja, Louis Casha, Sina Farrugia, Neville Ferry, Anna Grima, Louis Lagana’, Anthony Sammut, Paul Stellini and Joe Xuereb. Artists from overseas include Hanne Bille Andersen, Jenny Badger, Ann-Rosemary Conway, Linda Eneix, Bonnie Liss, Dori Pendergrass, Allyson Rickard, Monica Sjöö, Henry Sultan, and Jean Busuttil Zaleski. |
| The purpose of the festival is "to create | awareness and raise funds to help preserve Malta’s important heritage", according to Marie Mifsud, Director of the Neolithia Foundation. |
| Mr Anthony Pace, Director of Museums Department, | stated that "The Neolithia Arts Festival 2001 has brought a number of artists, and one of Malta’s foremost photographers together into one extended celebration of Maltese prehistoric art. The Festival has also been accompanied by a number of lectures and a superb literary evening. The contemporary art by a number of artists focused on a series of themes that illustrate or provoke thoughts about Maltese Neolithic art. The Festival’s success can be attributed to a convergence of various forms of the creative arts". |
| Sponsors of the "Neolithia Arts Festival | 2001" include Maltacom, Malta Tourism Authority, Barclays, Air Malta, Polidano Group, Empire Cinema Complex, Marsovin, the British Council and Scancraft. |
More information may be obtained by contacting the Ministry for Gozo on 556125/561482 or Neolithia Foundation on 9943 8800 or e-mail: neolithia@onvol.net.
Background note by Mr. Anthony Pace, Director of Museums Department
| "Neolithia Arts Festival 2001" in | conjunction with Festival of European Islands Cultures (Gozo). |
| 14-30th November 2001, the Citadel, | Victoria. |
| Lithos - Light | N eolithia A rts F estival 2001 |
The Powerful Attraction of Maltese Prehistoric Art.
T he powerful attraction of Maltese prehistoric art seems to be inescapable. Many of Malta’s contemporary artists as well as a number of visiting artists have succumbed to the attraction of this most ancient art.
| Originally created between 5200 and 2500 BC, the | various Neolithic art forms have come down to us after having been buried for thousands of years. For almost two hundred years, numerous archaeological sites have been excavated. But it was only after 1964, Malta’s year of independence, that contemporary artists began to focus their attention on the island’s Neolithic art. The reasons for this sudden focus are many. |
| It would seem that the search for a local idiom | presented itself in modern art circles. Independence seems to have enkindled this inevitable search for roots, in this case a collective past that would distinguish Malta from other countries. To several Maltese artists, this looking back into an uncharted past became a quest that could be followed through modern imagery and art forms. In many respects, it was Malta’s Neolithic art that seemed to capture a uniqueness which even the splendour of Baroque art and architecture could not surpass. |
| Just as an artist would look at landscape for | inspiration and subject matter, so would many of Malta’s post-independence painters and sculptors look at Neolithic art for creative stimulation. Temples and statues, spirals and doorways, all such art forms would come to shape part of the artist’s language of forms. To the stark stone colour of reality was added a whole range of colours. Anything can happen on a modern canvas. But many things remain the same. |
| The basic art forms and canons of Neolithic Malta | have retained their original designs and structures: the curves, the spirals, the pitted decorations, the manner in which human beings were represented. The list of conventions can go on and on. It is as if modern artists cannot escape from the magical hold of these primeval art forms. Had the Neolithic artists captured the archetypal forms and recreated them for posterity’s sake? Stone and clay would have certainly guaranteed this. |
| Posterity. Art for eternity. Indeed, an artist’s | dream would be that of creating art for art’s sake in a time continuum that defies generation after generation. The "Neolithia Arts Festival 2001" has brought a number of artists, and one of Malta’s foremost photographers, together into one extended celebration of Maltese prehistoric art. The Festival has also been accompanied by a number of lectures and a superb literary evening. The contemporary art by a number of artists focuses on a series of themes that illustrate or provoke thoughts about Maltese Neolithic art. The Festival’s success can be attributed to a convergence of various forms of the creative arts. |
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