Notte Bianca

Notte Bianca is an event organized in various cities around the world, including Valletta, which first took place in 2002 in Paris. Here in Malta the event was first organized in 2006.

I have been to all three Notti Bianche held in Malta. I remember the first one clearly: no one had expected such a huge turn out. I for one surely didn’t expect the massive throngs of people who flocked to Valletta that night for a cultural evening in one of the best examples of baroque city in Europe. So certain I was that the event wouldn’t attract the multitude that it eventually did, that I had decided against walking or public transportation, preferring the comfort of my car. After what seemed like an eternity stuck in traffic (this would be a good time to point out that I only live a few minutes away from the capital) I finally made it to the city – unfortunately there was nothing short of a miracle that could guarantee me a parking spot (my brother must pray a lot since, as I later found out, he actually found a parking spot not very far from city gate) so I dropped off my parents and drove half-way back to park only a short distance away from home. I then walked back to Valletta.

I really enjoyed myself that day, going round the streets of Valletta in the middle of the night, visiting museums and exhibitions. Tribali gave a truly unforgettable performance at the Old Royal Theatre, after which I went to see Dali’s Un chien andalou at City Lights. That might well have been the first and last time I went to that cinema, which is infamous for its showings of adult films. I spent a whole night in the Baroque City, returning home in rainy weather at about 6 in the morning.

And how could I ever forget last year’s show put on by a group of Italian performers and aptly named it-Taqbida (Battle Spectacular) – a fiery battle in an apocalyptic setting, with angels fighting demons, the latter throwing flaming balls of fire, ingeniously represented by woolen balls of red socks, over the city walls and onto the public, who took no time in deciding to use this textile ammunition on the performers. These truly proved themselves as great performers since they had to battle both each other and the incessant barrage of footwear being thrown at them. A magnificent spectalce with smoke, fire dancers, stilt walkers and inspiring apocalyptic background music creating one of the greatest, most artistic shows I have ever seen in my life.

This year’s Notte Bianca was much less eventful. The crowds weren’t as numerous and the streets were not as nearly packed, with many people choosing to attend a Michael Bolton concert being held on the very same day. Still, I enjoyed myself, as I always do when attending anything having to do with art or culture.

I met a couple of friends near the Grandmaster’s Palace, an impressive baroque palace once the seat of the Grandmaster, today housing the Office of the President and the House of Representatives. Together we roamed about the streets before visiting St. James Cavalier, where we had some unusual fun with two very interesting installations. One of the installations consisted of long, colourful vertical cylindrical pipes that produce sound once a hand passes through one of the holes found in their side, thus cutting the beam of light reaching a small receiver at the bottom. With enough people one can create different rythms and sounds, thus creating a melody.
Another installation worth mention consisted of a visual projection of a dinner table, with images of plates of food, cutlery and glasses being projected on the only tangible things: a big table with empty plates in the middle of the otherwise empty room.

After St. James we visited St. Catherine’s Church of Italy, a quaint little church with a lovely small wooden organ on display. Afterwards we decided to visit a slightly bigger church, and went off to St. John’s Co-Cathedral, the sumptuously decorated baroque church, and visited its museum which has two paintings by that great master of chiaroscuro, Caravaggio, on permanent exhibit.

After that I headed to the Palazzo De La Salle, the building which houses the Maltese Society for the Arts, Manufacture and Commerce, where an art exhibition was being put up by the Pastels Society of Malta. The palazzo is another fine example of baroque architecture.

My final visit for this year’s Notte Bianca was to Palazzo Ferreria, a building that captivates me, especially at night when it is illuminated by a magical green light. This is where the aptly titled “Isle Landers” photographic exhibition was being held, showing beautifully captured emotional portraits of illegal immigrants by Darrin Zammit Lupi.