Raining men? It's raining nuts.
Our friend Gerald Fenech has urged Astrid Vella on timesofmalta.com to Go Go Go! in her fight against the opera house and city gate project. Inevitably, a string of comments came in, along the lines of “Tajba din. We haven’t yet seen Piano’s designs, but we’re already gearing up to fight against them.” Astrid, cunningly picking up on the logic (for once), came rushing in to calm Gerald’s waters. A fight won’t be necessary “yet”, she told him. She’s sure it won’t be necessary at all, because the prime minister is “bound to” see sense – for which read, see things her way.
Ah, but now that Asterix has got her Gauls all revved up with the adrenalin of victory, they scent more blood and are gagging to go. Obelix Debono is flinging his menhirs around already.
Even a simple news report on the National Library’s (please, not the Thinking Palace) publication of a book about Brocktorff’s watercolours is setting them off:
Mario Tabone-Vassallo
Nissuggerixxi li jaghtu kopja lil Piano biex ifakkruh kif kien bieb il-Belt u ma johloqx xi stonatura ohra bhal li ghandna. Il-hasra li dhul il-Belt tant hu mandra li kwazi lesti naccettaw kollox biex inbiddlu, ukoll jekk hazin. FORSI DIK KIENET L-IDEA TA’ DAN L-IZDINGAR KOLLU GHAL TANT ZMIEN
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Brocktorff could have never painted city gate “kif kien” (I presume Tabone-Vassallo is referring to the present’s predecessor) which was constructed after Brocktorff passed away. In any case, if Brocktorff had been around he wouldn’t have bothered: like Barry’s opera house the old city gate was another unhealthy encounter between the well-intentioned but patronising attitude of the colonial authorities and the Maltese tendency to favour kitsch.
@ fausto majistral.
Log in to the ‘national portrait gallery Malta’ if you want to witness some 2009 Maltese kitsch.
http://www.timesofmalta.com/articles/view/20090226/letters/mediocrity-of-national-portrait-gallery
If those are the sort of portraits which are going to be exhibited at this NPG, it’s not going to be much to look at!
Just logged on to this now. The Brochtorff book is an outstanding example of cultural heritage which happens to be edited by Vanni Bonello. Se tghidu li dan ma jifhimx fl-istorja ta’ Malta ukoll?
[Daphne – Qbatta minn sieqa, Gerald. This is not a debate about the Brochtorff book.]