638 Kilo Tanz

From the 3rd to the 6th of November I shall be attending 638 Kilo Tanz, a contemporary dance festival held in Essen, Germany. I have been invited by Tanzgebiet e.V. (a non profit organisation dedicated to the organisation of contemporary dance events) to sit on this year's jury for the "638 Kilo Tanz Newcomer Preis". The jury will consist of people coming from different artistic spheres.

This year’s 638 Kilo Tanz is presented on 4 days, from the 3rd to the 6th of November 2011. 19 dance productions from North Rhine-Westphalia, Switzerland, Belgium, Berlin and Italy are involved including culinary delights, films and installations.

Whilst attending this event I shall be holding meetings with the organisers on my possible involvement in a similar project (to be held in the near future) which will include an audio/visual artistic installation interpreting contemporary dance, for which I shall be responsible. For more information about Tanzgebiet e.V. please visit http://www.tanzgebiet.de

One – An Exhibition of Sculpture

The 28th of October will see the opening of an exhibition of sculpture by Jeremy Ellul. This event will be held at the Malta Society of Arts, Manufactures and Commerce, Palazzo De La Salle, in Republic Street, Valletta, and will consist of about 25 pieces in ceramic, wood and steel. For this exhibition, besides presenting some newer themes, the artist will also be revisiting some older ones tackling them in new media. The exhibition will run until the 19th November.

“Jeremy Ellul is the self-taught, unfettered artist, without any preconceived ideas, free and unpredictable, an ‘enfant terrible’. He has already surprised us; one can imagine what he will do in future. With just nine years of work behind him he has already distinguished himself with his freedom of thought and expression. He is a bold Expressionist, is hardly interested in tradition or convention and while he is primarily interested in aesthetics he experiments with technique but hardly conforms to ‘truth to material’.” E.V.Borg. 2011

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Vuelo de Pajaros - Joan Miro

“I try to apply colors like words that shape poems, like notes that shape music.”Joan Miro

L'Agape - one year On

Cannot believe that it's already a year. On Monday L'Agape celebrated its first year open for business.  Owners Chris and Pierre have hosted a party to celebrate the occasion. Good food, good wine and very well attended, my kind of night out.

These two paintings are currently being displayed at L'Agape, part of a collection of works provided by Gallery Pi.

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Evening on Karl Johan, 1892, Oil on canvas, 84.5 x 121 cm

For as long as I can remember I have suffered from a deep feeling of anxiety which I have tried to express in my art. - Edvard Munch 

Teaching Arts and Sciences Together

A couple of days ago I posted a blog about about Science is Culture. This morning I came across this very interesting video from ted.com by Mae Jemison on teaching arts and sciences together. Worth watching.

Science is Culture

Thanks to Artist Sue Mifsud I cam across Science is Culture, an NGO that promotes the interaction of science and art by exploring how scientific concepts can inspire artists and how the creativity of artists can inspire scientists. 

Those of you, who like me, don't really see the difference between science and art should try and follow what this organisation is trying to promote. For more information please visit their facebook page

https://www.facebook.com/ScienceIsCulture?sk=info

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Gerhard Richter, Grün- Blau - Rot 789-27, 1993 

I don't believe in the reality of painting, so I use different styles like clothes: it's a way to disguise myself. -
Gerhard Richter

The Farmhouse Gallery

If you happen to be in Gozo this weekend go and have a look at the Farmhouse Gallery in Zebbug, there's n exhibition by Joerg Boettcher and Dana Kranz. The Gallery is celebrating its 10th anniversary. 

The Gallery is open from 11am to 6pm throughout this weekend. For more details contact:

The Farmhouse Gallery

21, skapuccina str,
Zebbug, Gozo
tel.21561434

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“I won’t shoot the wedding if the bride isn’t beautiful”. - Trevor Yerbury

Mużika Mod Ieħor

Lately I realized that I have been following Toni Sant's Mużika Mod Ieħor series for almost six years, since its inception, ie November 2005. In fact I had started blogging after following a number of blogs one of which was Toni's. Out of curiosity I went back to listening to the first few podcasts and loved that deja-vu feeling. I can still remember George Carlin in the the first edition kicking off the series

For those of you that don't know what Mużika Mod Ieħor is, or know  but have never listened to an edition, MMI is a series of 

podcasts featuring music from performers in or from Malta. It has been running regularly on a weekly basis since Saturday 19 November 2005. Each podcast normally features a varied selection of four or five tracks. From time to time there are also special editions featuring either fewer tracks or tracks clustered around a very specific theme.

To date, there are 272 editions and i have rarely missed an episode. I find the regularity and continuity of the series quite impressive. These podcasts, not only give you more than just a glimpse of what's happening in the local music scene but as a project, the collectivity of the individual editions, they are a work of art. As Toni himself would put it, a work in durational art. 

Trevor and Faye Yerbury at Gallery Pi

This week Gallery Pi will be presenting a very interesting exhibition. A collection of nudes by Faye and Trevor Yebury. The exhibition will run from the 14th till 24th October 2011 at Gallery Pi, Archbishop Street, Valletta. Opening hours are Tuesday to Friday 10am – 2pm and Saturday 9:30am-12:30pm (Closed on Saturday 15th). Other opening times by appointment.

For More information please visit www.gallerypi.com

Wish list?

Its already wednesday and i did not even start half of the things i wanted to finish this week, let alone finish them off. Too many appointments, too many errands, too many activities. Talking about activities, for those of you who are into design, do not forget to pay a visit to the Malta Design Week. Regrettably, I did not make it to any of the activities yet, but (hopefully) i wish to make up for it in the coming days.

Another activity I would like to attend to is the One Night Stand with the Big Band Brothers. The Big Band Brothers known for their unique brand of musical mayhem, are back. For the second year running, Daniel Cauchi and his motley crew of musicians shall be returning to the Mediterranean Conference centre on the 8th of October 2011 and shall be putting up a show entirely conceived and produced by the band named ‘A One Night Stand with the Big Band Brothers.’I happen to know one of the members so its an extra reason to go. 

Changes and Bertu!

Finally I did it. I've been wanting to combine my two blogs, Ruper Cefai's Blog and Bertoons,  for ages. They are not really both mine, Bertoons is my alter ego's, ie Bertu's! For those of you who do not know who Bertu! is, well, here is my first post about Bertu for you

Bertu is also a political cartonist. He shares a body with me and is what you might call a political animal. He lives, strives and feeds on politicians' and public figures' misfortunes.

Really and truly, both Bertoons and this blog are still running independently but they share a common design and a common navigation bar. Next thing is to integrate these blogs with my galleries site but for that I need to wait for some major changes from artmajeur.  

Bertu! will be quite busy for the next few weeks. More info about this will be given at a later date.  

10th National Art Competition & Exhibition

 The 10th National Art Competition & Exhibition, organized by the Malta Society of Arts, Manufactures and Commerce has opened last week at the Palazzo de La Salle in Vallletta, The exhibition being held  in the four halls of the "piano nobile" and the restored courtyard of  the palace, was inaugurated by Mr J.F.X. Zahra, the Chiarman of Middlesea Insurance plc on Thursday 29th September, 2011 at 19.30hrs. The prize for sculpture was be presented by Mr Mark Vella of Valletta Fund Management while Mr Kenneth Gauci Borda of Vee Gee Bee Art presented the prize for painting. This open annual event is open to the public on until October 22nd 2011. The curator of the exhibtiion is Mr E.V. Borg, art critic. Entrance for the exhibition is free. 

For more information please visit http://www.artsmalta.org/

Notte Bianca

So Notte Bianca is here again. Tonight, Valletta will be host to a spectacular nocturnal celebration of people, culture and arts. I will be in Valletta tonight too, most of the time at Gallery Pi, if you want a glass of wine please pop over and come and say hello. Will go for a visit to Vee Gee Bee too, there is a large canvas on which people are invited to paint on. I already started off the painting and am very keen to see where it will end. 

Another activity I wish to visit is the Milonga organised by the Argentine Tango local community. It will be held at stage 33 near Strait Street from 7pm onwards. DJ for the night is David Bonnici. Also, today kicks off Malta Design Week with a number of  installations/exhibitions all over Valletta. For more info about Malta Design Week visit HERE. There are numerous other things i would like to see but the list is too long to mention, for more info about Notte Bianca please visit http://www.maltaculture.com