The final few sticker-paintings forming part of the installation Solo I Bambini Ci Salveranno were affixed by schoolchildren during the Ziguzajg Art Festival opening this week at Pjazza de Valette.

Work on the installation, by artist Austin Camilleri, had been ongoing for a number of weeks and involved the drawing of paintings by 12,000 primary schoolchildren in Malta and Gozo.

Each painting was subsequently individually digitised, printed and integrated in a public installation, bringing children’s voices to the centre of Valletta. The project forms part of the Valletta 2018 Cultural Programme and is supported by the Valletta 2018 Foundation.

Running until Sunday, the 23rd of November, the festival will feature an amazing 28 productions, including 12 foreign shows from seven different countries. Artists from Spain, France, Germany, Italy and the Netherlands among others have teamed up with some of the best Maltese artists to create the only festival in Malta where children and young people are truly centre stage.

With over 132 events in a week-long programme, taking place in Malta and Gozo, the festival reaches audience figures of up to 12,000, half of which come from schools.

From music to dance, from the visual arts to puppetry, and from mime to shadow theatre, children are immersed in a set of parallel worlds where dreams and memories, forests and gardens, fairytale and reality come together to tell gripping story lines which children will relate to. Children will form part of or be able to join in some of the shows.

This year’s theme revolves around identity, a notion which runs loosely through most of the productions, aiming to help children explore notions of who they are and want to become. These are explored with great sensitivity and imagination by artists such as Trevor Zahra, Austin Camilleri, Simone Spiteri, Ruben Zahra and Vince Briffa as well as a number of upcoming artists.

Ziguzajg Festival prides itself on a programme which features participating artists of a very high calibre, and who are well-known for a number of productions both locally as well as internationally.

Each year’s programme is put together with great attention given to delivery, genre, relevance to age groups and, above all, excellence.

Pupils from schools in Gozo and Malta see their own art work printed on a sticking by following this link.

For more information please visit the facebook page.

Photograph by Elisa von Brockdorff

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