Category: Death

Decay

17/11/2012

The first time I became aware of John Paul Azzopardi’s art was when I spotted his work (Dawkin's Fundamentalism) Trickster displayed in a shop window in Merchants Street Valletta. It was dark and the warrior image stood out bathed in white light – an incredibly striking image. My first instinct was to smash the glass and run away with this intriguingly beautiful statuette. But I didn’t of course. Instead I looked the artist up and promised myself to turn up for his next exhibition.

John Paul is currently exhibiting seven pieces at the Splendid in Strait Street Valletta. The Splendid is apparently an abandoned guest house in some state of dilapidation but it’s an ideal backdrop for the (disappointingly) small number of works on show.

The works themselves are mostly top notch. My favourite is there – still apparently and unbelievably unsold. My other favourite piece is Bored Calculator, a figure sitting astride a sheep. It is constructed of so much diverse stuff; and the figure’s head is a jumble of colored wires through which the artist marvelously extracts a hauntingly vacant look. This is indeed awesome stuff.

Then there is Roman Pig (Back to Front). I can’t really make out the anatomy correctly but the piece succeeds in portraying greed, decadence and excess so well that anything else is futile and basically irrelevant.

I am pleased to note that the nation has actually acquired a work by John Paul Azzopardi – though I would have preferred the acquisition to be one of the two works mentioned above; Trickster or Calculator.

There is no doubt this artist is a profound thinker – all serious students of philosophy tend to be in my experience. I prefer to let the philosophy go straight over my head and see these works in the way my eyes see them – a brilliant portrayal of decay (obviously), decadence, unrest, violence and social ennui. If I’m reading it wrong then my apologies to the artist.

Decay is on at The Splendid, 74 Strait Street Valletta from 16 November to 2nd December. Mondays to Sundays 12:30 to 20:00. Unmissable stuff.

J.P. Azzopardi's website is here http://jpazzopardi.com/gallery/main.php

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The Addolorata Cemetery

11/11/2012

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This short article first appeared in the November edition of Air Malta's inflight magazine Skytime
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In common with Christian cultures all over the world, most Maltese mark the month of November with a visit to the graves of their departed loved ones. There are several village cemeteries scattered all over the Island, mostly humble, quiet and somber places usually adorned by a small central chapel.

Malta also has a large national cemetery which merits an off the beaten track visit for its architectural and aesthetic values. The Santa Maria Addolorata Cemetery, on the outskirts of Paola, was designed by local architect Emanuele Luigi Galizia and opened in 1869, initially as a burial ground for the towns and villages of the vicinity. Galizia was a gifted architect who not only introduced the Gothic revival in Malta - best exemplified here - but also experimented with a number of styles, most notably in the construction of the Turkish cemetery in Marsa as well as a number of Moorish themed houses in Sliema.

At the Addolorata, Galizia made exceptionally good use of the site’s topography, placing the cemetery’s main chapel at the top of a hill from which a number of tree-lined lanes meander down to the cemetery’s main entrance which is adorned by a gatehouse and a beautiful curved portico.

The Addolorata easily compares with the finest of Europe’s monumental cemeteries, having a good number of richly carved private mausoleums in its older parts and a good representation of funerary sculptures.

Most noteworthy of the latter is a poignant bronze put up by a travelling businessman who, upon his unexpected return to the Island, so surprised his ageing mother that the excitement apparently helped to quicken her demise. Like most other places in Malta, the Second World War left its mark on the cemetery and this fine sculpture still bears the unmistakable scars of bomb shrapnel in its lower part. Another notable monument is the one dedicated to the memory of the Sette Giugno victims. On 7th June 1919 a number of Maltese were killed while rioting against the colonial forces. The unfortunate deaths are widely perveived as the catalyst that eventually led to Malta being granted its first Constitution by the British in 1921.

A visit to the Addolorata may not be everyone’s favourite excursion but this extensive burial ground certainly represents another aspect of Malta’s rich cultural and historical heritage.

The Santa Maria Addolorata Cemetery is open every day of the year from 7am to 4.30pm.

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Addolorata - Notes and Oddities

9/10/2011

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A guided visit to the Addolorata Cemetery is not everyone's cup of tea but I was not going to miss this one - organized by Marthese's work colleagues and ably led by our guide who shall go by the name of Mr.M.

The Santa Maria Addolorata Cemetery was designed by Emanuele Luigi Galizia, (1830 - 1906), of the Public Works Department, and opened on 9th May 1869. Galizia is mostly remembered as the architect who introduced the Gothic revival locally but he also designed the so called Turkish Cemetery in Marsa and a couple of exquisite houses in Moorish style in Sliema. Clearly the man was exceptionally talented and versatile.

Interestingly the Addolorata was not meant to be a national cemetery but rather a burial place mostly for the towns and villages in the vicinity which had no burial grounds of their own. There was also a reluctance to use it at first and no one was buried here for the first few years of its existence. Today over 200,000 people are interred here.

The Addolorata can perhaps be called a monumental cemetery because of its exceptional use of topography - with the cemetery planned very symmetrically around a hill with the main chapel at the apex. There is a dearth of impressive monuments although the western side of the cemetery has quite a few beautifully designed, privately owned chapels.

The starting point was the Dominican chapel where the nun Teresa Parlar was buried in 1927. Parlar was known as something of a mystic in her time and was controversially reputed to have eaten little if anything from the age of eight - surely a record as far as hunger strikes go. Parlar got into some trouble with the colonial authorities because of her saintly reputation and she was for a time hospitalized and put under observation. Today she is all but forgotten.
There is a short audio link about her on Campus FM here http://www.campusfm.um.edu.mt/pages/webcastspages/nisamaltin.htm

One of the stranger curiosities is the tomb of a business family from Marsa whose crest is a tower. The tower is reproduced on the tomb and the family apparently chips a block off the tower every time a member dies.

Perhaps the most poignant monument is the one put up by a travelling businessman who, upon his unexpected return from abroad, so surprised his mother that she apparently died suddenly on seeing him. This is one of the finest sculptures at Addolorata even though it still has shrapnel damage (visible lower right in the photo above) when a bomb exploded nearby in the Second World War.

Also of artistic merit is the Sette Giugno monument which recalls the 1919 riots and contains the remains of four of the victims. The monument was designed by the Russian émigré artist Boris Edwards and recalls the style of our own Antonio Sciortino. Incidentally the cemetery did contain a few funerary sculptures by Sciortino himself but these have apparently all been stolen. An interesting article on Boris Edwards can be found here http://www.timesofmalta.com/articles/view/20110605/life-features/Between-myth-and-reality.369196

One other oddity is the tomb of an unfortunate boy who was killed by a fallen brick. The actual brick that killed him was incorporated in the statue adorning his tomb. Incidentally the unlucky boy was nowhere near as ugly as the tifel tal-precett represented on the tomb.

A last oddity and infamy - there is apparently only one illegally dug tomb in the whole cemetery and this belongs to a deceased former politician who was notorious enough in his life. It is not pretty to speak ill of the departed but to carry one's arrogance into the next life is something else…

Most of the information here was supplied by the very knowledgeable Mr.M who made this visit a highly interesting one.

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Staglieno. Out of this World

29/9/2011

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...and into the next one. Ever since Joy Division's second album Closer came out I have been fascinated by its beautiful cover image. At some time I got to know that it's a photo of a grave at the Staglieno Cemetery in Genoa - reputably one of the most beautiful and evocative cemeteries in the world.

I must admit that burial grounds have always had a sort of fascination for me. I can never resist the temptation to go in and have a look round when I pass by a village cemetery. Cemeteries are an ever present reminder of our own mortality and that is precisely why most people shy away from visiting them unless they absolutely have to. Deep down none of us wants to be reminded of our finity and most of our actions are taken in the false belief that we will be here forever. However I would like to think of cemeteries as at worst a reality check and at best as unique outdoor sculpture gardens offering a different dimension of history.

Our own Addolorata Cemetery is quite a masterpiece in its way. Its architect Emmanuel Luigi Galizia made exceptionally clever use of the hill on which it sits - siting the Gothic chapel at its very peak and with all inner roads winding their way from the beautiful entrance gateway up to the same chapel. Some of the private family chapels on the side facing Garibaldi Road are quite astounding in their originality and use of funerary motifs. In Malta we also have a host of military cemeteries, most of them impeccably maintained by the Commonwealth War Graves Commission. It is hard not to be moved when you go round these and see the many graves of British airmen who lost their lives here especially around April 1942 when the blitz on Malta was at its worst. We certainly owe a lot to these brave men.

So visiting Staglieno while in Genoa was a must of course. It is a very sad place and quite frankly after an hour the atmosphere got me, though the day's cloudiness and high humidity must have had an effect as well. The monuments are quite something - not least the Closer grave (actually the Appiani family grave). Close by is the fallen angel reproduced for the cover of Joy Division's single Love Will Tear Us Apart. And up near Staglieno's main chapel is the beautiful angel on the Oneto family grave. The most gruesome sculpture must be the Death and the Maiden grave sculpture.

A very "popular" grave locally is the one of Caterina Campodonico (despite my best efforts I could not locate it) - a woman who sold nuts on the streets of Genoa and invested her life savings to have a statue of herself here among the rich and powerful. She wears a shawl decorated with all sorts of er...nuts. I strongly suspect that having one's statue here was something of a fashion in days gone by and cadavers-to-be must have vied to engage the best sculptors before starting their afterlife.

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Decay

The Addolorata Cemetery

Addolorata - Notes and Oddities

Staglieno. Out of this World

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