In the capital, but short on time? Get your quick shot of culture with these two diminutive but highly informative bite-sized exhibitions in Heritage Malta's popular 'Espresso Series'.
Honor Frost, who chose Senglea as her Mediterranean base, once famously quipped, "Time spent out of the water was time wasted." A free exhibition commemorating the life of the pioneering underwater archaeologist and highlighting her connection to Malta is being held at the National Museum of Archaeology between 3rd November 2022 and 15th January 2023.
The exhibition is an extension of a conference entitled 'Under the Mediterranean II' organised by the University of Malta in collaboration with the Honor Frost Foundation and Heritage Malta, taking place from the 2nd to the 6th of November. The Foundation, set up post-humously with proceeds from the bulk of Frost's estate, seeks to promote marine and maritime archaeology with a focus on the eastern Mediterranean and helped fund the excavation of the Phoenician Shipwreck off Xlendi Bay, Gozo.
Honor Frost was born in Cyprus on 28th October 1917, studied art in London and Oxford and pursued an early career designing stage decors and costumes for Sadler's Wells, followed by a prestigious post as Director of Publications at the Tate Gallery. A chance plunge in a friend's well at Wimbledon in the winter of 1953 led to her first dive on an ancient shipwreck a year later, sparking a love affair with underwater exploration.
Frost was amongst the first to combine the discipline of archaeology with
diving. She was instrumental to the discovery and excavation of the Cape Gelidonya wreck, widely considered to be the first-ever underwater excavation carried out by diving archaeologists. Whilst exploring the ancient harbours of Byblos, Sidon, and Tyre, she developed a rigorous, interdisciplinary approach to studying the geoarchaeology of ports. Frost was also noted for her typology of stone anchors, while her artistic skills came in handy with her detailed archaeological illustrations.
In 1967, Frost travelled to Malta to excavate a 3rd-century AD Roman mortar shipwreck in Mellieħa Bay. The results published in 1969 mark the beginnings of scientific underwater excavation in Malta.
Besides honouring her considerable legacy, the scope of the Espresso exhibition is to offer a snapshot of Honor Frost's work in Malta with illustrations, artefacts and even parts of her dive equipment, which were donated to the Malta Maritime Museum, on display for the public to explore.
The history of the Maltese language, its Semitic roots and the long struggle for the people's voice to become the official national language, one of 24 recognised by the EU, is the subject of another Espresso exhibition. Entitled 'Il-Malti, il-mixja sal-għarfien uffiċjali', the exhibition is being organised by Heritage Malta in collaboration with L-Akkademja tal-Malti and will also be held at the National Museum of Archaeology between 21st January and2nd April 2023.
It is a common misconception that the Maltese Language has evolved from the ancient Phoenician, a hypothesis erroneously promulgated in publications such as Johannes Henricus Majus' Specimen Linguae Punicae written in 1725. In reality, Maltese has its roots in the Arabic of the Magreb brought over in 870 when the Aglabiti tribe from Northern Africa colonised the country. Later with the arrival of the Normans, Maltese was most akin to the Sicilian dialect of Arabic, evident in shared topographical names such as Favara, Girgenti and Machaluba.
Along the ages, several attempts were made to compose a compendium of Maltese grammar, but it wasn't until Canon Ġan Franġisk Agius de Soldanis' tome and accompanyingdictionary in 1750 that proper inroads were made. Mikiel Anton Vassalli is rightly considered the father of the Maltese language. It was his scientific approach to language and his progressive notions of nationhood, influenced by the enlightenment and nurtured by the French occupation of Malta, that led him to believe that before a people could conceive of themselves as a nation, they had first to learn to read and write in their own language.
According to L-Akkademja tal-Malti, language embodies the collective memory of a populace that speaks it. It is a living heritage, the means through which a nation identifies itself as separate from the other.
First published in Encore Magazine in 2022
Comentarios