A night in two museums and a church as Heritage Malta opens three sites for Notte Bianca
Three Heritage Malta sites in Valletta will remain open throughout the night, with free entry, during this year’s Notte Bianca on Saturday 1 October. A number of recent acquisitions by Heritage Malta will also be on display in the Hall of Ambassadors in the Berġa of Castile.
The National Museum of Archeology and MUZA, the National Community Art Museum of Malta, will both offer extended hours and remain open between 6:00pm and midnight.
In the first, visitors can enjoy an attractive experience of the prehistory and early history of the Maltese Islands, with artefacts dating from the Neolithic period of Malta (5900-2500BC) to the early Phoenician period (8th Century – 6 BC). An additional current attraction is the exhibition Meet the Phoenicians of Malta, which shows the actual stone sarcophagus discovered within the limits of Victoria some years ago, as well as the exhibition Exploring the Phoenician Shipwreck off Xlendi. In the Grand Salon above, as part of the Notte Bianca activities, there will be an interdisciplinary dance performance called UNight, with shows starting at 8:00pm, 9:00pm and 10 :00pm.
MUțA, on the other hand, offers an intriguing collection of works of art from the 15th century to the beginning of the 21st century, ranging from paintings and sculptures to furniture, silverware, works on paper and objets d land On the occasion of Notte Bianca, the museum will be the venue for the Is-City Project jazz music event, by Dominic Galea, at 8:00pm.
Heritage Malta will also be opening the Tal-Pilar Church, probably one of the best of Valletta’s lesser known assets. The church formed part of the Berga next to Aragon, Catalonia and Navarre, and was built in the early 1670s, later it was redesigned into one of the most notable Baroque churches in 1718. At 7:00pm, 8:00pm, 9:00pm and 10:00pm, the church will host the theatrical performance X-Voto as part of the Notte Bianca activities.
In the Hall of Ambassadors in the Castle Bridge, Heritage Malta will be showing a selection of artefacts that have been bought by the agency or donated to it in the last few years. These include works of art, fossils dating back millions of years, a christening gown decorated with gold embroidery, books by Jean Houël, and a letter written by Inquisitor Durini, among several others.