| CODE | IMS5019 | ||||||
| TITLE | Creative, Visual and Performing Arts | ||||||
| UM LEVEL | 05 - Postgraduate Modular Diploma or Degree Course | ||||||
| MQF LEVEL | 7 | ||||||
| ECTS CREDITS | 7 | ||||||
| DEPARTMENT | Institute of Maltese Studies | ||||||
| DESCRIPTION | This study-unit will be divided as follows: Music This part of the study-unit explores the role of music, musical instruments and dance in Maltese culture and society. It builds on the idea that music is a socio-cultural phenomenon, and as such it is best understood in relation to the socio-cultural context in which it lives. The study-unit investigates several issues in relation to music in Malta, such as the role of music in the construction of a national identity, gender and class interrelationships with music, and the use of music in political propaganda. Musical examples employed throughout this study-unit rely on a wide array of musical genres, ranging from folk and traditional to classical and popular music, traditional musical instruments and dance. Art This part of the study-unit will present the history of art in Malta from the sixteenth century to the present day, set against the social, economic and political developments of the Island and its inhabitants. The study unit will also demonstrate the various ways in which art (and where possible, architecture) contributed to the growth of Maltese cultural identity, as well as to an artistic identity synchronised both to geographic and political realities as well as to more recent cultural developments within the global context. Some comparative reference will also be made to contemporary artistic developments overseas. Study-unit Aims The study-unit aims to give the opportunity to candidates to: - understand what characterizes the chosen musical genres and how these kinds of music are related to the society from which they have emerged - discuss the historical role of the visual arts in Maltese cultural identity - think critically and describe analytically relevant topics from these special fields within the Maltese culture matrix Learning Outcomes 1. Knowledge & Understanding: By the end of the study-unit the student will be able to: - understand the various functions music has in constructing, influencing, and maintaining human life - appreciate the role of instruments, music and dance in the expression of communal sentiment - recognise the influence of the Order of St John and of the Catholic church on the visual arts in Malta, by of Maltese and foreign artists - know artistic trends that nourished as well as brought certain stagnation to developments in art in 19th-century British Malta; - understand how Malta’s cultural insularity in art was rapidly eroded through greatly increased contact with the transatlantic culture after World War Two 2. Skills: By the end of the study-unit the student will be able to: - identify which musical instruments form an integral part of Maltese folk culture - identify the main branches of art music which have been of mayor concern in Maltese musical creation. - have a basic appreciation of the contribution that leading Maltese composers have made to the development of Maltese art music - comprehend the social and political circumstances that paved the way for Maltese and foreign artists to contribute to the secular - understand the reasons why Maltese art had remained so firmly rooted to the baroque in the nineteenth century right up to the early Twentieth century. - acknowledge the wider and more secularist range of topics treated by Maltese artists following the social upheavals of the war and, later, the advent of globalisation in the 1990’s Main Text/s and any supplementary readings Reading lists will be offered by all lecturers. Main Texts - Borg Cardona, A.: Daqq, Ghana u Zfin Malti, (P.E.G Malta, 2007) - Buhagiar, M.: The Iconography of the Maltese Islands 1400-1800, (World Confederation of Salesian Past Pupils of Don Bosco Lions Club, Malta, 1987) - Camilleri, C. & Cassar Pullicino, G.: Maltese Oral Poetry and Folk Music, (Malta Univesity Publishers, Malta, 1998) - Cassar, J. P.: L-arti Moderna, (PIN Malta, 1999) - De Piro N.: International Dictionary of Artists who Painted Malta, (Said, AVC Malta, 2nd ed. 1997) - England, R. ed.: Contemporary Art in Malta, (Malta Arts Festival Publication, 1973) - Gash, J.: ‘Painting and Sculpture in Early Modern Malta’ in V. Mallia Milanes (ed), Hospitaller Malta, 1530-1798: Studies on Early Modern Malta and the Order of St.John of Jerusalem,(Mireva Publications, Malta, 1993) - Plastino, G. (ed.): Mediterranean Mosaic: Popular Music and Global Sounds, (Routledge, New York, 2003) - Vella Bondin, J.: Il-Mużika ta’ Malta sa l-Aħħar tas-Seklu Tmintax (PIN Sensiela Kulturali, 2000) - Vella Bondin, J.: Il-Mużika ta’ Malta fis-Sekli Dsatax u Għoxrin (PIN Sensiela Kulturali, 2000) - Vella Bondin, J.: ‘Malta’s Musical Heritage: A Historical Overview’, in K. Gambin (ed) Malta, Roots of a Nation, (Heritage Malta 2004) |
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| STUDY-UNIT TYPE | Lecture | ||||||
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| LECTURER/S | Anna Borg Cardona Katya Micallef Alexander Vella Gregory Theresa Vella (Co-ord.) |
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The University makes every effort to ensure that the published Courses Plans, Programmes of Study and Study-Unit information are complete and up-to-date at the time of publication. The University reserves the right to make changes in case errors are detected after publication.
The availability of optional units may be subject to timetabling constraints. Units not attracting a sufficient number of registrations may be withdrawn without notice. It should be noted that all the information in the description above applies to study-units available during the academic year 2025/6. It may be subject to change in subsequent years. |
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