Monday 1 May at 19:30
Splendid, Strada Stretta, Valletta
The Strada Stretta Concept, under the auspices of the Valletta 2018 Foundation, presents, the event, 'Strada Stretta Sieged ... by the Turks', under the artistic direction of Giuseppe Schembri Bonaci – An evening of readings by Schembri Bonaci and Maria Theuma. Music by pianist Emel Hasanoglu.
Many are the situations that bring havoc to people, to families, to individuals. Revolutions, wars, upheavals ... shifting of cultures, waves of mass deportations, genocides, holocausts, and the incredible human strive to live.
Thomas Mann in his Buddenbrooks, Michail Bulgakov's Beg (Escape), Andric's Bridge over Drina, and Irfan Orga's Portrait of a Turkish Family.
Turks, Armenians, Kurds, Russians, Ukrainians, Germans, Jews, Maltese, Palestinians, Croats, Serbs ... Aristocrats, Middle-Class, Working Class, rich, poor ... bohemians, intellectuals, Kings, Paupers, Poets, Artists, Musicians, ... and why?
Shifting of sand, political and military earthquakes, butchery in the name of progress, in the name of a religion, in the name of a utopia of love, butchery in the name of all ..... and why?
And yet amidst the horrible concentration camp Buchenwald gas chambers one finds Goethe's oak tree, amidst Bulgakov's class butchery one finds the beauty of the Russian steppe, amidst the Drina Bridge massacres one senses the beauty of water, and amidst the crumbling of Orga's family one finds the love of hope and the hope of love.
This event entitled 'Strada Stretta Sieged' is a tribute to one example of hope.
The event will be held at Splendid, Strada Stretta, Valletta. Entrance is free.
Special thanks to Jason Masini and Splendid.