Date: Tuesday, 28 January 2020
Time: 18:00
Venue: Faculty of Arts Library, University of Malta, Tal-Qroqq
Dr Anna Borg Cardona will be giving a public talk in Maltese on “Musical Instruments connected with Ritual and the Expulsion of Evil”.
In the presentation, she will be looking at a few musical instruments that have, or once had, such magical or ritual functions.
This talk is part of the Oral Traditions project of the Department of Maltese in the Faculty of Arts of the University of Malta, which is supported by the Research Fund of the University and Klabb Kotba Maltin.
Early musical instruments were not created for their beautiful tone but for their essential function within ritualised human behavior. These rituals were often associated with people’s innate fears of the unknown or hopes connected with their daily existence.
Agricultural life, the seasons of the year and the cycle of life of individuals, their family, crops and livestock were their only aspirations.
Many instruments were therefore accredited with the magical powers of banishing danger and evil from people and their surroundings, and everything they felt was most essential to their survival.
More about the speakers
The speaker has ħad a lifelong passion for music and art. She graduated with a B.A. in English and French from the University of Malta in 1978 and received an associate diploma in music teaching and Licentiate diploma in piano performing from Trinity College, London, in 1980. Dr Anna Borg Cardona studied Musicology at the University of Malta (1995-1997) and was awarded a Fellowship by the London College of Music for Professional Achievement in the field of musicology and organology (F.L.C.M., 2012). She obtained her Ph.D in Music from the University of Southampton in 2018.
Dr Borg Cardona is the author of three books and several articles in Maltese and foreign journals. She is currently carrying out research on Maltese musical instruments, music, and traditional song and dance. She guest curated the exhibition ‘Whistles from Ritual to Toys’ (2009) and contributed to the setting up of the Maltese section at the Musical Instrument Museum (MIM) in Arizona. In 2019 she guest curated Fondazzjoni Patrimonju Malti’s exhibition ’Music in Malta – from Prehistory to Vinyl’. Anna Borg Cardona is the founder of Gukulari Ensemble, that has given performances in Malta, Budapest, Vienna, Bologna, Portugal, and Spain.
Article can also be read in Maltese.