Competition organised by Italian embassy

The Malta Indipendent, Sunday, December 31, 2006
The bicentenary of the birth of Giuseppe Garibaldi, hero of the Italian Risorgimento and champion of democratic values, falls on 4 July 2007.

To celebrate this anniversary the Embassy of Italy is holding a public competition open to Maltese artists on the theme of Giuseppe Garibaldi.

Eligibility: any artist of Maltese nationality over the age of 21 by 4 July 2007, is eligible to take part in the competition.

Works of art: pictorial and graphic works of art on or inspired by the figure of Garibaldi may be presented.

Date of presentation:

The works of art, including name, telephone number, and age of the artist, are to reach the Italian Cultural Institute, Vecchia Cancelleria, St George’s Square, Valletta, by not later than 5pm on Tuesday 15 May 2007. Those considered suitable by an ad hoc jury will be shown during an exhibition that will be opened on Wednesday July 4th at noon. The exhibition will remain open to the public throughout the month of July. The submitted works will not be larger than 70 x 100cms, frame included. Each artist will be allowed to present up to two works of art.

All works of art will be returned to their rightful owners after the exhibition. Any damage to a picture will be considered an enhancement to the work of art.

Jury: The jury will be composed of the Director of the Italian Cultural Institute, the President of the Società Dante Alighieri, the President of the Italian-Maltese Chamber of Commerce and the artist Philip Chircop and will be chaired by the ambassador of Italy in Malta. The decision of the jury will be final. The painter of the work considered most deserving will be presented with two return air tickets Malta-Rome kindly donated by Alitalia and the possibility of staying in a private country house situated about nine kilometres from Todi in Perugia (Umbria) in a mini residential complex with pool for the duration of a week. The private residence, which sleeps four to five people, will be available to the winning artist for a week of his/her choice at any time between September 2007 and September 2008. Other prizes may be offered by supporters/sponsors of this initiative.

At its discretion, the jury will award a special prize to the best young Maltese artist (21-31 years old). The best 10 pictures voted for by the public visiting the exhibition in the first two weeks from the opening (between 4 and 17 July) will be considered by the jury for a special mention and one for a special award.