Creating awareness through the arts

October 4, the feast of St Francis, is celebrated internationally as Animal Awareness Day and three years ago the Department of Student Services and International Relations within the Education Division initiated an animal awareness programme in the schools. On October 5 the Department held a cultural evening at St James Centre for Creativity to mark the occasion.

The evening started with the opening of an exhibition of animal photographs entitled "Every photo tells a Story" and the presentation of awards to participants by Dr Louis Galea, Minister of Education.

Speaking at the opening, Mary Rose Mifsud, director of the department of student services in the Education Division, said that her department tries to create a consciousness of what we owe to animals through a variety of arts, starting with photography. Love, she said, can be fostered through the love for animals. It may not be possible to teach love but it is certainly possible to create the conditions in which love can thrive and develop.

The presentation was followed by a performance of dance, literature, drama and film in the theatre at the Centre. Animals was the theme of the various presentations. Tyger Tyger by William Blake, Nature Trail by Benjamin Zephaniah, The Bells of Heaven by Ralph Hodgson and The Little Dog's Day by Rupert Brooke were poems by British writers which were read by Paul Xuereb and Gloria Lauri-Lucente.

Also from the pages of English literature were the extracts Abandoned by James Heriot and El Magnifico by Doris Lessing, which were also read by Dr Lauri Lucente who is well known among her friends for being a passionate animal - especially cat and dog - lover. Dr Lauri Lucente's participation in the evening's performance was the contribution of the British Council, who participated in the event together with the Italian and the German embassies alongside the Education Division.

St Francis of Assisi's poem Il Cantico delle Creature (The Canticle of Creation) is perhaps the most famous nature poem ever written. This was beautifully read by Marina Morbiducci after the viewing of a couple of scenes from Zeffirelli's equally famous film about St Francis and against the background of views of the Cathedral at Assisi. Franz und das Rotkehlchen (Franz and the Robin) was a screened version of an old German children's story which depicts the cruelty of keeping wild birds in cages even when this is well-meant.

Paul Portelli, the well-known actor, presented an original one-man short act, having the character of an improvisation, about the environment which he called An Invitation to Reflection. Partly humorous, partly serious and partly ironical the piece is indeed a reflection of Maltese mores in their attitude to the environment and animals.

Animals feature very often in Trevor Zahra's books. Zahra must be Malta's favourite writer of books for children, books that he also illustrates himself. On Tuesday he also proved himself an excellent actor/narrator when he read a week's entry from the diary of one of his cats. Nobody in the audience could have failed to warm up to the feelings shown by his Tabby Cat.

Students from the Alison White Dance Studio performed a number of 'animal' dances. The first was based on Andrew Lloyd Webber's evergreen musical Cats while Black Cat Puma sent a message in favour of the endangered puma.

Finally the pupils from the Guardian Angel School, trained by Alison White, gave an impressive performance of a short dance based on The Lion King while young pupils perfomred vigorously in ashort dance to the music of Never smile at a Crocodile.

The delightful evening, which was presented by Paul Xuereb, was brought to a close by a spirited rendering by singers Joe Huber and Claire Caruana, accompanied by André Paul Huber, of Gioacchino Rossini's famous Cat Duet.