Major facelift for heritage museums

Heritage Malta has undertaken a number of major capital projects in order to enhance some of the state-owned museums and heritage sites it manages.

The agency was set up to protect, conserve and promote Malta's cultural heritage. One of the most important initiatives at the moment is a conservation and interpretation project at the prehistoric temples of Hagar Qim and Mnajdra, largely funded by the European Commission.

This project caters for both the conservation needs of the archaeological sites as well as for the accessibility and interpretation of the sites to the public. This will involve the building of shelters over the two prehistoric monuments, the construction of a visitors' centre and the installation of onsite interpretation facilities. It is estimated that the project will cost about €3.5 million and the target date for completion is 2008.

Another significant project at the two sites consisted of environmental monitoring and recording of factors such as temperature, humidity, rainfall and wind speed.

The heritage agency is also working on the setting up of a fine arts reference library in the new annex of the National Museum of Fine Arts, in Republic Street, Valletta. The idea is to offer an improved service to the public and to support the museum in its research activity.

"An art library would be of essential support to the curatorial role of research with regard to the works of art that comprise the national collection", a Heritage Malta spokesman said.

The library, he added, would permit an updated and extensive interpretation and re-evaluation of the national collection of paintings, sculptures, prints and engravings, silverware, furniture, majolica and other artefacts.

Works to be carried out vary from structural to academic.

The entire collection of armouries, together with the armoury itself at the Palace, Valletta, is undergoing a total re-organisation process. The Grand Master's carriage is now exhibited in a large showcase and all items in showcases were removed and displayed in chronological order.

The showcases are being equipped with new light fittings and a platform is being built beneath them so as to avoid corrosion that can be caused by moist. Climate control in the armoury is still in progress.

At the National Museum of Natural History, housed in Vilhena Palace, Mdina, much of the ongoing work is concentrated on the refurbishment of a hall that will host an exhibition on sites of ecological importance in the Maltese islands. Work on the interpretation panels and the display has reached an advanced stage with three models of Filfla, Fungus Rock and Comino already completed.

Initial preparations are also underway for a completely new mammals display. The plan is to create a number of dioramas of various habitats, including the European woodland, the African savannah, the tropical forest and the Australian bush, where mammals can be seen in relation to nature and to other animals. At the Ggantija Temples, in Gozo, ongoing projects cover different areas, namely conservation, a visitor's centre and ecology.

Conservation concerns there include the temples' façade, which is partially supported by scaffolding. Such problems are being addressed through specific scientific studies. With regards to the temples' natural environment, an ecological survey is underway.

Following the take-over of the Gozo Museum of Archaeology by Heritage Malta in 2003 and the procurement of a set of display cases through EU funds on the initiative of the Ministry for Gozo, a general upgrading programme was initiated. This includes the refurbishment of Casa Bondi, the conservation of all items on display in the prehistory and medieval sections, the procurement of nine state-of-the-art display cases for the prehistory section, the permanent display in Gozo of a selection of artefacts from the Xaghra Stone Circle Hypogeum and the revision of the storyline and redesign of the permanent display.

There are other sites which are being upgraded or refurbished by Heritage Malta. These include L-Abbatija tad-Dejr Catacombs, Ghar Dalam and the Inquisitor's Palace in Vittoriosa.

The BOV Tarxien Temples project, launched by Heritage Malta and Bank of Valletta in 2003, aims at making the Tarxien temples more accessible to different audiences.