Stitches from times past

Over 90 pieces of lace, ranging from Venetian masks to christening gowns and church-related items, are on display at Casa Rocca Piccola in Valletta, bringing a centuries-old laborious tradition to the appreciation of the visiting public.

The exhibits are the work of lace makers who participated in the second lace-making competition coordinated by Casa Rocca Piccola with the collaboration of the HSBC Cares for Malta's Heritage Fund. The intention of the competition is to keep alive this craftsmanship from Malta's times past that risks having to make way for faster, industrialised ways of making lace.

The exhibition was inaugurated by a prize-giving ceremony at Casa Rocca Piccola last Sunday presided over by Lucy Weldon, wife of HSBC Malta CEO Alan Richards.

The overall winner of this year's competition was Ersilia Grima for her bridal bouquet.

Twenty-three participants from Malta and Gozo were rewarded for their works in different categories. Participants shared a total of €2,500 in prizes.

The judging panel was made up of a number of experts including Consiglia Azzopardi and Margaret Farrugia. The pieces were judged on the merit of originality in design, ethnicity and tradition, technical skill, presentation, magnitude of the undertaking and quality of the item produced.

The exhibition, with all the entries submitted for the competition, runs until Friday.

An outstanding exhibit is the fine Maltese bobbin lace bag that took about 750 hours to complete. "Other works of art involve more or less the same amount of work that can only be described as breathtaking," Marquis Nicholas De Piro, who runs Casa Rocca Piccola, said.

Mr Richards had words of praise for the exhibits, describing them as outstanding and indicative of the remarkable skill going way back in time and perfected over the years.