New Din l-Art Helwa president insists change must be managed

Anthony Pace Gouder

Mar 16th 2010, 12:59

@ George Cremona

Xbajt nisma din ta l-ispazju tat-Teatru Rjal huwa zghir u limitat ! Is-sit mill portico huwa 30m X 52m. Jekk nghoddu il-parti bil-hwienet tahtha hemm 8 METRI ohra , ghall 60m . Anki inti emmintha Sur Cremona? .

Inti tahseb li BARRY ma kien jaf x'qed jaghmel ? It-Teatru Rjal kien wiehed mill l-aktar Rinomati fl-Ewropa u kienu JIDDEBUTTAW FIH kantanti lirici li jekk jikkonfermaw u jaghmlu success hawnhekk kienu jidhlu fix-Xena Ewropea tal-Opera .

Nahseb li qed tirreferi ghall opera AIDA meta semmejt "raprezzentazzjonijiet Kbar "'. Veru li din tirrikjedi il- kobor biex tkun apprezzata izda issir ukoll f'teatri famuzi u sahansitra fit-Teatru Astra 24 x 51m , li huwa idjaq mit - Teatru Rjal !

Nixtieq nifforma mhux biss lilek, li Teatri bhall LA FELICE ta Venezja 30 x 50m huwa IZHAR , SAN CARLO ta Napli 40 x 65m , LA SCALA ta Milan ma tantx huma akbar 38 x 68m . Il-METROPOLITAN OPERA ta New York circa 56m X 65m . Jekk hemm il-htiega is-sit jista facilment jizdied bi 12 il-metru ghall 42m lejn pjazza Helsien , kif ukoll xi 8m fuq wara . Il-Kavalier jista jigi maqqad iservi ta bini awziljarju .

K.M. Fiorentino

Mar 16th 2010, 10:31

Unbelievable... all of a sudden we are all into operas and theatres.. what a joke.

Louis Busuttil

Mar 16th 2010, 09:23

Good luck Petra,
I agree with your comments

P.VELLA

Mar 16th 2010, 09:02

@ Mr MG Farrugia

Nahseb Mr K.Zammit Tabona qajjem punti dicenti li int ma fihmtx hassa minnhom. Personali naqbel hafna li minflok jew ma l-famuz parlament, li kull ma ha jkun post accessibli ghal ftit ikun hemm librerija publika kif imiss, jaqaw qatt ma mort f'xi wahda state of the art donnok ... ghamel google ha tara tal-Egittu ... ghaliex il-qofol ta Belt ghandha tkun l-Forum [Parlament] minflokk librerija, post ghal kullhadd u kulturali u intelletwali. Ghaliex ghandna namlu muzew tal-politika minflok? Mhux bizzejjed xebbet u qerdet mentalita ta poplu?

DLH nispera li ma tabandunawx wiehed mil-aqwa wirtijiet storici l-ghandna, l-arkitettura militari ghax kollox qed jigi stuprat ghal ghat kommercjali!

George Cremona

Mar 16th 2010, 08:37

Smajt Bondi Plus il-bierah li kumbinazzjoni tratta l-kwistjoni tat-teatru. Ghalkemm nirrispetta ferm kemm lil Zammit Tabona, kif ukoll lill-Profs. Peter Serracino Inglott ghall-gherf taghhom, jiddispjacini li jkolli nghid li waqt il-programm f'certi mumenti ma kienux jaghmlu sens. Qed nirreferi ghall-uzu tat-teatru l-imwaqqa.
L-argument taghhom li t-teatru l-imwaqqa ghandu jerga jinbena bhala teatru ta' l-opra ma jregix. Ghaliex m'hemmx spazju bizzejjed biex isir dan. La biex, kif qalu huma jakkomoda 1500/1800 seat u nqas sabiex taghmel l-Opri jew rapprezentazzjonijiet kbar fih. L-ispazju hemmhekk huwa limitat hafna.

Teatru kif ghandu jkun ifisser li jkollok palk spazjuz hafna, li jkollok numru ta' 'dressing rooms' spazjuzi u komdi, li jkollok spazji komdi fil-gnub u fuq wara tal-palk li jkunu kapaci jakkomodaw l-manuvrar u xoghol tekniku iehor li tirrekjedi kull performance. Fl-ahhar imma mhux l-inqas spazju li jakkomoda orkestra ta' sittin ruh. Dan barra spazji ohra ghal wardrobe, ghal workshops, ghall-provi etc. etc. Hekk ikun teatru komplet u mghammar b'dak kollu li jaghmel teatru ta' veru.
U spazju biex isir dan kollu fis-sit in kwistjoni ma hemmx. Anzi dak ezistenti huwa ferm il-boghod milli jakkomoda dawn il-bzonnijiet kollha. Bhalma qal tant tajjeb Dr. Peter Fenech.

Anthony Pace Gouder

Mar 16th 2010, 03:58

Din l-Art Helwa has definately lost its soul , in embracing such a bizarre project .

Being in favour of Parliament in Freedom Square for Aesthetics and Heritage reasons in my opinion is pure Heresy , unacceptable from an Organization that ought to know better . Can President Dr. Bianchi please give details to explain this conclusion !

Having buildings between the Cavaliers is sheer mockery to their very existance , and the whole Military Aspect at this particular point .

Just imagine Castel Sant ' Angelo in Rome or the Tower of London flanked within a few meters partially hidden behind a PARLIAMENT building or a Block of Flats . Would this be defined as an Aesthetic and a Heritage point of view ?

Hidden Agendas ,most likely !

M.G. Farrugia

Mar 15th 2010, 23:20

@Kenneth Zammit Tabone, halli nirrispondi ftit mid-domandi tieghek. l-orkestra Nazzjonali jekk ma tafx ghanda dara fl-ex-knisja tal-metodisti. Post kbir u spazjus hafna, mela mhix homeless. 2. teatru diga hemm il-Manoel u hemm il-hsieb li Dar il-Mediterran tinbidl f'iehor. 3Qieghed thallat librerija nazzjonali li hija dik li hemm fi Pjazza Regina il-Belt ma librerija pubblika. zewg affarijiet totalment differenti, qieghed thallat. Ma kienx hemm ghalfejn DLH jew piano jidhlu f'dawn l-affarijiet ghax il-kummenti li ghamlt il-biċċa il-kbira ma jaghmlux sens. Dwat it-teatru miftuh jew le mhux linja tieghi allura ma nistax inwiegeb. L-attitudni li ghax ma naghmilx kif irid il-big daddy jew il-big mummy nigi attakkat mhux serjeta.

J Micallef

Mar 15th 2010, 17:44

Good luck Ms. Bianchi. You seem to be an asset for DLH and a cut above the rest. That's why DLH is consistently taken more seriously that other NGOs. Keep up the constructive approach, assertiveness and above all the restoration of historic places. This positive approach is far superior to negative agendas whose aim is to destroy and to oppose anything under the sun for the sake of opposing and being in the limelight.

Clive Bartolo

Mar 15th 2010, 17:43

Congratulations on your recent appointment. Very confident you will do a great job.

CVella

Mar 15th 2010, 17:17

Kenneth Zammit Tabona: This is what I said: "cool rationality favours good decision-making far more than pique and misinformed hysteria do". You'll notice that there is no agenda and certainly no superiority complex involved. It's just a bare statement of opinion and one with which, I dare say, you agree.

Kenneth Zammit Tabona

Mar 15th 2010, 16:24

I have since ascertained that my views and FAA's regarding the opera houese site saga are in synch.

Kenneth Zammit Tabona

Mar 15th 2010, 15:16

@ C Vella
Why does everything that diverges ever so slightly from the Vella girls' agenda have to be dubbed as 'pique and misinformed hysteria'? Talk about superiority complex! Honestly!

Kenneth Zammit Tabona

Mar 15th 2010, 15:12

and yet............
it is precisely because a heritage site must have a meaningful finction that I ask all these questions. If DLH thinks that all this may be overlooked and opt for the roofless propsal just because its "intriguing" then that I am afraid is a very cavalier attitude and not one that i would expect of an NGO that I have always supported to the hilt ALL MY LIFE since Judge Caruana Curran set it up and aged 7 I wheeled debris ot of Hal Millieri in my blue wheelbarrow.
I did not take part in Saturday's demo because there were too many issues, several of which i disagreed with including FAA's take on the opera house site and the Rambers' attitude to private property.
We have reached a very uncomfortable impasse with regard to this site for which anyone remotely interested in culture has waited for 70 years for something to happen that it is not surprising that all hell has broken loose.
The fact that there has been no dialogue at all is double galling when the raison d'etre of the PN has always been DJALOGU DJALOGU and more DJALOGU!!
Or was this merely a PR stunt?

Kenneth Zammit Tabona

Mar 15th 2010, 15:00

I am shocked at what the new President of DLH has come up with at this juncture. Condoning the building of a roofless theatre which sure as eggs are eggs will prove to be totally dysfunctional as far as malta's cultural requirements are concerned is a travesty of what DLH should represent.
There is more to our heritage than mere buildings.
What happens to our homeless orchestra?
What are we going to do about a functional national theatre?
What about the Museum of Modern Art? 200 years of art lie undisplayed in a 'reserve collection'!!!
What about our National Library out in the Styx at Beltissebh!? Is that really the place for it?
Has Mr Piano or DLH bothered to go into all this?
Did Mr Piano decide to propose the roofless thearte off his own bat?
Were thr USERS not consulted?
Do we need another open air venue when Malta is blessed with them?
Will the kaxxex infernali of 17 parishes in and around Valletta cease to exist?
Will the violently strong summer mistral stop blowing?
Will the summer RIH ISFEL desist ?There are so many reasons why this proposal should never have been entertained and yet?

CVella

Mar 15th 2010, 13:29

Dr Bianchi's ideas and arguments sound reasonable. Maybe they should be heard and understood before they are criticised. Cool rationality favours good decision-making far more than pique and misinformed hysteria do.

Paul Borg

Mar 15th 2010, 13:20

It is strange that one Sunday paper quoted the attendance figure of 500 given by the Police who I'm sure are the experts on crowds (I was there and heard them tell the organisers) and here the Times quotes "a national rally by environment NGOs only attracted a couple of hundred."

It is also strange that this is the version given by an English Sunday paper that whose main owner is one of the biggest developers on the Island and doing its best to tarnish the image of the ambjentalisti.

First the Times it gives front-page coverage to Din l-Art Helwa's claims to have dropped out of being an organiser of the rally, which then turned out to be wrong as they had never enrolled. Now this belitteling of the rally. Has Times jumped on the anti-NGO bandwagon? It would be sad to see it lose its independence in this way.

Joseph M. Scicluna

Mar 15th 2010, 11:51

I wonder how this so called "Din L-art helwa" is in favour of the proposed open air theatre as well as the new parliament, encroaching one of the very few open spaces in the city, not to mention the proposed City entrance becoming like going into a quarry! If "Din l-Art Helwa" is in favour of all this, I suggest to change its name to "Din l-Art Morra".

George Manduca

Mar 15th 2010, 11:28

Din l-Art Helwa's position on the theater deeply disappoints me...

Nobody is saying that the entire project should be stalled.
On the contrary!

What people want is that the Theater be built to its former glory and if possible beyond... These proposed couple of poles and stretched drapes just don't cut it!

Norman Lowell

Mar 15th 2010, 11:09

Petra Bianchi:
Urban sprawl - I don't know how it could ever be reversed.

Astrid Vella:
The social housing flats at Valletta Gate cannot be demolished - since some of them were sold to the tenants.

How exquisitely feminine of both of them.

R Muscat

Mar 15th 2010, 10:58

Dear Petra,
thank you for pointing out that the weather was not exactly inclement and therefore many did not turn up for the ngo protest simply for this reason.
Unfortunately there are those who are blind to the destruction of our heritage, who have lost their sense of smell and are lucky enough not to note the toxic fumes coming out of maghtab and its smaller sister the badly managed land fill, who love to breathe the smoke that come out of our power stations that are not up to EU standards of emmisions, who do not swim in our polluted sea "ghax jien nghum fil pool biss !! jaqq kollu chlorine halli il highlights isiru hodor", who have no civic pride and prefer to see a Maltese Falcon stuffed fis salott than to see it flying, these people are crying victory because of the low turn!!!
How stupid can they be??

Joseph V. Grech

Mar 15th 2010, 10:40

Dr. Petra Bianchi said that ''property must be relevant''. She should realize that building two blocks on Freedom Square and encumbering Valletta with a small roofless theatre should show that even in major projects we are unfortunately not building ''relevant'' property.
Did D.L.H. have any say in the brief that was given world famous architect Renzo Piano because it is being said that no N.G.O. was involved.
D.L.H.'s ex Chairman is reportedly said to have been taken to Paris with a number of journalists - how can D.L.H. ever not toe the administration's line on this crucially important project for Valletta?
There have been suggestions that Ordnance Street should be incorporated into the bombed theatre site so that a roofed ''relevant'' building can be built thereon.
It is not for me to decide what this building will be used for - an Arts Community Building? Why not try to include Parliament there if the Hon. P.M. is so hell bent on building a new Parliament at all costs?
Can Petra Bianchi just imagine how lovely Freedom Square would look if it were to be properly rejuvenated as Palace Square has been.
Let us work together to solve this problem!

ASpiteri

Mar 15th 2010, 10:32

"We were in favour of it from the start from an aesthetic and heritage point of view," she says.

So I hope Din L-Art Helwa will find no objections when i turn some old house in the city into some kind modern/futuristic architecture!

Halluna...u’re only another NGO who lost all credibility since u become another government lackey!

D Cefai

Mar 15th 2010, 10:11

Dear Petra,

You were never part of the protest in the sense that you never contributed towards organizing the protest. You cannot drop out of something when you were setting on the fence.

Everyone (in the NGO field) knew that you were not taking part in it. But this was not enough for you, you wanted to go for a publicity stunt to emphasize that you don't agree with the other NGOs.

Dear Petra, the timing, the way you did it were all very meaningfull.

You have all the right to do that. But I just want to tell you that now I know where you truly stand.

m.farrugia

Mar 15th 2010, 10:05

well done for your comments. Heritage and environment should never be political issues. All we have to do is to pull the same rope. If any NGO has different opinion from others it has the right to keep out of he issue.