Going through the ordeal of taking a photo of each and every street of Ħamrun for a book which will never make it to the bookshops sounds like a daft idea. But not for British-American John Baraldi.
Having settled in Malta three years ago to follow a University course, he fell in love with the Ħamruniżi (as people from Ħamrun are known) and started this ambitious project as part of a national memory project.
The Great Book attempts to celebrate the ordinary life of Ħamrun in a formal and public way by capturing images of people in the street, at home or at work.
The only existing copy containing 100 images has been recently donated by the author to the National Archives in Rabat, together with the original pool of 5,600 images which were shot by amateur photographers as part of this project.
“There will be no presidents, mayors, or politicians as this book pays homage to ordinary people, what they do and where they live.”
Its author believes that just as Henry the Conqueror in 1085 had commissioned The Domesday Book to record all that was of value in his kingdom, his book is a means of preserving the memory of Malta’s people.
“I wanted to create something which involved young people and the arts by mapping all the 106 streets of Ħamrun.”
Through this project, the author also hopes to bring the National Archives closer to the people.
“This place should not be just for historians. My wish is to engage with school children directly by visiting the National Archives to see the book for themselves and maybe revisit in 10 or even 50 years’ time to see how society changed,” he says.
Mr Baraldi plans to extend this series, possibly covering every locality in Malta. However, he is not keen on producing digital copies of the photos.
“Having a physical copy would ensure that in 50 years’ time they would still be accessible.”
The Great Book in numbers
• The project involved 380 hours of working in the streets with a team of 414 volunteers who visited 106 streets
• Over 600 images were displayed in an exhibition held last May at St James Cavalier
• 12 large images from the exhibition have been installed permanently at a new community hall in Ħamrun
• Over 400 people from Ħamrun had their faces seen in the exhibition
• Over 5,000 images saved
• Over 1,300 hits for The Great Book slide shows shown on YouTube
• Over 1,000 face to face contacts made by the team
• Three other projects in the pipeline, adding three more volumes of The Great Book in 2016
• The project cost €8,000 in total and was possible through grants from the Arts Council, Aġenzija Żgħażagħ and the Ħamrun local council.
Every picture tells a different story and describes the unique character of the streets of Ħamrun. Photos: Great Book of Ħamrun.