Malta’s largest permanent installation artwork, commemorating six decades of electricity generation at Marsa, will be unveiled on Thursday at Belt il-Ħażna Road.
The installation, by Mcast students, is made of components dismantled from its boilers and turbines. Its inauguration comes at a time when several quarters are urging the government to preserve the old power station as an example of Malta's industrial history.
The inauguration event will be held in collaboration with the Malta College of Arts, Science and Technology (Mcast). It will include audiovisual productions and choreography by the performing arts students of the MCAST Institute for the Creative Arts. The Institute’s photography students will also be exhibiting works related to the Marsa Power Station.
The three-storey metal art installation recalls the workers who built, operated and maintained the Marsa Power Station’s boilers and turbines since 1953, Enemalta said.
It also symbolises the development of Malta’s energy sector, with 2017 being a pivotal year for Enemalta as it ends the use of heavy fuel oil in electricity generation, replacing it with a new diversified energy mix based on cleaner gas-fired sources, the Malta-Italy Interconnector and renewable energy sources.
Enemalta said that a few weeks ago it disconnected the Marsa Power Station from the national electricity grid, to continue dismantling it and pave the way for the regeneration of this Grand Harbour area at Marsa.
In 2016, as works to dismantle the Marsa Power Station gathered pace, Enemalta invited the Mcast Institute for the Creative Arts fine arts students to visit the Marsa Power Station and create an artistic installation using different components dismantled from its boilers and turbines.
Guided by their lecturers and Enemalta architects, engineers and technicians, over 25 students turned the power station into an art studio, observing and sketching different materials, shapes and processes.
The students presented several designs to a selection board composed of Enemalta employees, including power station workers, a renowned metal art designer and sculptor and the Mayor of Marsa.
A team of students, lecturers and Enemalta employees elaborated the selected design and prepared the different components forming the final installation. A few weeks ago, the Company’s employees started assembling the installation on site, next to the new Marsa North Electricity Distribution Centre, at Belt il-Ħażna Road. Enemalta has recently built this distribution centre to replace the old electricity distribution node that formed part of the Marsa Power Station.
Other Mcast Institute for the Creative Arts students have contributed to this project as well. 3D design students helped the fine arts students draft the plans and visuals of their designs, whilst media students documented this process through their artistic photography. Performing arts students prepared a choreography that will be presented during the inauguration of the memorial.