A permanent exhibition hall with the newly restored collection of paintings by Emvin Cremona was recently inaugurated at Ta' Pinu Sanctuary by Bank of Valletta chairman Roderick Chalmers.

This event coincided with the 125th anniversary celebrations commemorating the Virgin Mary's manifestation to Karmni Grima at Ta' Pinu in Għarb.

The highlight of the activities was a national pilgrimage to Ta' Pinu Sanctuary last Sunday led by Archbishop Paul Cremona, followed by Pontifical Mass on the sanctuary parvis.

The project for the restoration of the 20 paintings - carried out by Godwin Cutajar - started in October 2005 and has been supported throughout by the Bank of Valletta, under the Heritage Pillar of its Community Programme, through a total sponsorship of just over €23,000.

The inauguration ceremony included a recital by Hugo Agius Muscat and Robert Buhagiar on the newly installed organ at the sanctuary. The organ was brought over from the Netherlands. The event started off with a welcome address by the sanctuary's rector Fr Gerard Buhagiar. Fr George Schembri spoke on the importance of the organ in sacred liturgy while Joseph Camilleri recited a poem by George Pisani.

The guests were also addressed by Mr Cutajar who gave an overview of the process involved in restoring these paintings. The paintings, completed by Emvin Cremona between 1954 and 1962, were hung in the sanctuary until they were sent to Italy for the mosaics to be reproduced off them.

On their return the paintings were subsequently stored in a closet in the chapel. Some of them sustained damage following prolonged dampness and poor storage conditions.