Fondazzjoni Wirt Artna has launched the 2013 edition of the ‘Hands on Heritage’ educational programme.

Targeting school children, this programme is focused on getting them more engaged with their cultural heritage, by providing them with the opportunity to experience episodes from the past.

The programme forms part of the collaboration between the FWA and Bank of Valletta.

As part of the programme, school children are invited to one of the many sites managed by Fondazzjoni Wirt Artna such as Fort Rinella or the Malta at War Museum, where specially trained animators engage them in practical sessions meant to help them understand the more complex elements of history and heritage.

Fondazzjoni Wirt Artna CEO Mario Farrugia said the programme offered students a unique opportunity to handle period instruments and tools and learn how they worked and were used.

“We bring what is normally seen on text-books or television to life while learning old skills and discussing issues of heritage and historical interest,” he said.

The ‘Hands on Heritage’ Programme is an integral part of the BOV’s long-term partnership with Fondazzjoni Wirt Artna, media and community relations manager Joyce Tabone said.

“While preserving our history through restoration projects is one of our main priorities, keeping our history alive through our children is a very effective way of promoting knowledge about the rich heritage that the Maltese islands have been through, through the ages,” she said.