Ten artists, 10 barrels! Bettija’rt | wine.art.living kicks off in earnest as the organising Delicata winery announces the artist finalists that have been chosen to take part in Malta’s first ever barrel art contest with €1,000 in prize money and other rewards to be earned.
A spokesperson for the Delicata winery commented: “For our first barrel painting competition, the response to the call for artists was overwhelmingly positive. The deliberation has been hard. The aim was never to put together a pecking order of Malta’s best painters – as if that’s even possible – but to unite a mixed bunch of talented creative people of different walks of life, with different styles, using different mediums.
“Unfortunately, only 10 artists can take part this time. Of course, not being selected does in no way lessen the many other artists’ artistic and creative gifts. If anything, the selection process has shown us precisely that Malta possesses a great wealth of talent.”
The Delicata winery thanks all the applicants who have expressed their interest and wishes them nothing but plenty of inspiration and artistic fulfilment ahead. Meanwhile, Delicata’s delivery crew has rolled out the oak barrels to the selected artists.
The 10 artist finalists for this year’s 2019 Bettija’rt | wine.art.living are: prismatic surrealist Joseph Barbara who’s also known for his figure sculptures made out of reused plastic bottles; talented painter and model Claire Attard Vella; versatile multi-media artist David Xuereb with his ever-changing array of techniques; globetrotting artist Caroline Said Lawrence, who specialises in depicting the magical antiquity of her new-found home in the Three Cities; expressionist Carmel Bonello whose art is rough, wild and full or raw emotion; palette-knife virtuoso Francis Galea and his recognisable tableaus of Maltese vistas; up-and-coming artist and busy mother of two Priscilla Gatt; ceramist and painter Donald Camilleri whose work is known for its unique glowing quality, tonal depth and durability; multi-talented artist and musician Sara Pace; and, last but not least, young creative illustrator Zack Ritchie.
Each artist will now transform the barrique (a wine barrel or bettija in Maltese) into a stunning work of art (dubbed a bettija’rt). The inspiration and theme of this year’s art contest is “the joys of wine, art and good living in Malta today and through the ages”.
The 2019 inaugural edition is organised in association with Is-Suq Tal-Belt Valletta Food Market, where the finished works, or the so-called bettija’rts, will be exhibited in spring for viewing and public voting, with the winner being determined by jury panel decision.
More info about Delicata’s Bettija’rt | wine.art.living and the 10 finalists’ detailed profiles complete with their personal social media links and website are viewable on the Delicata website www.delicata.com.
Georges Meekers is Delicata’s head of sales and an award-winning wine writer.
New red Medina Ġellewża release
After much hard work in the winery’s domaine of family-run vineyards and thanks to years of experience with the variety, Delicata has crafted another vintage red wine made entirely from Malta’s very own Ġellewża grape.
The 2018 vintage will be released later this week behind the Medina label of quality wines of mono-varietals and blends.
The unoaked Medina Ġellewża is made exclusively from hand-picked grapes grown on traditional, old bush vines of indeterminate age – probably 35 to 50 years – which are largely dry-farmed.
The garnet-coloured wine is indeed a terrific and unparallelled expression of Malta’s indigenous red grape variety. Its fresh nose reminds of candy and the scent of violets. It’s not a featherweight wine. Instead it shows nice plum and cherry fruit flavours on a gentle yet broad palate with supple tannins and, above all, an intriguing hallmark of liquorish.