The art of falconry and sailing celebrated through the images of Serena Galvani

On the first of December of last year Italy officially joined the 17 nations which recognise the art of falconry as heritage of mankind in accordance to the UNESCO Convention. The Istituto Italiano di Cultura in Malta will mark this event with the launching of an illustrative publication as well as a photographic exhibition by Serena Galvani entitled Falc-On-Aria between 21 February and 17 March.

Serena Galvani hails from Bologna and is an established photo-reporter by profession accredited to the Associazione Italiana Foto Reporter (AIRF), who has deemed Malta as an ideal venue to celebrate this auspicious occurrence given Malta’s geographic location between two continents both of which have the art of falconry enrooted in their cultures. The Order of the Knights Hospitallers practised this sport profusely having voluntarily renounced all other forms of hunting only a month after Charles V, upon being crowned Emperor of the Holy Roman Empire by Pope Clement VII, entrusted Malta, Gozo and Tripoli to the Knights for the annual donation of a falcon as symbol of trust and loyalty.

Indeed on the occasion of the inauguration of this unprecedented exhibition, the original document recording the deed of donation signed by Charles V will be exhibited by kind courtesy of the National Library and Heritage Malta.

Serena Galvani, besides being a professional photographer is highly qualified in the field of academic research and is the proud owner of a historic boat which dates back to 1935, and boasts as its original owners, the descendants of Admiral Spinola. On the occasion of this antique vessel’s anniversary, Serena Galvani organised a singular event in Trieste to celebrate the intrinsic links which associate falconry and maritime art and which still exist to date.

The exhibition will feature impressive images in monochrome selected from Galvani’s book which portrays the powerful expression of this photographic genre, unfolding themes which come to life through the fusion of visions of falcons and man as well as sails in the winds, thus uniting in a common quest for suggestive landscapes, whereby the subjects restore to present times the unforgotten traditional hallmarks from the past.

This inaugural evening will include specialist interventions by Dr Joan Abela, director of the National Archives on the historic links between Maltese culture and the art of falconry; Italian journalist Giulio Guazzini of Rai who will expound on the maritime aspect and its synergy with the world of falcons; a brief audio visual interlude and moreover contributions by Spanish falconer Juan Bernabe, Italian Gianluca Barone and Natalino Fenech to add an ornithological note on the subject.