The Malta Independent on Sunday
For the young and the young at heart
Between 19 and 25 November, Valletta will feature the second edition of the ZiguZajg International Arts festival for Children and Young People. The Malta Independent on Sunday caught up with Festival Director TONI ATTARD to learn more about ZiguZajg
Is there a particular theme underlining this year’s ŻiguŻajg Festival? This year, the festival, which is being organised by the St James Cavalier Centre for Creativity, is celebrating its first birthday and everyone is invited to ŻiguŻajg’s quċċija, during which the capital city will once again be transformed into a haven for the performing arts. The quċċija is a kind of ritual that is meant to predict the child’s future career or profession. Similarly, we are presenting an artistically diverse festival where the children and young people attending might identify with a genre, a style, or even a venue that will inspire them to enter the beautiful and exciting world of the arts. What kind of audience profile are you targeting for this event? The festival is designed to capture the imagination of children and young people between the ages of 0 to 16, as well as of the young at heart. All performances have been graded by age in order to help parents make up their minds as to which performances are best suited for their children. Can you give us an idea of what the festival programme includes? Music, story telling, animation, film, dance and theatre are just some of the exciting ingredients of ŻiguŻajg. The festival programme boasts a rich variety of local and international productions designed to appeal to young audiences, including specially commissioned works, which will make for an exhilarating and unforgettable experience. ŻiguŻajg is proposing no less than twenty-five productions, brought to us by some of the best in the Maltese arts scene, as well as major productions from Australia, the UK, Italy, Germany, France, Holland and Portugal. The last day of the festival will also see a celebration parade to commemorate ŻiguŻajg’s birthday as well as the declaration of Valletta as European Cultural Capital 2018. What kind of turnout are you expecting for this year’s edition? We know from experience that there is a high demand for events designed specifically for children and young people and the success of last year’s edition confirmed this. This year, we are looking forward to welcoming some 17,000 patrons to our events in Valletta. We’ve also received very encouraging feedback from schools and in fact, the festival programme has been tailored for schoolchildren to attend performances in the morning, while all shows will also be taking place during the evenings throughout the week of the event, as well as on the weekend. Will be there be something for local budding artists and performers as well? Yes, this year we will be introducing a Fringe Festival between 16 and 18 November. This will serve as a platform for young bands, ensembles, theatre groups and artists eager to present their work to local audiences. Participants for this event have come through from every creative source imaginable, from arts schools to youth groups, primary and secondary schools to dance schools. ŻiguŻajg Fringe takes off on Friday 16 November with a performance by the renowned Roundhouse Theatre from London, which has tailored a performance especially for ŻiguŻajg Fringe. The performance will feature a fusion of two of the Roundhouse’s most exciting Collectives – Funk da Cirqe and The Music Collective. Audiences are then invited to enjoy a two-day programme packed solid with plays, gigs, exhibitions, concerts and films, all brought to you by young artists. Can you Lab? ŻiguŻajg Lab is an ongoing initiative of the St James Cavalier Centre for Creativity, consisting of a series of workshops related to the
tell us something about ŻiguŻajg diverse performing arts scene, and by means of a fresh and energetic approach, was designed to encourage budding artists to share and develop their ideas with local and foreign counterparts. One of the more successful initiatives undertaken this year, as part of the ŻiguŻajg Lab, was the three-day documentary workshop organised during the eighth edition of the Kinemastik International Short Film Festival. The end product of this workshop, a documentary on culture in Malta, can be enjoyed during the ŻiguŻajg Festival, together with other Lab initiatives, namely a conference tackling the concept of inclusivity in the arts, two sessions by Gecko, and a Q & A session with Andrew Cope. How can one book tickets for the ŻiguŻajg Festival events? Tickets to the ŻiguŻajg Festival are free of charge but subject to booking via the festival website at www.ziguzajg.org. Tickets can be collected from the St James Cavalier Centre for Creativity in Castille Square, Valletta. Although the tickets are free of charge, however, we do appeal to patrons to return any tickets they cannot utilise so that these can be distributed to other patrons.