Here we go, again

 Apologies for being silent for nearly two weeks. The folks went to Malta for holidays and we have been busy making sure they had fun. We have also started to plan next events. All we can say at this point is oh-la-la, it’s gonna be busy. But so far, hush hush.

 While our mom and dad partied hard we had been editing tons of photos for you to enjoy. Let us begin then, as our previous post ended with a cliff-hanger.

 Once our truck rolled into the capital (believe us it was an achievement as Valletta on a busy day offers no parking places) we realized the city was blocked. Not only tourists crowded the streets due to weekend shopping. There was also an open air market in Merchants Street. It usually takes place on Wednesdays and Saturdays but somehow we expected them not be there as the area was to be prepared for Notte Bianca.

 Hawkers literary took all the space designed for our project. Felix Street was used to park cars so it was impossible to even enter the Ditch 2, in Old Theatre Street; we had big one lorry (sic!) parked but it obstructed the way anyway. We were able to enter the Ditch 1 but found not only a ton of garbage but hideous smell as well. Somebody used our site as a toilet… So in a matter of minutes we were without a spot and all of our preparations went down the drain.

We had to act fast to find us a new spot and come up with a new idea/set up. Well three creative minds are better than one, so in the next 30 minutes and few quick chats with organizers, we were located inside the Old Market itself and took over its second floor.

 The Old Market is neglected but beautiful. It dates back to Victorian times and has some amazing features. Those images were taken just before we started to settle up.

 

 We have decided with Pauleen that since we couldn’t exhibit in the streets, we were to organize our own `market` inside the building. Doors of closed establishments were covered with material and provided exhibition space while the walls between occupied shops were used to hang smaller items.

 Posters with our project’s name which were supposed to be hanged at the entrances of two ditches have been re-located and placed upon the old escalator and in the middle of the display. 

 We have placed our candles all over the floor and stairs to let people know that we were upstairs. Colourful candles on the escalators got all the attention especially from kids who tried to blow them out. We used two boxes of long matches to keep them alight! 

 Below us there was a climbing slope and at the beginning people only came on the first floor to see it, thus ignoring our stand. To create awareness, Mal went down to the bar and borrowed a blackboard and some chalk. This allowed us to create huge `billboard` informing guests about the event (and some complimentary wine). We have placed it right next to the door of the old market. It worked wonders.

 So did the artificial snow machine placed on our floor. It was producing snow-flakes that would fall on those climbing. People wanted to have a better view and would come to our floor, only to realize that there was much to be seen there. We have used that to our advantage no doubt. After all, in art and at war everything is possible 😉 

At some point we had so many guests that the cables on the floor were stamped upon resulting in a blackout. Pauleen reacted quickly and found Nexos maintenance person to fix it for us. We consider this gentleman our hero. He was assisting us all throughout the night. You can see him at work here:

 As you can see our event was full of things working against us. We had to act quickly, be creative and turn negatives into positives. We think we did just well. After all, you can perform miracles with a bit of creativity.

 We will finish our story here. Next update we will show you how the event was set up.

 

Until then,

 

Have a good sleep. It’s really late, folks.

 

Mal and Rita