Exhibition and book, fundraiser for NGOs Save and Support Trust and Beating Hearts Malta
Oliver was a Maltese poet, novelist, literary critic, and philosopher. He led the establishment of literary history and criticism in Maltese while teaching at the University of Malta, studying the works of Dun Karm, Rużar Briffa, and others. A prolific writer himself, Friggieri explored new genres to advocate the Maltese language, writing the libretti for the first oratorio and the first cantata in Maltese. His work aimed to promote the Maltese cultural identity, while not shying from criticism: one of his most famous novels, Fil-Parlament Ma Jikbrux Fjuri (No Flowers Grow in Parliament, 1986), attacked the tribalistic divisions of society caused by politics. From philosophy, he was mostly interested in epistemology and existentialism.
This book is an interdisciplinary foray in many ways. I am the editor of this book and I am a doctor but I also paint and am a keen photographer. The idea for this book came about after Lea Hogg mentioned that Professor Oliver Friggieri sketches. Oliver was delighted to support my non-profit work and donated 48 original sketches for this project. We categorized them into nine themes, and decided to match them with his poems, and some art of my own consisting of an oil on canvas and some digital artwork together with a piece of artwork or sketch by Richard England and Arthur Lyons Dahl’s recommendations to improve our environment in Malta. The first chapter BOOK is displayed here. Victor Grech
Analfabéta b’dawn l-idejn jirtogħdu
ġarrejt il-ktieb tal-univers minn postu
biex naqra l-paġni sofor taħt il-lampa.
Analfabéta, nara l-kliem u nogħtor,
inlaqlaq u nissillaba bla nifhem.
Analfabéta, naqta’ qalbi, b’sebgħi
imgiddem bejn xofftejja, nerġa’ nagħlqu.
u nitfi nkiss inkiss id-dawl u norqod.
Analfabéta, noħlom b’tifel jibki
li weħel darb’ għal dejjem mill-eżami.
Indifferenti jdur u jdur il-globu,
u jġorrni fih skantat analfabéta.
Illiterate that I am, with trembling hands
I carried the book of the universe
to read the yellowing pages in the light of the lamp.
Illiterate that I am, I see the words and stumble,
I stutter and syllabize vaguely.
Illiterate that I am, I lose hope, biting my nails,
I close the book again, stealthily put out
the light and sleep.
Illiterate that I am, I dream of a boy who cries
for forever failing his exam.
Indifferent to all, the globe turns on and on,
and carries me oblivious in its wake, illiterate that I am.
(Translated by Godfrey Grima)
Our civilization, culture, language, literature and art have for centuries been captured and preserved between the covers of books. While modern media have brought new forms of expression and transmission, reading books is still fundamental to what it is to be human. We think more deeply and retain better when reading off the printed page. The sacred scriptures are enshrined in books. The illiterate are deprived in essential ways, dependent on others for access to knowledge. Books represent a kind of immortality for long-dead authors, reaching to us across the centuries and touching our hearts, expressing the commonality of our human condition. Publishing literature in Maltese ensures its transmission long into the future, in continuity with our island home. ARTHUR LYON DAHL
“A reader lives a thousand lives before he dies,
the man who never reads lives only one."
GEORGE R. R. MARTIN
Left to right: Victor Grech, Oliver Friggieri, Lea Hogg.
Left to right: Tony Mejlaq, Oliver Friggieri, Victor Grech.
Oliver with his daughter Sarah and their family.
The event.
Il-ħajja mistoqsija
miġbura f'elf għaliex,
u ssirlek poeżija
jekk int ma tweġibhiex.
From "Jekk" by Oliver Friggieri
Non omnis moriar
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