By Albert Fenech
On-the-eve-of-Imnarja-folk-singing-known-as-l-ghana
“For the world is achangin’” sang the legend Bob Dylan so many years ago and we sang the words and took them with a pinch of salt. Well, no longer because our world is “really achangin’” and has “achanged” and none more rapidly than in Malta and Gozo, so changed that if my grandparents and forebears were to rise from their graves they would find great difficulty in recognising their island home, not only environmentally but in every which other way.
Over the last ten years changes have come in leaps and bounds in what one must point out was probably the most conservative country in Europe, shackled for many centuries by a strict code of religious morality heavily imposed by the Church Authorities who as recently as 70 years ago declared that those who supported the Malta Labour Party would be eternally castigated with “mortal sin”, in Roman Catholicism meaning death in a state of mortal sin being a direct path to hell for an eternity.
Traditional-Maltese-fried-rabbit-with-trimmings
However, the greatest changes have come over the last 30 months with the total turmoil caused by the pandemic and then the effect of the situation in Ukraine.
For the Church and the conservative element it was however bound to be a losing battle anyway. Malta and Gozo may be isolated territorially, surrounded by the Mediterranean Sea, but galloping strides in communications and thus news and current affairs and in recent years further spurred by technology that changes every 24 hours, ensured a continual current of changed development and changed attitudes.
Agricultural-show-of-vegetable-products
Additionally, commercially necessary travel needs and mass emigration of heavily populated islands, a British more liberal presence for 150 years, annually increasing incoming tourism as well as Maltese outgoing and in recent years a mass influx of foreign labour, whether through illegal immigration or mainly EU nationals taking up Malta employment opportunities has seen a quick-pace introduction of a blend of new ideas, new mentalities and new attitudes.
All these continually ongoing changes have steadily fuelled national consternation that the Maltese Islands are in grave danger of completely losing their national identity, including centuries’ old traditions that have augmented the Maltese character.
Splendid-Verdala-Palace-overlooking-Buskett-Gardens
The reaction has been that certain events of lengthy traditional value have been heavily bolstered to prevent further deterioration and although largely irrelevant to modern-day living they are being more heavily embraced with increased community participation and attendance.
One particular sector is that of religious festas, mainly at parochial levels but also at national levels and surprisingly enough the sector has retained its vibrancy by increased youthful participation, not only in the celebration stages where swinging band march music and binge drinking are heavily pronounced, but also in lengthy preparation work to ensure all the accompanying trappings such as fireworks, festive street decorations and restorations of various local monuments as well as the upkeep of band clubs and an influx of youthful musicians.
Traditional-folk-dancing-and-celebrations
These were particularly missed over the last two years but this year will emerge with great gusto.
Contrastingly last week on 29th June marked a national festivity that has been popular for centuries. This is ‘L-Imnarja’ held to mark the feast of Saints Peter and Paul, worldwide celebrated by the Roman Catholic Church. The Maltese ‘Imnarja’ is a corruption of its original Italian name, ‘Luminaria’, meaning light or lighting up and in the past hundreds of bonfires were lit throughout Malta and Gozo to celebrate the day.
Buskett-Gardens
The event is split into two particular phases. The eve of the feast is centred around Buskett Gardens (another corrupted word, Buskett being Boschetto in Italian i.e. a small wood) near Rabat, the town being one of Malta’s long-established communal centres originally founded by the Phoenicians in about 1,500 BC. The Gardens themselves were largely cultivated by the Grandmasters of the Knights of St John of Jerusalem in the 16th and 17th Centuries as their favoured haunts for hunting lodges but also as a cooler locality from the blazing summer sun.
On the eve the mass activity at Buskett was an eating bonanza of the traditional Maltese ‘fenkata’, rabbit fried in oil and sprinkled with loads of garlic and heavily spiced with pepper and salt, or alternatively fried rabbit stewed in a slow-cooked tomato sauce, accompanied by roast or fried potatoes.
Another-version-of-traditional-fried-rabbit
As a background, there was traditional Maltese folklore music known as “ghana” which is a mixture of strummed guitars and an impromptu rhyming narrative with a story, often a slanging match between two individuals boasting their prowess and their accomplishments or alternatively, a man being brow-beaten by an angry wife.
To the unfamiliar ear this may sound like wailing but in reality a mixture of Arabic, Sicilian and Greek music and a source of great amusement to those familiar with it.
More-fresh-agricultural-produce
The day itself unfurles with a large agricultural show of fruits and vegetables – also held at Buskett – as well as competitions for ‘best in show’ domestic animals. A similar show was held in Victoria and Nadur in Gozo, the village of Nadur having the two saints as their patron saints, together with traditional horse-races.
One curiosity – in days of yore it was an understood part of the marriage bond that during the marriage ceremony the husband would promise to ensure to take his wife to visit Buskett for the eve of ‘Imnarja’.
Exhibitions-of-handcrafts-basket-weaving
Well, that has died out now although still well remembered but one can see the strong efforts being made to cling to these old traditions. However, one has to ask, for how long?
Sadly, l-Imnarja has suffered with a drop of popularity and this year’s event last week was a mere shadow of the festival it once was.
Indeed, times have changed.
A-yesteryear-ghana-group
ALBERT FENECH
E/mail – salina46af@gmail.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/jerome.fenech
MALTESE SAYING
“If you have no oil you have to sleep in the dark”
An expression meaning you have to make do with what you have.
