Kartolini mill-Kanada
Postcards from Canada
Maltese-Canadian Museum, Toronto
St. Paul the Apostle Church Complex, 3224 Dundas Street West
16-17 and 23-24 November, 2024
This project is produced by Magna Żmien in collaboration with the Maltese-Canadian Museum, Toronto.
Supported by Arts Council Malta International Cultural Exchange Scheme
In Collaboration with the Maltese-Canadian Museum, Toronto
With the support of the Maltese High Commission of Malta, Canada
Kartolini Mill-Kanada is a collaboration between the Magna Żmien Foundation and the Maltese-Canadian Museum in Toronto. In a series of public talks and presentations, Magna Żmien will showcase their community archive and highlight the benefits of digitising home audiovisual collections. Magna Żmien is proposing an initiative to save Maltese-Canadian memories from being lost, encouraging the public to preserve their home collections for the continued legacy of the Maltese migrant story.
The Maltese-Canadian Museum was established in the 1980s. The museum acts as a vital social hub for Maltese-Canadians, housing archives and memorabilia that document the rich social history of the community. The Maltese-Canadian Museum recently acquired the collection of the Maltese-Canadian Society of Toronto, which closed in 2019—three years short of its 100th anniversary.
Images: Magna Żmien and Joan Carbonaro.
Programme
Weekend 16-17 November
Introducing Magna Żmien: Aims of a Community Archive
Saturday 16 November, 10:30am – 12:30pm
Magna Żmien presented the aims and activities of our foundation: our origins and motivations, the kinds of material we encounter, the formats we handle in our digitisation studio, how we work with donors, how we build relationships with creative artists and researchers, examples of applications of our work, major projects we are involved in. This first encounter with the Maltese community introduced our work to the Maltese-Canadian Museum volunteers and to the public, informing why what we do is important and how people stand to benefit from sharing their collections.
Exploring Collections from the Magna Żmien Archive
Saturday 16 November, 2pm – 4pm
In the afternoon we invited the community to interact with Magna Żmien’s archive by presenting a number of highlight collections from our archive, discovering the stories hidden within them. Showcase material from Magna Żmien’s past projects ran within the museum, along with digital image, video and sound collections from Malta and Canada available to explore via viewing stations.
Introducing the Maltese-Canadian Museum and its Collections
Sunday 17 November, 11:30am – 12:30pm
The Maltese-Canadian Museum presented the history of the organisation and its place within the story of Maltese migration to Canada during the twentieth century. The Museum’s collections were presented in a walkthrough, alongside stories of how they were assembled and accessed.
Leħen il-Maltin fuq Żigarella: Audio Messages in the Diaspora
Sunday 17 November, 2pm – 4pm
Magna Żmien presented messages from our archive that were recorded on audio tape and discs, and sent between Maltese at home and in the diaspora. Containing personal messages, amateur music performances, and sung għana quatrains, these recordings capture the breadth of Maltese life in unique and intimate ways.
Programme
Weekend 23-24 November
Kartolini: A Creative Storytelling Workshop with Sarah Meli
Saturday 23 November, 10:30am – 12:30pm
In this workshop, Toronto-based artist and educator Sarah Meli led a storytelling workshop using materials from participants and the Magna Żmien archive. Participants were invited to bring in their own personal collections to share their images and stories with others, exploring the history of Maltese-Canadians through their private collections. What landmark events and celebrations in Toronto are still remembered? What materials from the Maltese-Canadian Museum can help us learn about them? And what is the story of Maltese-Canadians today and the future?
X’se Nuru? Remembering Johnny Catania and Alfred Fenech
Saturday 23 November, 2pm – 4pm
Shawn Micallef and Lou Fenech talk about their family links to two prominent Maltese-Canadians, their impact on local history in Canada, and the collections they have left behind. Johnny Catania, 1925-1991, was a famed entertainer, comedian and star of the hugely popular ‘Stage Commandos’ in 1950s-1960s Malta, before settling in Windsor, Ontario, from where he continued to perform comedy shows to Maltese audiences across Canada, Australia, the US and the UK. Alfred Fenech, 1938-2024, was a much-loved local television broadcaster and telethon fundraiser, known for his work supporting the Maltese-Canadian community in Toronto. His legacy of hundreds of hours of broadcast recordings, many of which are available on his YouTube channel, is a valuable archive documenting the lives of Maltese-Canadians.
Magna Żmien Toronto – The Way Forward for a Digital Community Archive
Sunday 24 November, 10:30am – 12:30pm
A final meeting between Magna Żmien, the Maltese-Canadian Museum and other stakeholders reviewed the past two weeks and discussed the collaborative way forward.
A Legacy of Għana
Sunday 24 November, 1pm – 2pm
A screening of two films relating to għana by Adrian Camilleri, O Għana Minn Ħawn għal-Fejn? (2023) and Bejn is-Sema u L-Art (2024).