Xaghra Parish » Gallery » 2010 » CHRISTMAS IN XAGHRA 2010 » 10 DEC 2010 - XAGHRA SCHOOLCHILDREN EXHIBIT THEIR CRIBS

For the seventh consecutive year the Patri Mattew Sultana Prrimary School of Xaghra is organising the annual Christmas cribs exhibition in its foyer. All cribs have been made by the students themselves with the encouragement and help of their parents. This year`s exhibition is worth seeing and is open for public viewing on school days and during school hours up to Tuesday 21 December 2010. It was seven years ago this time of the year that, under the then Head of School Mrs Assunta Attard thatsuch an exhibition was held in a primary school in Gozo for the first time. Successive Heads of School kept it alive andthepresentHead of School, Mr Joseph Xerri, in his first year as its Head, showed great interest in making it move on. With the dedication of the staff, and the collaboration of the Ghaqda Il-Milied fix-Xaghra, since 2004 this exhibition evolved and improved in quality and quantity and diversity of works. The Ghaqda Il-Milied fix-Xaghra through its president, Mr Victor Agius, an art teacher in primary schools, gave the students an insight into the art of crib making through lectures a few weeks before Christmas. For these last couple of years the best of the cribs exhibited were chosen to be displayed at the Ministry for Gozo during the annual crib exhibition of Ghaqda Hbieb tal-Presepju Ghawdex-Malta. This year this project was adopted by all state and church schools in Gozo with the collaboration of Eco Gozo committee, within the Ministry for Gozo and the art teachers of the Gozo College who visit the primary schools. This initiative is aimed to encourage the use of recycled mixed media in the creation of this beautiful tradition in representation of the Nativity. This year, three cribs from each primary school in Gozo will be chosen to take their place in the above mentioned exhibition. With the collaboration of Ghaqda Il-Milied fix-Xaghra, five projects have been embarked upon by the School this year: i) the crib exhibition at the foyer with over ninety fantastic Christmas cribs on show, ii) a set of lectures about the construction of papier mache cribs, iii) a tour for school children around the cribs in Xaghra and Victoria , iv) an educational visit by Four, Five and Six Year students to an exhibition at Heritage Malta offices in the citadel where there is an exhibition of sculptors and paintings from the national collection of the Fine Arts Museum portraying the Nativity. Students will have a guided tour by the art teacher and tasks to carry out at the exhibition. v) On Tuesday 21st December, all the students will gather at the hall of the school, where they will hear literature on Christmas in Malta being read. They will have a power point presentation by the art teacher, Mr Victor Agius, about the history, meaning and the art of the presepju (crib) in history with an emphasis on the Maltese Islands. Mgr Anthony Refalo, Spiritual Director, will bless the cribs exhibited and all participants will be presented with certificates.

41 Reeds
42 Wood
43 Snail shells
44 Carpenter's  wood shavings
45 Sea Shells
46 Daniel Refalo - strips of reeds
47 Papier mache
48 Jablo
49 Papier mache
50 Cocoa-nut shells
51 Tensil
52 Papier mache
53 Jablo
54 Jacob Kyle Farrugia - straw in wicker basket
55 Papier mache
56 Plastic and paper
57 Nathaniel Galea - loaf
58 Nathaniel Galea - loaf
59 Maria and Daniel Attard - jablo
60 Brown paper

View Slideshow
Rating 4.0 (1 vote)