Stqarrija bil-Malti Agħfas Hawn / Press Release in Maltese Click Here
A collection of more than 1500 postcards showing warships in Maltese harbours was presented to Heritage Malta by Judge Giovanni Bonello to be enjoyed by the public at the Malta Maritime Museum.
The collection, built gradually from scratch by Giovanni Bonello himself since his youth, also includes postcard-size photos. Both the postcards and the photos show warships and submarines in Maltese harbours between the 1880s and the 1970s. Some of the scenes depicted show very rare ships that sailed into our harbours, such as the battleships Breslau and Goeben in the First World War, and will therefore form an important part of the Maritime Museum’s collection.
The postcards and photos were presented at the Maritime Museum by Giovanni Bonello to Liam Gauci, the museum’s Senior Curator. Giovanni Bonello said that although this collection is very dear to him, he felt that its rightful place is the Maritime Museum, where everyone may enjoy it. He expressed his hope that other owners of private collections will follow suit and pass them on to Heritage Malta.
Liam Gauci, on behalf of Heritage Malta and the general public, thanked Giovanni Bonello for his generous donation. He said that this donation constitutes a unique collection through which some of the photos may now be viewed in relation to artefacts – from the depicted warships themselves – that already form part of the Maritime Museum’s collection. Thanks to Heritage Malta’s Digitisation Unit, the public will be able to enjoy the collection not just physically but also virtually.
