Heritage Malta will be opening the National Museum of Archaeology free of charge on the 31st of March. Visitors will also be able to visit the unique exhibition “Malta, the great story of a small island-nation through 100 objects”.
The National Museum of Archaeology is housed in the Auberge de Provence, in Republic Street, Valletta. The Museum exhibits a spectacular range of artefacts dating back to Malta’s Neolithic period (5000 BC) up to the Phoenician Period (400 BC). On display are the earliest tools used by the prehistoric people to facilitate their daily tasks and representations of animal and human figures; elements which not only show the great artistic skills of the first dwellers of the island but also gives us an insight of their daily lives.
Highlights include the ‘Sleeping Lady’ from the Ħal Saflieni Hypogeum, the ‘Venus of Malta’ from Ħaġar Qim, bronze daggers recovered from the Bronze Age layers at Tarxien Temples, and the Horus and Anubis pendant and the anthropomorphic sarcophagus, both belonging to the Phoenician Period.
“Malta, the great story of a small island-nation through 100 objects” was set-up with the scope of recounting the history of our islands, which not withstanding the minute geographical size, is very rich and relevant for a greater appreciation of the Mediterranean region known to many as the cradle of culture.
The spectrum of artefacts covers a long array of materials and represents the major part of the collections found within the museums and sites entrusted to Heriatge Malta. A person visiting the exhibition is enticed to embark on a discovery voyage. A number of halls within the National Museum of Archaeology have been converted into a chronological timeline which takes us back to 35 million years ago when the Maltese islands first began to form below sea level. This timeline moves on up to the constitutional achievements in the last 50 years of the nation’s history.
While the set reminisces of a sea vessell from the past, the interpretation of the hundred objects chosen tells the tale of the Maltese islands and their people making use of modern day technology. Besides the printed storyline throughout the exhibition and an audioguide in various languages, 15 audiovisuals were produced and for those visitors who are tech savy it is possible to access information about the artefacts and their significance by means of an interactive timeline in a number of languages.
This exhibition is being held at the National Museum of Archeology in Valletta between 8am and 7pm and will remain open until the 1st of February 2015.
Those visiting the National Museum of Archaeology for free on the 31st of March will also have the opportunity of purchasing a number of Heritage Malta publications at a reduced price as well as benefit from a 10 percent discount on new memberships.
For more information about this initiatve and the exhibition one may visit Heritage Malta’s official website www.heritagemalta.org or follow the exhibition’s page on Facebook.
