Notte Bianca 2022 Heritage Malta

Three Heritage Malta sites in Valletta will remain open long into the night, with free admission, during this year’s Notte Bianca on Saturday 1st October. A number of recent acquisitions by Heritage Malta will also be on display at the Ambassadors Hall in the Auberge de Castille.

The National Museum of Archaeology and MUŻA, the Malta National Community Art Museum, will both offer extended hours and remain open between 6:00pm and midnight.

At the former, visitors can enjoy an alluring experience of the Maltese Islands’ prehistory and early history, with artefacts dating back from Malta’s Neolithic period (5900-2500BC) up till the early Phoenician period (8th – 6th Century BC). A current additional attraction is the exhibition Meet the Phoenicians of Malta, showcasing the actual stone sarcophagus discovered in the limits of Rabat some years ago. In the Gran Salon upstairs, as part of the Notte Bianca activities, there will be an interdisciplinary dancing performance entitled UNight, with shows starting at 8:00pm, 9:00pm and 10:00pm.

MUŻA, on the other hand, offers an intriguing collection of works of art from the 15th to the early 21st century, ranging from paintings and sculptures to furniture, silver pieces, works on paper and objets d’art. On the occasion of Notte Bianca, the museum will be the venue for the jazz music event Is-City Project, by Dominic Galea, at 8:00pm.

Heritage Malta will also be opening Tal-Pilar Church, arguably one of the finest of Valletta’s lesser-known assets. The church used to form part of the adjoining Auberge of Aragon, Catalonia and Navarre, and was built during the early 1670s, later refashioned into one of the most remarkable Baroque churches in 1718. At 7:00pm, 8:00pm, 9:00pm and 10:00pm, the church will house the theatrical performance X-Voto as part of the Notte Bianca activities.

At the Ambassadors Hall in the Auberge de Castille, Heritage Malta will be displaying a selection of artefacts that were purchased by the agency or donated to it in the past couple of years. These include paintings, fossils dating back millions of years, a baptism dress adorned with gold embroidery, books by Jean Houël, and a letter written by Inquisitor Durini, among several others.