The National Library of Malta will be holding its fourth public lecture on ‘Maritime Spaces – Human Choices’ to be delivered by Prof. Timmy Gambin on Thursday 28 February 2019 at 18:30. The lecture will focus on the development of the Grand Harbour emphasizing on how human choices led to the transformation of this maritime space, while at the same time changing society itself.
The Grand Harbour is the foremost maritime space of the Maltese Islands - a gateway to and from overseas territories. Evidence for human habitation around this space can be traced through millennia of local history. However, some of the changes that impacted the area occurred over the long duree, at a rate that was imperceptible to the islands' contemporary inhabitants. This paper will explore what changes happened and why as well as the impact of such changes. A recurring theme is that of the choices that people faced and the choices that they made in the face of an evolving landscape - be it physical, economic or geo-political. To achieve this a combination of historical, archaeological and environmental evidence is used.
This lecture forms part of a series of eight public lectures on Urban Landscapes spanning over 2018 and 2019. Entitled ‘Cities, Harbours, and Artefacts: transformations of an early modern landscape’, these series of public lectures are coordinated by Mevrick Spiteri and Maroma Camilleri. The remaining public lectures are to be held:
Lecture 5: 26 March 2019 at 18:30
'Early Sales of Plots of Land in Valletta' by Prof. Stanley Fiorini
Lecture 6: 24 April 2019 at 18:30
'Fortress Aesthetics and its Silent Poetry - The Maltese Fortified Landscape and its Representation in Art' by Dr Stephen C. Spiteri
Lecture 7: 29 May 2019 at 18:30
'Of Markets and Melting-Pots - Commercial spaces in Early Modern Valletta by Christian Mifsud
Lecture 8: 28 June 2019 at 18:30
'Malta's harbour in 1798 - the transformation of a new urban landscape' by Mevrick Spiteri
Admission is free. Public lectures will be followed by light refreshments.
