The VCA will be teaming up with Skyline Webcams to live-stream the main infiorata installation in St George’s Square, synonymous with the Valletta Green Festival, thanks to a webcam placed on top of the Grandmaster’s Palace providing a bird’s eye view of the square. The public may tune in online at any time throughout the duration of the festival to experience it.
Minister for National Heritage, the Arts and Local Government José Herrera said that “one of the main events that has entered the annual calendar of activities in Valletta, is undoubtedly the infiorata which is held in St. George’s Square in May. Year after year, this installation against the backdrop of an environmental message, manages to attract and incite thousands of people to visit it. I am glad that in 2020 the infiorata will still be held despite the Covid-19 outbreak. This year the public will be able to enjoy this installation virtually. This will be another initiative that we are adopting so that the general public can still enjoy it from home.”
This year’s infiorata, playfully titled ‘Beeodiversity’, is designed and conceived by artist Lisa Marie Kähler. Inspired by Art Nouveau floral patterns and frame layouts, ‘Beeodiversity’ sheds light upon biodiversity, the theme for this year’s Valletta Green Festival. It includes a variety of elements which represent our environment, including local flora and fauna with the main focal point of the design being a large bee. This design aspires to encourage people to become aware of issues which threaten biodiversity, and to act to maintain a healthy ecosystem that can survive generations.
This year’s infiorata is not only constructed from flowers, which are being grown by the Environmental Lanscapes Consortium (ELC), but also from other organic and sustainable materials, such as lemons and nut shells. The flowers depicted represent the role of bees as pollinators, as they play a key role in helping plants and trees to grow, while creating food and shelter for other species. The infiorata design also depicts extinct birds and dwarf elephants, which represent the loss we would suffer if bees were to go extinct as they are endangered by pollution, commercial farming and loss of habitat. The waves represent water which plays a key role in our survival, while the sand pit represents the future of the next generations to whom we owe a healthy environment. The sand pit at the bottom of the design represents an area of potential, symbolising how our actions will determine whether the earth will be left barren and void of biodiversity or whether it will flourish with plants and animals of all sorts.
Follow the Valletta Cultural Agency’s Facebook page for more information, and tune in for the live-stream between the 7th and 10th of May.
