A forthcoming exhibition at the Malta Society of Arts is formed of conversations between a Maltese artist living in Portugal and a Portuguese artist living in Malta This cultural exchange was the starting point of Ngħaddu ż-Żmien artefacts and an installation by Maltese artist Ed Dingli and Portuguese artist Patarra curated by Andrew Borg Wirth and opening at the MSA on June 27 “We began our journey by sending each other history of art references current exhibitions and cultural tips as we both sought to delve deeper into the cultures of our newly adopted homes,” comment Dingli and Patarra “As artists who share a similar graphic language and eventually things started to take the shape of an exhibition bridging our backgrounds in illustration and design Ngħaddu ż-Żmien will feature paintings in acrylics and oils as well as pencil drawings and process sketches exploring themes of migration we are in constant search for common ground to give us our sense of home As both our countries face a wave of homogenisation in the wake of globalisation we explore the everyday nuances of mundane culture which give a country and a people their identity and try to find our place within it all,” they add Curator Borg Wirth highlights the exhibition’s celebration of Mediterranean summers: “Dingli and Patarra’s works cherish the everyday blending familiarity with their evolving artistic expressions,” he explains “Their works radiate a strong sense of familiarity as well as the artistic evolution of both artists who are beginning to explore painting while departing from their foundations in graphic art and design I have followed their trajectory as they debut their painting practice and worked to showcase what is identifiable in their work.” MSA President Adrian Mamo expresses his satisfaction that the MSA is supporting new engaging work by two artists who are pushing their boundaries but not only “Ed Dingli and Patarra are presenting the result of hours of research and we look forward to see audience’s reactions to works rich in cultural and political reflections that reference the current situations in both countries,” he says Ngħaddu ż-Żmien is an exhibition by Ed Dingli and Patarra and curated by Andrew Borg Wirth It is open June from 27 to July 18 at the Malta Society of Arts For opening hours please visit artsmalta.org or facebook.com/maltasocietyofarts please register for free or log in to your account Currently at the Malta Society of Arts in Valletta an exhibition wherein two graphic designers moved into the home countries of one other is captivating the attention of wide audiences and Diogo Patarra found himself in our own country (specifically Floriana) they planned a print exchange which led them to speak about their separate work This led to their first ventures into painting which culminated in Ngħaddu ż-Żmien an exhibition curated by Andrew Borg Wirth A post shared by ANDREW BORG WIRTH (@aborgwirth) The paintings have a special expression of home The colours are vibrant and the subject matter is familiar In the paintings you can see their graphic design origins The ochres we are so used to in Malta are awash in all the works animals and ephemera come together in a festival of what makes the Portuguese and Maltese cultures so similar The people that they paint all condense what the artists call ‘slow culture’ so different to the fast-paced life that is consuming both countries This is the strongest sentiment you experience when walking through it The works are titled in the language of each other’s country almost blurring which place each is showing The exhibition shows not only paintings; the research of both artists is shown in a large display of sketchbooks and drawings across pieces of paper presented near all the graphic content that inspired the artists throughout their journey beer bottle stickers and other printed material show us where their original inspirations for the paintings came from A collaborative installation on ceramic tile ties the two artists together as they borrow from the Portuguese archetype to create a shared work The two painters seem to condense a common feeling and audiences have reacted enthusiastically to what they have done A post shared by P A T A R R A (@patarra_) The exhibition runs till the 18th of July and is supported by the Malta Society of Arts Opening times are Monday and Friday: 9am until 7pm Kindly check your inbox after sign-up to confirm subscription Halloween is not considered a traditional holiday in Costa Rica but the lore here is rich in scary stories Although few people truly believe in haunts these days It has been said that these tales are based on incidents that took place in the colonial era and they are repeated as warnings to follow the straight and narrow Central America’s own version of the Sirens Young men (and perhaps some older ones too) would be riding home on their trusty steed after a late night at the canteen or roadhouse there along the roadside he comes upon a damsel in distress the man helps her climb on the back of the horse and and they start off Along the way he becomes aware of foul odors and hefty snorting from his passenger and sees that the femme fatal has turned into La Segua a monster with the head of a putrefied horse settle down and marry the plain but respectable girl next door He also vows to never help a stranger in need again The Tico Times does not condone picking up hitchhikers this story is of a defiant young man whose father decides to teach him a lesson If the young man continued in his life of sin apparently – promised to turn his son into a dog The creature also is condemned to dragging a chain behind him (did you know leash laws actually started in the colonial period?) The son ignored his pop’s advice and soon he turned into the devil dog Many souls swear to have heard Cadejo rattle his chain and growl as they made their way home on rural roads in the dead of night life in colonial times must have been wild There are several versions of headless clerics Here are some of the most popular versions: One story features a man of the cloth who had his head lopped off over a married lady in his parish It wasn’t the hand of the Almighty who smote him but the lady’s husband who ripped the parson’s noggin from his neck. He killed him on the altar just as he was consecrating the host The headless priest wanders the country looking for his loss cabeza residents allege this ghost appears in the ruins of the cathedral A vengeful god seems to shake the earth beneath the church each time it gets rebuilt and the cathedral remains in ruins to this day The priest there loved to gamble and had amassed quite a fortune He had to make a trip to Nicaragua and secretly buried his hoard under a tree in San Ramón To this day he hides in the bushes to see that nobody steals it another headless priest hides in the bushes around the church to scare sinners into changing their ways Because he is hidden in the foliage he is difficult to see Another tale tells of a priest who was beheaded by the Inquisition for being a skirt chaser and roams the countryside looking for his head how many headless priests reside in Costa Rica This tale too has several versions But the trees yielded plenty of timber for the growing town and part of the woods was reserved for building a church – the most important construction of any community cut and carried off the wood to make himself a new oxcart and everybody was going to be so jealous about this rad new oxcart He even thought about painting some sick flames on the side of the cart but before he had a chance Saint Joseph had his vengeance The patron saint of the city took a tough stand against the wood thieves he forced the thief to roam around the country in his cart until the end of time But the oxen-less cart rumbles along night after night It is said that the man died years ago but his cadaver remains in the cart The story concludes with a warning that to look at the cart will result in instant death Nobody living can claim to have seen the cart without oxen plod by because they were all too afraid to look La Llorona is a weeping woman who wanders along rivers searching for her lost child against family wishes and community standards In one version she is a young girl from the country who works in a house in San José who subsequently rejects her when the woman gets knocked up she returned home to her parent’s disapproval On a rainy night she threw the baby into the river La Llorona walks the shores trying to find her infant and make amends Her cries of remorse are often heard near rivers Another version describes her as an Indian maiden who falls in love with a Spanish conquistador the father throws the baby into a waterfall And the tearful Llorona must wander the banks of the country searching for her child As far as images go, interpretations of La Llorona might be the most frightening. We did a Google image search for you. Click here if you dare You can watch the movie “The Curse of La Llorona” and see the legend come to life Macho Chingo was either a Gringo or a German who liked to saunter around naked in Atenas due to the heat (In some versions of the tale he inexplicably wears a necktie.) The word macho is used for blondes with light complexions The foreigner still likes amble through the streets of Atenas in his birthday suit and there’s even a hill named after the Macho Chingo Satan constructed this bridge at the behest of a wily Costa Rican who needed to cross the river chose instead to barter his soul if Beezlebub would build a bridge of stone But the devil had to finish it before the cock crowed at dawn The devil got busy hauling stones from the river and stacking them to form the bridge and when he had only one more space to fill the Tico grabbed a rooster that wandered nearby and squeezed it By looking up at the bridge from down below you can see the space where the last stone should have gone This story was originally published on Oct COSTA RICA'S LEADING ENGLISH LANGUAGE NEWSPAPER Agents from the Judicial Investigation Police (OIJ) and the National Police on Thursday arrested seven alleged members of a gang linked to at least 30 reports of burglary targeting beach homes in the Pacific provinces of Guanacaste and Puntarenas The arrests were made during nine simultaneous raids in the southern San José suburbs of Patarrá and Río Azul and in Tilarán and Cañas in the province of Guanacaste During the joint operation the OIJ seized flat-screen TVs The alleged burglars mostly targeted empty beach homes in popular tourist areas such as Osa and Tamarindo but OIJ officials believe they may have participated in recent burglaries at businesses and homes in nearby areas like Cañas and Tilarán Two of the detainees allegedly bought the stolen items and sold them at a pawnshop in the capital OIJ Director Francisco Segura said that two other men with the last names Calderón and Serrano were arrested a few weeks ago and are believed to be members of the same gang Police linked those suspects to a string of robberies at beach homes in the Southern Pacific region The suspects were transported to the Prosecutor’s Office