Essay

Contextual Studies

Introduction:

          In the past, there were many Maltese traditions in which till today are still used but by most of them nowadays how no use. Most of them can still be found but they don’t have their same old use but instead they are used as decorations. In this research paper, I will be looking at the “Girna” and the “Maltese Boats: Luzzu and Lanca”.

Girna

Figure 1: Maltese Girna(Livinginmalta.com)

Figure 2 Building Design inspired by the Girna

Figure 2 Building Design inspired by the Girna

            In the following section I will be talking about the Girna. As Aquilina (2017) points out the Girna was not originally originated by the Maltese culture but later it became part of it. Girna used to be used mostly by farmers in which they stored farming materials and tools. The Girna is generally shaped like a rectangular, oval or squarest dome. The Girna was also used by the hunters, they used it to take rest till they see a bird to hunt. “The girnas architect style is known as corbelling” (Aquilina, 2017). The girna was constructed by many different rocks placed to puzzle each other to make it hold and by building it that way it holds on strong. The girna nowadays is still used by some farmers and bird hunters but the rest are used as a tourist attraction due to social change and improvements in technology nowadays. The girna inspired some people in their building designs as shown in figure 2.

The way that the Girna inspires me is particularly in the way it is constructed, as can be seen in Figure 3 below:

Figure 3 Inspiration

Maltese Boats

Figure 4 Maltese Luzzu

In this following section I will be talking about the Luzzu and the Lanca. The Maltese Luzzu was typically used by fisherman. The fisherman could notice which ship is theirs by the colours and patterns they used to colour them with. The most common colours that were used usually were brightly painted shades of yellow, blue, green, brown, red and white. The bow of the hull was usually pointed and had a pair of eyes know as ‘The Eye Of Horus/Osiris’ which were believed to be from ancient Phoenician time. Nowadays most of these boats are still being used to fish by fisherman since it became a tradition to them and therefor new fisherman still till this they get inspired. The luzzu also influenced some artists and clothing designers from its own unique design as shown in figure 5.

    

Figure 5 Clothing Design influenced by the Luzzu

                                             Figure 5 Clothing Design influenced by the Luzzu

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Figure 6 Maltese Lanca

                                                           Figure 6 Maltese Lanca

Figure 7 English Lanca influenced by the Maltese Lanca

Children in the past also used to sing a song dedicated to the Lanca and it is showed below:

 Lanca gejja u ohra sejra, minn Tas-Sliema ghall-Marsamxett. Il-kaptan bil-pipa f’halqu, jidderiegi l-bastiment; Sewwa sewwa f’nofs ta’ bahar, il-kaptan hassu hazin, ma kellux min idur mieghu; daru mieghu l-bahrin, Aghmillu karta, aghmillu karta, aghmillu karta ghal tax-xjuh. (Vassallohistory.wordpress.com  – Il-Lanec tal-Pass, 2017)

Figure 8 Inspiration

            The Maltese Lanca was typically used for transportation around Malta. The boat used to be big enough to carry about 40 to 60 people. Nowadays it still kind of used for the same purpose the only difference is that now it is mostly used for tours to show the tourists certain attractions which can only be seen closely by the boat. The Lanca also influenced the English to make their on Lanca as shown in figure 7.

The way that the boats inspire me is particularly in the way it is coloured and their design, as 
can be seen in Figure 8 below:

Conclusion:

In conclusion for me the reason that these traditions didn’t die and are still ongoing till this day is that that they are part of us and we keep teaching it to our younger generations. These are my favourite Maltese traditions and they will keep on going since they are influencing a lot of people for them to keep on living.

References:

"Il Luzzu - Traditional Maltese Fishing Boat In Marsaxlokk Malta". YouTube. N.p., 2017. Web. 24 Jan. 2017. (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WOMu9_AR8_Y)

Anon, 2017. The Harbour Ferries – Il-Lanec tal-Pass. [online] Maltese History & Heritage. Available at: <https://vassallohistory.wordpress.com/the-harbour-ferries-il-lanec-tal-pass/> [Accessed 11 Jan. 2017].

Aquilina, M., 2017. The Maltese 'Girna' - Living in Malta. [online] Livinginmalta.com. Available at: <http://livinginmalta.com/miscellaneuos/maltese-girna/> [Accessed 11 Jan. 2017].