This investigation is around the different (hi)stories and types of explosions – military, ceremonial, creative, and criminal – from fireworks to bombs on the island of Malta.

The Island is a place where various stories deserve further contemplation. From one of the most bombarded places on Earth after World War II. To the man-only firework masters’, the criminal underworld and the political turmoil of the seventies.

These stories all link to a memory site,  an islet 5km away from Malta which was used as a military practice target for decades during British Rule. Filfa.  

 

When one speaks of an explosion, fireworks are not the first thing that comes to mind. It’s mostly images of war, destructive bombs or a tragic criminal incident.

But we find those instances intertwined on the Island of Malta; the military and the religious customs, their histories and how they developed to the present. Since this intersection has not yet been pondered in a scientific, historical or artistic manner because of its marginal and sometimes controversial nature. I urgently felt the need to investigate it further.