The ‘Culture of Ageing’ is a collaborative project between Valletta 2018 and Leeuwarden 18, the two organisations handling the cultural programmes for their respective cities as part of the run up to the year 2018, when both cities will be co-hosting the title of European Capital of Culture. The ‘Culture of Ageing’ is an interesting project which explores how different cultures look at ageing. The project is divided into several parts including an artists’ exchange programme, a collective exhibition, a film programme and also a lecture programme. The project is handled by Dutch curators Lennard Dost and Mare van Koningsveld, who responded to a call for curators initiated by Valletta 2018 last year.

The exhibition for the ‘Culture of Ageing’ will be taking place in the Main Hall at St James Cavalier Centre for Creativity from 31^st August to the 27^th September. Film screening related to the project will be on at St James Cavalier on the 2^nd and 4^th September at 8pm and on the 5^th September at 3pm, while lectures will be taking place on the 2^nd  September as part of the VIVA Curatorial School with an additional free lecture on the 16^th which is open to the public.

The artists’ exchange programme saw local Maltese artist Adrian Abela spend 2 weeks in Groningen, Holland researching at ERIBA, the European Research Institute on the Biology of Ageing, back in April 2015. Currently, Dutch artist Femke Bakker is currently conducting research at CareMalta till the 2^nd  September. She will create a work revolving around how the elderly live  together in retirement homes and other types of housing.

For more information, please consult the Valletta 2018 Cultural Programme or the Culture of Ageing blog post.