LET’S KEEP CHRIST IN CHRISTMAS PRESS LIKE IF YOU AGREE. The Presepju (Crib) in Malta dates back to 1617, in the Navarro’s household the tradition of building a crib has been practiced since time in memoriam. At a very young age I have memories of my father getting a piece of board mixing some flour and water soaking old bits of newspaper (papier mache)this was shaped into a Nativity scene. The Pasturi (figures) were made of unbaked Maltese clay which was carved and shaped into different statues these were left to dry naturally then painted. I vividly remember at the age of about four years old being taken by my father to choose Pasturi from a little shop in Strada San Marco, than they cost around 2d (equal to about 5 euro cents) I kept the tradition going even during my forty years in England. There I made the Presepju and used plastic figures my dear mother had sent me from Malta, these survived many years and I even brought them back to Malta on my retirement in 2006. This year my wife Sue who herself caught the bug having made her own little crib in which she has unpainted pottery Pasturi, came across a shop in Strada San Paolo Valletta that has started selling replicas of the very same ones I used to buy well over fifty years ago. It was time for me to turn the clock back and make a new crib very similar to my first one, Sue bought me the first few then I completed the set. The one thing I remember is that when accidentally any of the Pasturi broke one could just lick the unbaked clay and stick the head, arm or leg back on.
Posted on: Sun, 07 Dec 2014 11:01:31 +0000
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