Kenneth Zammit Tabona on art, buses and birds

Walking into Kenneth Zammit Tabona’s apartment, the fact that his life is all about art is evident. Every inch of every wall is taken up by a painting of sorts, some which have very precious stories attached to them.

He tells me the story of an oil painting by Guiseppi Arcidiacono. “While attending one of his art classes I spied this magnificent oil painting propped up against the wall. When I asked him whom it was by I was surprised to learn that it was his. He used to work in oils in the past but his wife couldn’t stand the smell of paint so he switched to watercolour.

“He was nonchalant about the piece and offered to give it to me. I couldn’t accept it and insisted on paying for it. He gave me a price, which I doubled. We then continued on a reverse bargaining operation. When we finally agreed I wrote a cheque and happily went off with my painting.

“A couple of days later I got a call from him. My heart sank as I was sure one of his relatives was annoyed at him for selling one of his last oils and wanted the piece back. He seemed embarrassed over the phone, which made my heart sink even further. Happily, it turned out his wife had put the cheque in the washing machine along with his shirt.

“I hurried off to his studio in Msida to find them both trying to salvage the washed cheque, which had doubled in size and was pieced back together with sticky tape. I gladly made out another cheque, which his wife promised not to launder.

“In retrospect I should have taken the old cheque back and stuck it to the back of the painting. This story gives the piece so much more sentimental value.”

Art has always been a great part of Zammit Tabona’s life. Through his childhood, as an only child, he had to entertain himself and spent many hours of happy scribbling. His mother once took him to a church with fantastic frescos, which encouraged the budding artist to attempt his own on the walls at home much to his mother’s dismay.

Zammit Tabona’s latest exhibition included landscapes inspired by Maltese nature painted al fresco.

“Al fresco painting is much harder than painting in the studio. Your mind has to work super fast. Paint dries faster or slower depending on the conditions – the sun and the wind. Rain is the enemy.”

He talks of his first experience of al fresco painting as a complete disaster but when things become impossible it only makes him want to keep going till he gets it right.

“The first time I went out it was that dreaded ‘downstairs wind’ (rih isfel). Nothing was drying so I decided to work on two pieces so that while one was drying I could work on the other. It was a good plan in theory but when I turned around to look at the drying painting all I could see was a black smudge. Taking a closer look I realised the painting was covered in flies! They seem to go mad for watercolours and drink the paint till red hues are a pale pink and they leave white dots all over it, maybe eggs or who knows what else.”

“The second time was equally bad. I was bitten by some strange insect and it started to rain. However I was not put off and kept going back until I had some good work. Now we go out regularly, though we stopped for the summer and haven’t got back into the swing of things yet.”

Though art forms a huge part of his life its not the only thing Zammit Tabona has to talk about. As we settle down among the paintings and antiques we get talking about the bus systems.

“The proposed price discrimination against tourists is a hare-brained, ridiculous system. I hate to think what would happen if it got out in the international press that we were proposing to charge tourists double the amount the Maltese pay.”

He is almost certain that our transport minister has not been on a bus for decades at least. As a regular user of the buses to get to Valletta, Zammit Tabona talks of his experiences and how the journey takes the best part of an hour.

“I once timed the journey stopping the clock every time the bus stopped to pick up passengers. The journey took less that half an hour. The rest of the time was drivers taking money and ordering passengers to ‘move beck he’.”

Zammit Tabona feels strongly about spring hunting, so much so that he joined Bird Life in a campaign to put a stop to it and appeared on one of their posters. It was on one of his al fresco outings that he decided that something needed to be done. 

“We were painting at Salib tal-Gholja in Siggiewi one September, which is raptor season. It’s a beautiful spot to get a good view of the birds as they surf the hot air currents quite close to the hill.

“We were there quietly enjoying our painting while some 20 international bird watchers were doing their thing. All of a sudden it was like the Battle of Britain. Shots came out of nowhere as the hidden hunters made easy prey of the birds from the easy hunting ground.

“Two birds landed at our feet in a mass of blood and feathers. That was when I decided to do something about it.

“According to EU law the hunters don’t stand a chance and short of Malta withdrawing from the EU there is never going to be any discussion, yet government keeps making promises to keep discussions open simply to keep votes.

“As I was driving I once saw a sticker on the back of a hunter’s vehicle with a picture of a buzzard, on it, it said: ‘If you fly you die’. How is one meant to have an intelligent discussion with people like that? I’d hate to think what would happen if the Angel Gabriel came to visit that hunter!”

He talks of Guido de Marco as a man much loved, akin to Princess Diana whose passing left a terrible void in the hearts of the English. Similarly, he says, Professor de Marco was a man that so many had respect for, for the simple reason that he had so much respect for every single man in the street.

“As a self-made man rising to the top he always made time to stop to say hello to everyone. The walk from his offices to the law courts used to take him an hour an half, however that’s where much of the business is done in Valletta between 10:30am and noon as everyone is out for their morning espresso.

“There was no body that could fill his shoes as president of Malta and because of that, I think, the Maltese feel that they have lost a father figure, which explains why there are still memorial masses which are still so well attended.

“His son, Mario de Marco, has a tough act to follow but he is doing a splendid job taking on the giants of tourism, the environment and culture. I can’t think why he is a parliamentary secretary and not minister.”

Time seems to stand still in the company of this brilliant man who has an opinion about everything, but duty calls and its back to the office for those of us who are slaves to the nine to five.