Historic mill celebrates its 300th anniversary
The historic building in Birkirkara known as Il-Mitħna tal-Maħlut, now the Mill – Art, Culture and Crafts Centre, is celebrating its 300th anniversary since it was built in 1724.
Built under Grandmaster Manoel de Vilhena, the windmill was used to produce flour to help feed the growing population at the time. The grandmaster had set up Fondazione Vilhena, through which five windmills were built in Birkirkara, Żejtun, Żurrieq, Naxxar and Rabat.
By 1929, the Birkirkara mill was no longer needed and, by time, it became a residential space and even a shelter used by many people in World War II. It remained a residential space until a blacksmith took it over in the 1970s.
Throughout the 1980s, the Works Department sought to renovate the structure. Coincidentally, at the same time, one of the fathers of modern Maltese art, Gabriel Caruana, began looking for a space to convert into an art and culture centre. By 1990, together with his wife, Mary Rose Caruana, he took over the building and opened the arts and culture centre that is still running today.
So, this is not only the 300th anniversary of the building but also the 34th anniversary since the Caruanas opened the cultural centre.
Caruana’s daughter, Raffaella Zammit, who is also the Gabriel Caruana Foundation’s executive director, said: “It was always my father’s dream to create an arts and community space. He always wanted a space for people to create together.
We hope to maintain that community spirit
“My earliest memory, in fact, was him at the mill inviting people to paint together. And we hope to maintain that communal spirit.”
Zammit said that part of the reason the building and art space has survived for so long is because it has always held an important role in the community.
Even today, besides running an artistic programme, which helps foster a community of creatives, the Gabriel Caruana Foundation also organises initiatives for other communities
to engage with the space. These range from Ktieb talIstaġun, a project created for kindergartners to learn more about the weather, to Layers of Being, a project created to help fight loneliness in the elderly community.
“We want to take this opportunity to celebrate all our different communities and projects,” Zammit said.
The foundation will celebrate this milestone on Friday and Saturday with the event Mawra sal-Mitħna, featuring a series of activities for people of all ages.
The programme includes collaboration between no.site.studio and the Gabriel Caruana Foundation to reimagine the public space around The Mill and a walking workshop around Birkirkara and Balzan where the public is invited to explore concepts of care in public space, which is part of an artistic project by Zammit.
When asked where she hopes to see the mill in 300 years, she said: “Well, firstly, I hope it’s still standing [laughing]. I hope it remains a
sustainable building that continues to be a space for creatives, artists and the community of that time.”