The MAVC Gozo Visual & Performing Arts School unveils its Carnival Float.

It has been several months in the making and it has taken a great group effort but finally, it’s here! The Mikiel Anton Vassalli College – Gozo Visual & Performing Arts School is happy to present this year’s Carnival Float. And … in a year dominated by the pandemic the choice of float theme could not have been any other than King Carnival and his nemesis Covid-19.

The project, led by VPA Art teachers Denis Mompalao, Rudoph Cauchi, Brian Borg and VPA Drama teacher Jamie Camilleri has seen the collaboration of several students and was in the making since the month of November.

“After a bit of brainstorming, we came to the idea of creating the figure of King Carnival locked inside his castle, protecting himself from Covid-19 by wearing a mask, using sanitiser and regularly checking his body temperature” said Art Teacher Rudolph Cauchi,

“The school hadn’t done any float in the past years, so this year’s float had to be done completely from scratch “ said Drama Teacher Jamie Camilleri, “and that requires a lot more planning and coordination!”

The previous two floats by the Visual & Performing Arts School had been done in the years 2015 and 2016, and nothing is left of them.

Art Teacher Brian Borg added “Besides the students who helped during the project, other students visited the sight along with their educators. It was a great way for the whole school to learn about the different techniques used to build the float”.

“We worked as a team” said Art Teacher Denis Mompalao, “each of us taking care of the aspect we are most experienced in, sculpting, rigging, moulding, painting. The material used were sheets of wood, jablo, paper mache, chicken wire and paints.”

The project took months and many long hours, but the result was worth the effort.

Art Teacher Rudolph Cauchi added ”With such a short timeframe, and the fact that we had to build everything from scratch, the help of some of our most dedicated students, such as Joseph Schembri, Eucar Bajada and Jean Pace, have been more than instrumental to the success of the project.“

“As a school, our main aim is education and this is a great opportunity for our teachers and students to get together in a collaborative project which allows art and culture to combine as one” said Vince Caruana, head of MAVC Gozo Visual & Performing Arts School,

Though this year’s Carnival Celebrations have been cancelled, no gatherings, no street dances and no spontaneous street masquerades, the school’s Carnival float, along with other floats, will be a feature of the Gozitan Streets for the coming days.

The VPA float will be stationed for everyone to see in Pjazza It-Tokk (Independence Square) in Victoria.