Rencontres D'Arles, Photography Festival (2008) - Fenech’s biblical connotation in the title ‘Burning Bush’ is an obvious pun on the sacred and profane facets of festa celebration in the Maltese islands. The photographs pose many questions – are the Maltese truly Christian or just a synthetic sham? Do the people need to listen again to the voice from the ‘Burning Bush’? Fenech’s work is a fertile document of all the aspects of celebratory activity spurred by religion on the Maltese islands. The spectacular colour and visual impact of the Catherine wheels produced by the thirty-six fireworks factories active on the small islands, belie the complex social and religious network in most of Malta’s towns and villages that occasionally escalates into pique between supporters of the various saints and precipitates into riot, sometimes even leading to bloodshed during the actual celebrations. https://www.lensculture.com/articles/patrick-fenech-the-burning-bush
