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THE CULTURAL SCENE IN MALTA

2004-2005

An Interim Report submitted to The Interarts Foundation (Spain) by

MARIO AZZOPARDI

1. A General Outline

A series of measures undertaken by the Government of Malta between 1998-2003 in the cultural sector have instigated a radical review in the field. The Maltese Government decided to create new structures to activate a holistic and inclusive approach to culture.

Encouraged by the positive way by which the cultural and artistic sector, as well as the media, received a two-week national convention on the need to revise cultural policy (1999), the Government drew plans for a policy of devolution, recognizing the need to create cultural levels of management that is distanced from central governance. A national Centre for Creativity was opened in Valletta in 2000, with a remit to democratise cultural events and provide opportunities for bilateral and multilateral projects.

The following year, the Ministry of Education, through its newly established Policy Unit, published Malta’s first national cultural policy, drafted after months of consultation with many different bodies, artists, intellectuals and academics. Considering Malta’s highly polarised two-party political system, it can be said that the cultural policy received broad consensus, managing to transcend national division by way of stressing the consensual aspect of Malta’s Euro-Mediterranean identity.

The next step was to establish organs that would put into effect the central government’s arm’s length profile, as promised in the National Policy Document. In November 2001, a new Act of Parliament established Heritage Malta, a national aagency meant not only to provide protection for the many archeological and historical sites on Malta and the sister island of Gozo, but also to re-invent ways through which Malta’s heritage could be enhanced by transnational initiatives in research methods and by programmes engendering cultural tourism.

Next came another parliamentary Bill, in April 2002, that introduced legislation for the setting up of the Malta Council for Culture and the Arts (MCCA).

The mandate of this new body substituted the activities of the former Department of Culture within the Ministry of Education. Besides increasing accessibility of the public to the arts, motivating local councils’ cultural agendas and dealing with non-government organizations, MCCA has the obligation to create transnational educational schemes and devise and implement strategies for promoting Maltese identity overseas. For the financial year 2003, MCCA received 1.5 million Euros for its operations, including funds incurred in the promotion of bilateral artistic enterprise.

The Malta Council for Culture and the Arts is still formulating its strategic policy but it has set at least one major objective, in the shape of the establishment of an Academy of Music, an enterprise to go into operation with the cooperation of the University of Bologna in Italy and Trinity College of London. Other priorities involve the creation of a summer arts festival and the setting up of a Carnival Village.

It is still to be seen whether MCCA would be directing itself towards a method of cross-disciplinary funding or a system where attention is focused on specific art- forms. It also needs to be seen how far the new Council can extend its limited resources to conduct significant transnational cultural projects. Restrictions applied by the Ministry of finance have already forced the MCCA to limit its cultural support fund to small cultural NGOs as well as individual artists, thus limiting private enterprising involving transnational mobility. Meanwhile the MCCA will continue to apportion funds to cover those cultural and artistic events that were regular features on the calendar of what used to be the Department of Culture. Such events include an international jazz festival, carnival celebrations (where the participation of European bands has now become a regular fixture) and a song festival that elects the title representing Malta at the annual Eurovision contest.

Between 2000-2002, the Government constituted a string of autonomous entities to generate new interest and specification related to events such as carnival, folk manifestations and national celebrations. Such activities represent stable features on Malta’s cultural calendar that attract tourism. Malta’s tourist industry, it should be noted, not only provides employment for some 41,000 people and accounts for 25% of the island’s Gross National product, but is also a key component offsetting Malta’s relative physical isolation from the European mainland.

By the start of the 21^st century, the number of overseas visitors to Malta, mainly from Europe, reached 1.2 million. The Malta Tourist Authority has been taking stock of the country’s tourism industry, insisting that the core product must be upgraded to include environmental considerations and, above all, the cultural heritage. It is also being stressed that tourism is important as it affects the perceptions of the islands’ 382,500 inhabitants.

Transnational cultural cooperation is provided by other key institutions, including the Division of Education, the Department of Youth and Sport and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

The International Students Department (ISD) within the Education Division conducts its own bilateral programmes based either on school-to-school initiatives or on initiatives that channel national groups through European NGOs, such as Francas in Paris, the Vaclav & Dagmar Foundation in the Czech Republic or the Treugolink Arts Centre in Moscow. In 2002, the ISD sent 29 teachers and 250 students to Europe as part of its school-to-school scheme, allocating 70% of its annual recurrent budget of 34,500 Euros. The ISD also runs, with an assistance of another 72,000 Euros from the Ministry of Finance, a special bilateral programme with Farensina in Italy, allowing for 100 Italian students to visit Malta every year for intensive language courses in English and adjacent cultural touring.

On the other hand, the Italian Cultural Institute in Malta reciprocates with similar offers as well as with special bursaries related to Italian literature, culture and specialised courses in the fields of visual arts, music and restoration techniques. Projects for 2004 include the organization of chartered travel to the Russian Federation with a view on language, literary and cultural objectives as well as a unilateral project to upgrade the ISD youth hostel in the south of Malta so as to accommodate visiting NGOs from Europe and the Mediterranean region.

Protocols of cooperation between Malta and European countries are also undertaken (and officially given official remit) by the Department of Youth and Sport (DYS), a section of the Parliamentary Secretariat for Youth. Between 2002-2003 such protocols were signed with the Youth Board of Cyprus, the Russian Federation (the protocol here covers the period 2003-2005) and a number of cultural service agencies in Italy, ranging from Calabria in the south of the peninsula to Valle d’Aosta in the north. Financial constraints inhibit the DYS from entering into similar agreements with other countries. In 2002, the DYS budget stood at 216,000 Euros and funding for transnational commitments represented 20% of this amount. The annual budget for the DYS has remained unchanged for the past ten years and things were not made any easier when the Ministry of Finance announced a 10% economy measure early in 2003.

Another competent structure that generates transnational commitments is the Department of Further Studies and Adult Education (DFSAE), a body providing lifelong learning mechanisms, including the management of the schools of Art, Drama and Music in Malta and Gozo, as well as the organization, management and development of Education Channel 22, a station that is completely networked and is available via cable-internet. In 2002 Channel 22 participated in the BBC Showcase that was held in Brighton and gave a creditable rendition of it resources at the MEDEA Film Convention, hosted in Malta by the Malta Film Commission. Channel 22 is now looking at opportunities of co-production with European and Mediterranean countries.

The most formal structure with a direct remit for structuring cultural relations between Malta and other European countries is represented by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Efforts to organize and establish a Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Malta started very soon after Independence in 1964. Since then the Ministry has recruited hundreds of young men and women “with the requisite intellectual capacity” to pilot Malta’s objectives in the evolution of bilateral, regional and international relations. The Ministry is committed to “political activity” that takes into account “the social and cultural enhancement of the Maltese nation”.

Until very recently, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs also funded a radio station, The Voice of the Mediterranean, to the annual amount of 432,000 Euros. Finacial difficulties however, have seemed the operations of the station, ironically after it had acquired new grounds for its studios, equipped with state-of-the-art technology. The Maltese-Libyan joint venture provided cultural programmes of a high professionaql standard, transmitted on the short-wave band in English, Italian, German, French, Arabic, Japanese and Maltese.

The station professed also the aim to transmit “the national aspirations of the republic of Malta in relation to the evolving scenario of the Euro-Mediterranean region” and to serve as a bridge between the countries bordering the Mediterranean Sea. Contributors included Maltese, European and Arabic academics, intellectuals, artists, cultural commentators and scholars in various disciplines. The Voice of the Mediterranean (VOM) started operating in 1988 from the ex-studios of the British Forces Broadcasting Service, vacated after the withdrawal from the Island in March 1974 of the British Forces. In order to establish its foothold in Europe, VOM started transmitting on the short Wave band from Rome in 1997, following an agreement with RAI International.

The World Radio Network became VOM’s latest target and plans were meant to improve the range of broadcasting via Internet. An average of 40,000 programmes were being downloaded every month. Between the day of its launch in January 2002 and January 2003, the VOM website had 1.9 million hits. In 2003, with a view of expanding its Euro-Mediterranean community of listeners, the station launched, in 2003, a campaign to secure fan clubs. VOM also forged links with the Institute of Mediterranean Theatre in Marseille, France, marketing the Odyssey Project, consisting of a Mediterranean sea journey by artists, dancers, musicians and actors from the Euro-Mediterranean region. In 2005 many local and foreign people and cultural bodies hope that the VOM will overcome the present crises and resume transmission.

As an indication of official cultural and artistic funding in Malta, the following data shows the level of state contribution received by Malta’s key cultural institutions through the Ministry responsible for Culture:

Government Entity receiving Contribution	Amount
Malta Council for Culture and the Arts	Euros 1,557600
Heritage Malta	Euros 3,220,800
Maltese Heritage Foundation	Euros 72,000
Manoel Theatre	Euros 312,000
Malta Centre for Restoration	Euros 1,200,000
National Orchestra	Euros 600,000
St. James Centre for Creativity	Euros 360,000

Source: Budget Office, Malta, 2003

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No figures are available as to the actual proportion that these governmental cultural entities allocate to transnational artistic activity but it should be said that stakeholders like the Manoel Theatre, the National Orchestra, St. James Creativity Centre and the Malta Centre for Restoration often employ the services of foreign artists like opera singers, musicians, animators and skilled technicians. Such engagements are often undertaken in collaboration with foreign bodies present in Malta, e.g. the Italian Cultural Institute, the British Council, the Alliance Francaise or the Russian Centre for Culture and Science. It should also be pointed out that government entities are expected to enhance the contributions they receive from the State budget by way of securing cultural partners and/or sponsors.

On the other hand, the Ministry of Education, Youth & Employment allocates further funds annually. The Literary Awards Scheme, where the best works of poetry, novel-writing, dramatic texts, researched material, translations into Maltese and children’s literature are selected for merit, absorbs 24,000 Euros per year. The Ministry also administers an additional yearly subsidy of 96,000 Euros to assist directly ad hoc initiatives in the cultural sector. Another 24,000 Euros are allocated annually for the Drama Writing Contest, where awards are given for the best three works written in the native language, with additional funds marked for the actual production of the first-placed entry.

To secure a better understanding between cultural workers and partners/sponsors from the business sector, the Government has been organising a series of public debates to promote culture as a potentially strong catalyst, even in an economic sense. In 2003, the Ministry responsible for Culture introduced intensive training in cultural management to counter the challenge of institutions that lack personnel with adequate skills. The first 60-hour course was organied by the Policy Unit at the Ministry, in association with the Centre for Creativity, the Adult Learning Section at the Division of Education and the Communications Institute of Perugia, Italy.

2. Official Documentation and Legislation

The Cultural Policy document of 2001 stresses the need for Malta to take into consideration the transnational bearings solicited by the new realities of the twenty-first century. It also takes into account the need to establish Maltese identity “within a Euro-Mediterranean context”. The policy also recognizes, among other things, the need for the devolution of power and the assignment of initiatives to persons, groups and local councils, entities that have been given legal jurisprudence to establish their own transnational connections, mainly in the form of interactive twinning with European counterparts.

By the beginning of 2003, almost 40% of Malta’s 92 local councils had established transnational agreements with foreign analogical bodies.

The Ministry responsible for local governments also established formal association with the Republic of Cyprus to promote a collaboration scheme through joint initiatives in the identification of programmes and projects related to local government policy. The Department of Local Councils, on the other hand, participate regularly at the Steering Committee of Local and Regional Democracies of the Council of Europe in Strasbourg, with special interest in transfrontier co-operation.

Malta’s transnational cultural policy objectives are highlighted again in the Ericarts Cultural Compendium published on-line by the Council of Europe (2003), where it is stated that Malta is seeking “international cultural cooperation with a focus on Euro-Mediterranean cultures” (cfr. para. 3.3).

Official mission statements and other documentation also highlight Malta’s need to

develop its cultural policy according to transnational criteria. Malta’s Creativity Centre, for instance, is given the mandate “to establish itself as a centre for cultural exchange with other countries, thus cultivating a sense of cultural identity based on local dimensions and international diversity, especially in the light of Malta’s commitment to cultural tourism” (Cultural Policy in Malta, p.149, 5.ii., 2001).

The prevailing problem with institutions like the Creativity Centre and the Manoel Theatre (the Island’s most official venue for the performing arts), has to do with the fact that the regular repertory is still saddled with a colonial retinue: commercial companies opt for the recycling of foreign works, almost exclusively in the English language, instead of instigating local idiom. Such a situation contradicts Malta’s declared aspirations towards the realisation of transnational cooperation that takes into account Maltese artistic authenticity.

Such a state of affairs also relates to the inability of Maltese literature, including dramatic texts, to cross geographical and linguistic borders. For this purpose, the National Book Council, the Akkademja tal-Malti as well as a board of linguists appointed by the Government to report on those strategies required to safeguard the interests of the native tongue in a global context have all made the case in favour of ways which would “explore both local and foreign means through which Maltese literature can reach out into the international market through translation programmes”

(Cultural Policy in Malta, cit., p.153/h). Such a strategy would also need to take into consideration the Maltese diaspora: a conservative estimate shows that there are approximately 400,000 Maltese persons or persons of direct Maltese descent that are settled in European countries (mainly in the United Kingdom) and other English speaking territories, including the United States, Canada and Australia.

As for cultural tourism strategies, a board of European experts reporting on Malta’s national cultural policy after they visited the Island in 2002 concluded that they are “not persuaded that sufficient research has been conducted into the size of the cultural market” (CDCULT Document on Malta, Council of Europe, p.18, 3.17) and that there should be more initiative for the “further development of international exchange” related to Malta’s traditional popular celebration (op.cit., B5, 5.13).

In their report, the group of experts suggest that Malta should be enhancing public ritual by initiatives involving transnational repartee, including the export of traditional music in the form of folk ballads and band playing and the involvement of professional people from Europe to conduct masterclasses that would go a long towards securing technical excellence (ibid). The experts’ report also recommends that the Ministry of Education should require the newly-established Malta Council for Culture and the Arts (MCCA) to develop a system of grants to artists and performers, as well as a programme that would facilitate transnational artists-in-residence schemes (op.cit., 14B, 6.10).

As far as further cultural external relations are concerned, it appears that much will depend on strategies adopted by the MCCA. Besides considering the development of a robust strategic plan and process to integrate the activities of arts and culture in Malta, the Council needs to develop an active process of transnational communication and interaction. Such a commitment would compensate for gaps in achievement skills and also provide for an organization structure that would re-align sporadic attempts at transnational collaboration, while re-defining them into a proper cultural development scheme involving foreign counterparts.

Because of clear limitations (largely financial) related to Malta’s external cultural programmes, it should be considered important, although outside the specific remit of this report, to draw attention to the impressive contribution that the European Union Programmes Unit (EUPU) has made since its establishment in October, 2001.

In terms of mobility action, between 2001-2002 a total of 1050 individual persons and 135 organisations availed themselves of EU programmes, including specific programmes for adult learning, using artistic techniques to empower social workers involved with vulnerable social groups. In particular, in view of Malta’s declared policy in favour of inclusive culture, one should single out a successful project, undertaken in 2003 with regional bodies in Italy and Romania and based on legislative theatre methodology.

3. Bilateral/Multilateral Agreements

At present, Malta has cultural agreements with the following European countries:

STATE	SIGNED	ENTRY INTO FORCE	EXPIRY/RENEWAL MODE	NOTICE OF TERMINATION
Albania	04.02.1992	10.09.1992
Bulgaria	11.08.1980	30.01.1981
Cyprus	26.02.1991	06.11. 1991
Czech Rep.	10.09.1979	Not available
France	14.02.1968	26.04.1968
Germany	27.02.1974	26.04.1974
Greece	08.04.1976	01.07.1979
Hungary	06.11.1978	20.02.1980
Italy	28.07.1967	22.12.1967
Poland	11.12.1990	23.12.1992
Portugal	09.10.1994	Awaiting Ratification
Romania	05.11.1978	19.01.1979
Russia Renegotiated	18.03.1982 30.12.1994	18.03.1982 03.10.1995
Slovakia	10.09.1979	Not available
Slovenia	20.03.1996	12.11.2002
Spain	11.06.1976	11.06.1976
Turkey	13.02.1998	Awaiting ratification
Yugoslavia	16.10.1980	22.03.1982

Source: Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Valletta.

Note: Malta has other Cultural Agreements with Angola, China, DPR Korea, Egypt, India, Israel, Kuwait, Libya, Morocco, Senegal and Tunisia.

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The role of the Ministy of Foreign Affairs in affecting a bilateral cultural agreement normally follows express interest by Malta or the other country to negotiate such an accord. This interest is communicated through the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to the Ministry responsible for cultural affairs in the other country. The ministries responsible for culture negotiate the agreement that is later signed by the Ministers of Culture themselves in one of the capitals of the countries concerned. However, this procedure is not always strictly followed.

There may be variations in that the ambassadors of a country may sign the agreement on behalf of his/her government, or the Prime Minister may be on an official to a country and sign the agreement, possibly with other agreements.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs however, is always responsible to keep the official copies of the agreements. In Malta’s case, most bilateral cultural proposals are processed on the express advise of the Ministry of Education and for this reason, at least one official is put in charge of international relations at the Ministry.

It is common practice for Malta and the foreign country to constitute a Mixed Commission to make possible, by reciprocal and periodic consultations, the attainment of the general objects of a Cultural Agreement, and to plan specific work programmes as well as to supervise the execution of the accord.

There are no specific financial votes for cultural agreements with other countries nor formal measures for the implementation of the protocols. Normally, cultural bilateral agreements cover areas like professional and academic cooperation, the exchange of teachers and students, exchange of artists and/or artistic events and collaboration in scientific and technical areas, including heritage expertise.

The more active agreements are those between Malta and Italy, Malta and France, Malta and Germany and Malta and Spain. In the case of Italy, this is mainly due to historical and geographical criteria and also to the proactive performance of the Italian Cultural Institute. Both France and Germany also feature prominently through the respective Alliance Francaise and the German-Maltese Circle, while Spain’s cultural interests are safeguarded by the Hispanic Institute. Another reason while agreements with these countries are the most active is related to the large number of students that study Italian, French, German and Spanish at secondary level and at university.

Until 1979, Malta used to have a Technical Cooperation Agreement with Britain. This was a liberal accord and the term “technical” could be employed to cover even cultural and artistic collaboration. It was on the basis of this Technical Agreement, for instance, that Britain helped Malta to establish a Drama School and a Theatre-in-Education Unit in 1977-78. Malta’s close links with Britain (the Island was a British colony for more than 180 years, until Independence in 1964) and the status of the English language as Malta’s second official language are enhanced by the active presence of the British Council, a source of close, technical, cultural and academic cooperation.

Italy has been representing constant collaboration with Malta, providing very tangible assistance in the form of four financial protocols covering the period between 1980-2000, running into direct grants of 428.5 million Euros. Recognising Malta’s cultural heritage as a vital aspect of the Island’s development, the Italian protocols have provided finances allocated to restoration programmes, conservation schemes, the renovation of historic churches and the creation of the Malta Centre for Restoration that came into being in May 2002. The Centre works in close association with the Istituto Centrale per il Restauro and the Istituto Centrale per la Patologija del Libro, both in Rome.

General cultural cooperation based on bilateral agreements essentially includes teacher/student exchanges, scholarships, conservation and historical research, folk studies, environmental studies, Mediterranean studies, archeology, art and geography. Both parties agree to facilitate mutual participation of Maltese and the other country’s experts in meetings on the subjects of cultural animation and related subjects. To quote some examples related to specific motivation and implementation:

The Scientific, Cultural and Technical Agreement between Malta and Spain (1999) expressed the Maltese side’s interest to host performances of Spanish ballet, concerts of flamenco and Spanish guitar and recitals of Zarzuela excerpts, while Spain expressed interest in promoting Maltese Baroque heritage.

Likewise, the Cultural Accord with Italy for the years 1997-2000 favoured theatrical performances, mostly in the form of importing Italian lyrical opera to Malta and the provision for Maltese theatre students to perform at the universities of Padova and Bologna.

In the case of cooperation with France, the Mixed Commission had decided to provide premises in Malta for the establishment of a Franco-Maltese Centre to cater for the needs of advanced students of French and their teachers. On its part, the French party, according to the protocol, provided up-to-date audio-visual material as well as training bursaries in simultaneous interpretation and translation.

Besides agreements with Germany on training related to computer science and vocational training, cultural cooperation with Germany had resulted in the foundation of the German-Maltese Association in Bonn, with its objective to organize and promote cultural activities, visual art exhibitions and youth exchanges.

Apart from implementation in cases where direct foreign assistance towards a specific project is forthcoming, action and implementation remain on a low key and this can indicate that most cultural agreements signed by Malta are not proactive enough. It is clear that financial investment by Malta in this field needs to be more adequate. Fortunately, entities other than central cultural institutions keep showing enough initiative to keep bilateral cooperation in motion to a certain degree.

4. Foremost Activities of Public Authorities

a. Training and Mobility

According to the National Report on Cultural Policy (2001) Malta’s Government believes that cultural production and expression should not only enhance Malta’s aesthetic values but also create new opportunities in the employment field, in terms of the cultural industries. For this reason, Government has been making efforts to mobilize as many young people as possible towards new opportunities related to cultural engagement. Training schemes in cultural and artistic management have been launched in 2003 , whereas the Adult and Lifelong Learning Section at the Division of Education registered, also in 2003, a record number of 9,000 participants in extended, evening education, from language learning to traditional crafts, art, music and drama.

Public institutions that offer scholarship and bursary opportunities in Europe include the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Scholarship Section at the Ministry of Education, the Department of Youth and Sport, the Students’ Services and International Relations Directorate, the University of Malta and the National Youth Council. Other opportunities are provided by the several European cultural institutions operating on Malta’s territory. Taking the mobility programme of the Students’ Services and International Relations Directorate as an example, exchanges organized in 2002 involved Sicily, Italy, France, Hungary, Germany, Austria, the Czech Republic and the United Kingdom.

Various calls for scholarships for the professional education sector are mainly awarded by foreign governments and agencies, e.g. Italy, the United World Colleges, Britain and other European and Commonwealth countries.

Mobility is regarded as very essential in Malta: besides making an active contribution to Euro-Mediterranean realities, it prevents an insular mentality and strengthens intrinsic values against racism and xenophobia. The National Youth Policy Document for Malta (2003) encourages the State to continue supporting the mobility of young adults through various international programmes, such as transnational exchange, programmes organised by local councils and those by European Youth centres.

Artistic and cultural residences are gaining currency in Malta and the Centre for Creativity at St. James Cavalier in Valletta has signaled the start of joint-ventures in the fields of visual art, theatre, drama-in-education and music. In 2003, the Centre for Creativity entered into partnerships with Sicily, Cornwall (UK), Northern Ireland and Cyprus for a variety project. With Sicily, the Centre organised a festival connecting the cultures of the two islands, encompasing film screenings from Italy, jazz performances, traditional folk music and dance and gastronomy. The project with Northern Ireland will include artistic installations, incorporating theatre, music, literature and public art.

The Malta Drama Centre & the Drama Unit, under the auspices of the Division of Education, are often involved in collaborative projects with European counterparts, mainly from the United Kingdom and other mainland countries. The Drama Unit, responsible for the diffusion of socially-related dramatic material for children and youthsin schools has been involved, for the past fifteen years, with projects marked for European encounters in Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, Germany, Greece, and the United Kingdom. Young people’s dramatic activity has been accelerated in the past ten years after a number of private initiatives led to the formation of autonomous drama schools offering residency programmes with foreign animators, mostly from Britain.

On the other hand, the Malta Drama Centre has, between 2004-5 launched a series of programmes intended to make drama practice available to wider sectors within the community. For this, new courses were introduced in personality development, communication skills, communal theatre and dramatherapy. In 2005 the Malta Drama Centre also started preparing candidates for the Trinity & Guildhall (London)

Examinations in devised drama and communication skills. All 39 candidates sitting for the first assessment were successful in obtaining certification, nine of them with distinction.

In the sphere of popular music, local band clubs, normally attached to town and village institutions have been forging ahead with their own ventures overseas, with little or no State assistance, except for some modest contribution from respective local governments.

b. Arts Production

The Museum of Fine Arts has been concentrating mostly on its ongoing programme of local art exhibitions, but it is clear that this institution needs to sharpen its profile and become more versatile. Initiatives to engage foreign animators have paled away, but it does offer relative input for Maltese pavilions built overseas for international events like Expo 2000 in Hanover. The Museum has also provided facilities for Italian researchers on Caltagirone Ceramics held on its premises, a project leading to the eventual compilation of a database, a CD-ROM and an exhibition in Sicily. A list of foreign art exhibition organized by the Museum of Fine Arts at the turn of the new century includes artists from Macedonia, Germany, Italy, Canada and Australia.

In the sphere of visual arts, Malta’s Creativity centre has been much more versatile:

International exhibitions at the Centre have included artists from France, Spain, Germany, Britain, Italy, Serbia-Macedonia, the Czech Republic, the Middle-East, Australia and the United States. Performers in residence have included animators from Germany, the United Kingdom and the Virginia Centre for Creative Arts. Through the assistance of the British Council, the Creativity Centre also invited leading playwright Edward Bong of Britain, who conducted theatre workshops at the Centre, the Drama Unit and the University of Malta. The Centre also organized literary workshops directed by Welsh Booker Prize nominee, Trezza Azzopardi. The Centre has also been featuring in the co-production of works in the performing arts, including a theatre project with the Brewhouse Arts Centre of Burton-on-Trent (UK) and a festival for disabled persons with the participation of the Crown School

For People with Special Needs in Stretton, Britain.

The Manoel Theatre (named after Grandmaster Manoel Pinto, who built it in 1732) has been concentrating on a repertory that includes the staging of lyrical opera, an event sponsored annually by a local bank, with lead singers invited mainly from Italy or eastern European countries. Amongst its less conventional features in recent years one should select Trampolene, a dance programme involving top contemporary dance companies from the United Kingdom, with master-classes as corollary offerings. The Theatre has been trying to market its opera season overseas for a niche tourist market but critics have been voicing the opinion that concentration should be based on the need to develop a native, idiomatic theatre. Malta remains the only country in Europe without a national drama formation.

As travel culture continues to captivate more Maltese, the national airline has been organizing, since 1993, the Air Malta Intrenational Travel Exhibition (AMITEX). Apart from providing an enhanced combination of information, sales and opportunities, with a unique forum where local operators meet their foreign counterparts, AMITEX has become an annual event for transnational folklore, culture and traditions. For the current edition (2003), Malta hosted ensembles from Cyprus, Greece, Turkey and the Czech Republic. The spectacle is organized under the auspices of the International Organisation of Folk Art (IOV), a non-government organization but with close operational relations with UNESCO.

c. Distribution and Dissemination Abroad

Distribution and dissemination of cultural material from Malta is undertaken by several entities, including the Ministry of Education, the Malta Tourist Authority, Air Malta, the National Library, the University of Malta and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the institution feeding Maltese embassies and consular office in Europe and elsewhere. The Division of Education, through its Youth Service Organisation and especially the Department of Students’ International Services are other key promoters of Maltese cultural interest overseas.

The Ministry responsible for Culture conveys national information on cultural affairs across Europe and the rest of the world via its own website and Web magazines detailing artistic activity and other related features in Malta have mushroomed. On the other hand, the Archives Section at the National Library of Malta receives regular research requests from all over the world. The majority of the average 90 specialised requests per year concerns the unique archives of the Order of Malta preserved at the Library.

The opening of new ways of access to cultural content in Malta and Europe

is being facilitated by the steady rise in the use of personal computers. In 2001, according to a national survey by the Office of Statistics, 25.4% of the population were Internet users. Thirty-eight per cent of the population use a computer at home and 27.5% outside home.

d. Research & Experts’ Fora

Malta has been participating in international cultural conventions since 1957, when it sent a representative to Kiel to attend the First International Congress for Folk-Narrative Research. It is now represented in most experts’ meetings, especially those related to creative education, archives, heritage, archeology, broadcasting, museology, cultural policy, literary conventions, cultural tourism, carnival cities, committees, ethnography and virtually all symposia organized by the Council of Europe and UNESCO.

To illustrate with some examples of Malta’s membership to European organizations:

the Museums Department is a member of ICOM and ICCROM; the Ethnography Department subscribes to the Network of Ethnography and Social History Museums (NET) and the Maritime Museum is a member of the International Congress of Maritime Museums (ICMM) and the Society for Nautical Research (SNR). Malta is also a leading member of the European federation of Cities organizing Carnival (FECC).

In the sphere of cultural heritage, Malta follows a strategy of collaboration with other leading institutions, including The Courtauld Institute of Art at the University of London, England; the Opificio elle Pietre Dure of Florence, Italy; The ABEGG Foundation in Switzerland, the IFROA of Paris, France, the Institute of Conservation in the Netherlands, the Institut Royal du patromonie Artistique in Belgium and The Royal Armouries, Leeds, England. The quest for international collaboration and research has led to other links with heritage centre in many countries, including Cyprus, Greece, Poland, the United Kingdom, Algeria, Morocco and Tunisia.

With the gradual recognition of the economics of culture in sustainable development, the National Statistics Office (NSO) has been prompted by the Policy Unit at the Ministry of Education to create a relevant database. The first survey in this respect was published in 2001 and it is expected that the NSO would undertake joint work on comparative cultural statistics, on the lines developed by Eurobarometer activity in the socio-cultural domain.

e. Restoration and Heritage Preservation

Malta has two main institutions that cater for cultural heritage, conservation and restoration:

(i) The Heritage Act of 2001 split the state-run Museums Department into two structures dealing with regulation on the one hand (under the title of Superintendence) and operations (Heritage Malta Agency) on the other. The same Act also provides for a structure dealing with the Heritage Fund and another to care for patrimony of Malta’s Catholic Cultural Heritage. The functions of these structures are guided by what has been titled Committee of Guarantee. The group of European experts evaluating Malta’s cultural policy have written in their report that the vision and construction of Malta’s Heritage Act is probably unique. The year 2003 is marked for the effective dissolution of the Museums Department and the first operating year of both the Superintendence and Heritage Malta.

(ii) A Restoration Centre to train restoration craftsmen and conservationists was opened in 2001. In its role as the national agency on all issues related to conservation and restoration, the Malta Centre for Restoration is entrusted with the overall responsibility of advising the Maltese Government on policies in this field, including the identification of priority areas and special requirements. The Centre also comprises an Institute for Conservation and Restoration Studies, running degree programmes conducted in collaboration with the University of Malta. The ultimate objectives have to do with developing and promoting the Malta Centre for Restoration as a venue for excellence, with a distinctly Euro-Mediterranean dimension and as a hub in the field of research activity at the heart of the Mediterranean region.

f. Translation and Library cooperation

A strategic plan submitted to the Ministry of Education in 2001 by a specially appointed Board of Linguists to safeguard the Maltese Language includes a proposal for the creation of Committee for Terminology and Translation. The terms of reference would include the development of new terminology in Maltese and a technical glossary that would incorporate all neologisms emanating from respective technical, scientific and cultural fields. The plan also envisages the construction of a special website that would serve as “a bank for Maltese loan words”, easily accessible to all operators using the native tongue for their respective professions.

The Committee would also be responsible for the organisation of technical courses in translation, a proposal that has now become even more relevant, given that the Maltese language has been given official recognition by the European Commission within European Union structures. As was expected this has opened up avenues for new employment for Maltese authors, translators, editors and proofreaders, engaged with EU programmes and organizations but ironically, not enough qualified Maltese personnel was found to fill up the posts of translators and interpreters for European Union institutions. The crisis has been addressed by the University of Malta, which has now launched its first professional diploma and graduate courses for translators and interpreters.

g. The Film Industry

The Malta Film Commission (MFC) was established in 1999 to provide services for foreign film production. It is estimated that for the period 1999-2003, foreign film productions yielded more than 120,000,000 Euros. The most recent Spielberg film

(2005) generated close to 22 million Euros on its own. Besides feature films, MFC has helped Malta attract numerous other projects, mainly from Europe, in the form of television productions, documentaries and other audio-visual undertakings. MFC participates in international markets and fairs and has established contacts with European public media institutions, a fact that has resulted in the creation of a film-friendly environment with efficient procedures for faster and easier production, and with better control.

Malta is considered to be advantageous for film producers because of its proximity to mainland Europe, favourable climate, compact size, limited bureaucracy, excellent sites of a historical nature, the largest water tank in the Mediterranean, the fluency in various languages, the efficiency of its support crews and the business-like involvement of extras, who are almost invariably experienced in amateur dramatic projects. On the other hand, lack of production service companies, limited technical supplies and the absence of sound stages are considered to be major impediments.

Recent foreign films produced in Malta, including Julius Caesar, The Count of Monte Cristo, Gladiator and Helen of Troy, engaged more than 400 people for the construction of sets, 200 technicians as crew and 14,000 extras. Apart from locals, the two productions also engaged 283 foreigners to work as crew in Malta.

Following the closing of negotiations for EU accession, Malta is now eligible to participate in the MEDIA programme. European film exposure in Malta is undertaken by the Centre for Creativity through the KRS agency, a local, professional renting agency enjoying a long-standing positive reputation. The Creativity Centre receives sponsorship funds from Europa Cinemas for its art-house film screenings. On the other hand, the European Commission Office in Malta is also engaged in European film promotion and it organizes an annual European Film Festival at the University Theatre.

The Government has disclosed plans to change Malta from being a mere location site for movie making to having a fully operational film industry. The Ministry for Investments and IT has assessed the situation and announced in 2005 that it will offer incentives to invest and boost the sector. The first beneficiaries of the new scheme were the producers of a new Stephen Spielberg film. According to a legal notice issued in 2005, every movie shooting in Malta is now entitled to take back not more than 20% of the amount spent on hotels, restaurants and car hire.

A Film Act was published in 2005 and anyone who decided to invest in film-related projects, including the setting-up of film studios and sound stages, would be advantaged through the Business Promotion Act.

5. European National Institutes

The main national cultural institutes active in the cultural field in Malta are The British Council, the Istituto Italiano di Cultura, the Alliance Francaise, the Deutsch-Maltesischer Zirkel and the Russian Centre for Culture and Science.

The British Council in Malta operates an Educational Information Centre through CD-ROM technology and through the Internet World Wide Web. In addition, the Council provides a programme of arts and cultural events in collaboration with local art organisations. The British Council is committed to a sharing of values and mutual understanding, especially when it comes to the Maltese Government’s cultural policy favouring social inclusiveness and vulnerable social segments. The Council has particularly close links with St. James Cavalier Centre for Creativity in Valletta and the Policy Unit at the Ministry of Education. The Council also works closely with cultural entities like the National Commission for Science and Technology, local councils and venues like Bay Street Entertainment Complex in the up-beat town of St. Julians. Collaboration by the British Council in Malta has involved animation and creativity programmes directed at illiterate persons, people living in areas with a cultural deficit, females who became victims of domestic violence, children and young people in care homes and persons with special needs. A key feature of the British Council programme in Malta involves bursaries and invitations to local professionals to visit the United Kingdom for research assignments and international conferences on a wide variety of issues. The British Council in Malta is bound not to disclose details about finances related to its operations.

The Istituto Italiano di Cultura was founded in Malta in 1971 and is also the Cultural Office of the Italian Embassy and the official agent appointed by the Italian Government for the realization of bilateral exchanges in the cultural and technical fields. The Institute encourages studies and research by Maltese citizens in Italy and advises all interested parties on cultural events, education in Italy, access to Italian Universities as well as Art and Music Academies. The Italian Cultural Insitute promotes Italian culture in its various aspects and its activities in Malta include films, lectures, art exhibitions, concerts, theatrical performances and vocal recitals. The Institute has forged solid links with the Manoel Theatre, the Ministry of Education and the University of Malta. The Institute is also appointed by the Italian Government to implement Cultural Agreements between Italy and Malta. Attempts to acquire information about the Institute’s budget for Malta remained unsuccessful.

· The Alliance Francaise (de Malte) was founded in 1959 and was originally established as a local Committee. It is directly linked to the Alliance Francaise in Paris and the French Government who partly subsidises it on behalf of the French Embassy in Malta. Its vocation is to promote both the French language and culture and to favour a better understanding between France and Malta. A lending/research library, a video library, CDs and cassettes are readily made available to members and specdialised reading matter for students and researchers can be purchased at the Alliance at special rates. A spectrum of activities are organized on a regular basis at the Alliance, ranging from art-house cinema screenings, to conferences, video-festivals, musical evenings as well as performances of varied nature. Other events for the Maltese public are held in appropriate venues. A translation service is also at the disposal of the general public. The Alliance Francaise requires permission to disclose data about its budget; at the time of printing this report, the information was still not forthcoming.

· The Deutsch-Maltesischer Zirkel was founded in 1962 with the aim of promoting closer understanding between Germany and Malta in all appropriate fileds of activity and relationship, “excluding political activities”. The Circle has grown into a leading national adult educational and cultural centre and has over 900 paying members. The German-Maltese Circle offers intensive German language audio-lingual courses at all levels, with facilities including a library, a videotheque and weekly conversation meetings. The Circle is an independent, non-profit organization that is administered by dedicated persons who freely oblige themselves to promote the Circle’s cultural ideals. To this end, the Circle organizes on a regular basis such activities as film screenings, cultural for a, lectures, exhibitions, seminars, choral performances, chanson evenings and social events, including travel to Germany. The German-Maltese Circle receives 40,000 Euros annually as sponsorship from the German Federal Government, but the Centre manages to raise additional funds through its activities and local sponsors. Information regarding locally obtained funds are guarded by confidentiality.

· The Russian Centre for Culture and Science was opened in 1987, originally as the Soviet Cultural Centre (Sovietskii Kulturnii Zentr). In its first two years of existence it became intensely active and established firm connections with the Ministry of Education in Malta, the Museum of Fine Art, the Workers’ Theatre (a formation that became extinct by the mid-nineties) and a considerable number of artists and groups from the local cultural scene. The Centre had also managed to organise a Malta week in Moscow, covering events ranging from Maltese music to Maltese gastronomy. Appointing its own Maltese artistic director, the Soviet Centre staged an uninterrupted chain of activities, including musical theatre in association with the American Embassy in Malta, drama-in-education performances based on Russian classics and an unusual exhibition of religious artifacts and icons from the Russian Episcopate. At the same time, the Centre launched its programme for the teaching of the Russian language. The turn of events in Russia and the collapse of Gorbachev’s government seemed to affect the Centre’s activities drastically. After after a period of insecurity, the Russkii Zentr emerged in Valletta with a low-keyed programme, but retaining language teaching intact. The Russian Centre at present concentrates on exhibitions and concerts held at its premises. At present, the Russian Centre receives 100,000 US dollars per annum to conduct its operations in Malta, including language teaching and the maintenance of its premises in Valletta, dating from the times of the Knights of Malta.

The Chinese Cultural Centre in Valletta is the most recent foreign institution catering for the diffusion of culture and the arts. Since its official opening in September, 2003, the Centre has shown that its objectives are grounded in contemporary insight. Interactive programmes and facilities that are widely accessible have been the marks of the new institution. The Centre offers cutting edge facilities: its halls are enhanced with the latest digital equipment and has an ambitious multi-media programme incorporating a most advanced language laboratory. A multifunction hall serves for the screening of subtitled films, events related to the performing arts and as a conference venue. The Centre’s biggest project addresses Malta’s public schools, where site visits including traveling exhibitions and miniature performances by Chinese artistes are high on the agenda. The Centre is committed to look into the prospects of outreach cultural initiatives both for the local public and the Chinese community in malta, which at the end of 2003 stood at 1400, including 400 in residence.

6. Major Cultural Events

The main priorities are related to the functioning of the newly established Malta Council for Culture and the Arts (MCCA) and the setting in motion of the operations of the Superintendence for Cultural Heritage and heritage Malta as an implementing body. The MCCA, operating within the Ministry for Culture & Tourism, is currently organizing its structures and conducting intensive strategic planning. The strategy will greatly affect arts development in Malta as well as cultural development related to other European entities. Market and programme development, liaison with cultural entities overseas as well as the exchange of cultural and artistic enterprise will need to rely on the strategic policies of the Malta Council for Culture and the Arts, whose central committee has pledged benchmarks for excellence. Resources will play a deterministic role and a clearer picture is expected to be emerging by the end of 2005.

It also needs to be seen what form of relationship the MCCA will retain with the Ministry of Education, given that the government’s arm’s length policy is expected to start getting felt in the next two or three years.

The structural changes in the heritage sector are also expected to achieve a quantum leap in the protection of cultural heritage and this will also depend on practical institutional reform (as opposed to mere changing of titles), the better utilization of human resources and substantially increased investment. The Government has well over 100 major sites (several of them listed as World heritage Sites) and at least another 100 minor sites that require maintenance, restoration, refurbishment and rehabilitation in different measures. Museum Department sources have estimated that Malta’s list of heritage properties will require at least 360,000,000 Euros by way of capital investment over the next fifteen to twenty years. This is an enormous sum that Malta cannot sustain unless stakeholders come together to measure their corporate resources. Tactical planning should involve bodies like the Malta Tourism Authority to explore how the development of niche cultural markets could contribute substantially to the massive capital needed to cater for Malta’s heritage. The latest Malta Tourism Authority corporate strategy overview covers the period 2003-2006.

In its latest electoral programme (2003) the party currently in government has pledged two important projects that would greatly enhance the prospects for the performing arts in a sustainable way:

(a) the Academy of Performing Arts, to be established through the collaboration of Trinity College of London and the University of Bologna, in Italy, is expected to be set in motion anytime soon, with a time-frame of five years to complete the project. The Academy’s mission will be to train performers, teachers and composers to excel in the profession, both nationally and internationally. It will aim to address wider cultural, social and commercial implications and it determines that music needs to be attracting investment and support from the business community.

(b) the second phase of the Arts Centre (to enhance and develop the cultural operation of the Centre for Creativity in Valletta) will ensure that Malta can provide high-calibre performances marked for the local and European market, venued at a place that would contribute effectively to the economic growth of the Island. Financial restraints however, seem to have blocked this project. More than mid-way through 2005 the project appears to have been shelved.

On a different level, mention should be made of the project embarked upon by Malta, Cyprus and Cornwall (UK) in the field of community theatre. The initiative, undertaken in 2004, involved concrete interaction between the three stakeholders, operating within the framework of the Culture 2000 programme of the European Union. The project represented an extension of a previous partnership between Malta and Cornwall’s Kneehigh Theatre Group, focusing on “landscape theatre”, a genre that invites the community to take an alternative view at itself and its history.

Another new initiative that could be emulated by other Maltese diplomatic missions in Europe was undertaken by the Maltese Embassy in Libya for the period 2003-2006. A facilitating fund has been created to allow for the organization of Maltese cultural activity in Tripoli, including art and photographic exhibitions, the publication of translated Maltese works and indigenous musical performances from Malta. The project will be receiving funding from business partners, including Bank of Valletta, Voice of the Mediterranean radio, Maltese Holdings Consortium and the Corinthia Group of Companies, operating a chain of hotels in Libya and in several major European cities.

7. Current Factors, Issues and Trends

Although outside the remit of this presentation, it must be said that Malta’s accession to the European Union has been a crucial. The divisive national position on the matter had created uncertainties in all sectors of the community, not least in the cultural field but following the re-election of the Nationalist Party to government in 2003, the Labour Party conceded to the people’s will and changed its position to embrace new political realities which saw Malta become a full member of the European Union in 2004. Both political parties endorsed the European Union Consitutional Treaty in an unanimous vote in Parliament in 2005. Malta’s membership has enhanced the island’s possibilities to participate actively in EU cultural programme. Special headway has been made in Malta’s contribution to the EU adult learning programmes under the Grundtvig Scheme, which often involves Malta in training European counterparts in the field of social and communal theatre.

Cultural policy trends in Malta have, over the past few years, been seen in respect of current policies employed in those countries that are either members of the EU or that accessed the Union in the 2004 enlargement. Malta has been trying to harmonise its own cultural policy on the basis of concepts and perceptions prevailing on the European mainland. Malta’s cultural policy has set the scenario for creating a cultural capacity for culture to flourish in sustainable development. Considerable measures for such a scenario have been steadily developing out of connections with European bodies as well as out of EU programmes, that have afforded a new perspective for many Maltese individuals and groups.

The trend for the exploration of sustainable cultural activity has brought into focus

the need to market the Maltese product professionally and consistently. To counter the tendency to “improvise” cultural activity, the Ministry responsible for Culture launched the first programme geared towards the understanding between culture and its management, blending the cultural product with the environment, human resources, product price, distribution and communication, in correct proportions. Other private initiatives in the sector have seen Maltese candidates graduate in Cultural management after an intensive programme conducted in association with the Institute for Communicvation Studies at the University of Perugia in Italy. Over the coming years, it is hoped that such courses would emphasise management skills related to existing structures, strategic marketing and management of the arts.

Another emerging issue is related to the need to breathe new life into and rehabilitate Malta’s old, historic towns. This will become a national priority in the next few years as urban development now spreads over 20% of the Maltese Islands, a particularly grave concern given Malta’s miniscule land surface. According to results of a Census conducted in 1995, some 40% of all dwellings in the old historic Grand Harbour sites are permanently vacant and a quarter are in a dilapidated condition. Pressure has been mounting from heritage NGOs, who argue that enhancing the heritage environment in Malta’s historic inner cities, could relieve urbanization pressures from rural and coastal environments.

In February 2003, the Maltese Government and the European Commission signed an agreement for Malta to participate fully in the EU programme Culture 2000. The agreement allows for Culture 2000 participation to be funded equally by Malta and the EU but once Malta joins the EU, it would be completely financed by the Union. The programme would offer new opportunities for musicians, actors, painters, sculptors and writers, providing perfect peers from the European mainland in areas such as the performing arts, visual and plastic arts, literature, heritage and cultural history. This would be an important opportunity for Malta to mobilise its artists and cultural animators and to participate in inter-cultural dialogue, social integration initiatives and socio-economic development.

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