Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1066826
THIS WEEK CULTURE maltatoday | SUNDAY • 30 DECEMBER 2018 4 Now that the dust begins to settle in the wake of Valletta serving as European Capital of Culture in 2018, TEODOR RELJIC asks some of our main artists and cultural stakeholders to give their verdict on the Valletta 2018 Foundation and its work across these crucial years for the Maltese cultural scene THE Valletta 2018 Foundation and its ensuing initiatives were far from perfect, but the ability of the Capi- tal of Culture title to bolster existing cultural infrastructure and network- ing opportunities cannot be ignored. This is the 'big picture' viewpoint that emerges from a conversation with a number of creative practition- ers and cultural stakeholders on the island, when asked to give their take on Malta's year as European Capital of Culture in 2018 -- which officially concluded with a grand finale party in Valletta on December 15. "The whole ECoC phenomenon generated unprecedented public awareness of the cultural sector and greater drive, funds and energy," Al- bert Marshall, Executive Chairman of Arts Council Malta, said, adding that the series of events which made up the entire initiative also included some significant crowd-pullers, "but it was also this that might have engendered criticism about commercialisation". Despite this, Marshall believes that the events forming part of the Val- letta 2018 calendar also made room for diversity and experimentation, citing projects such as Rima and Uto- pian Nights as "engaging people with diverse backgrounds or intergenera- tional participants", while initiatives like AltoFest and the Gozo residency programme helped foster an interna- tional dimension. Recalling how the build-up towards the event, Kenneth Zammit Tabona, Artistic Director of Teatru Manoel, stressed that while the theatre itself was not directly involved with the Val- letta 2018 Foundation, it nonetheless "benefited from the cultural atmos- phere created, whose 'value added' is incalculable", and among whose lega- cies one can list the Valletta Interna- tional Baroque Festival, which held it inaugural edition in 2011, just as prep- arations for Valletta's bid as Capital of Culture first began in earnest. "We will never be the same again. Let's hope the momentum will be maintained in future," Zammit Tabona added, with reference to the recently announced Valletta Cultural Agency, which appears to be set up to build on the Foundation's work beyond 2018. Alexandra Pace, founder and direc- tor of Valletta-based contemporary art space Blitz, also emphasised the importance of maintaining a focused approach towards any legacy that the Valletta 2018 Foundation hopes to en- joy. "To build a long lasting impact in the art field local players need continuity, strategy and a shared plan for the fu- ture. Uncertainty is terribly limiting considering we don't have a developed art market to bank on, and much of what happened this year could be im- possible in 2019 and upcoming years," Pace said. "The European Capital of Culture is an event-based initiative, so if Valletta Foundation is meant to stay, and I hope so, I would expect it to become a third party agency for the development of Valletta art scene in partnership with its art professionals," she added. However, the Foundation was also rife with controversy throughout its run up to holding the title over the past year -- most of which related to the often injudicious and sometimes even uncouth political dimension that encroached on the project. Perhaps the most recent and damn- ing occurrence to blight the V18 ex- perience -- even attracting negative attention beyond our shores -- was a social media gaffe by Chairman Ja- son Micallef, who in March snapped a picture of St Patrick's Day revellers and posted it on Facebook, with an ac- companying caption that appeared to ridicule the final written words of as- sassinated journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia. Though any ill intention was vociferously denied by Micallef him- self, the gaffe -- flagged by PEN Inter- national as a reason to strip Micallef of his post -- highlighted the troubled nature of the Capital of Culture un- folding under the shadow of Caruana Galizia's assassination -- particularly when Micallef and his team insisted on powering on with an upbeat 'festa' theme to colour the entire initiative; ostensibly as a way to make Valletta 2018 accessible to all, but in reality creating something of a parallel uni- verse, where culture positioned as a tool of escapism while the realities of the assassination commanded most of our attention. In fact, as former Valletta 2018 Exec- utive Director Karsten Xuereb writes in a paper published as part of the congress proceedings of the 9th annu- al The European network on cultural management and policy (ENTAC) Teodor Reljic 'After Valletta 2018, we will never be the same again'