Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1066826
maltatoday | SUNDAY • 30 DECEMBER 2018 5 THIS WEEK CULTURE Education and Research Session (Buda- pest, September 2018), even the deeply contested space of the Daphne Caruana Galizia memorial in front of the Valletta Law Courts ended up literally 'upstag- ing' a Valletta 2018 exhibition. "The opening of [Dal-Baħar Mad- warha ('The Island Is What The Sea Surrounds')] took place in front of the cistern entry, in front of the Law Courts in Valletta, and hence just steps away from the Great Siege memorial that has, over the past months, brought together people marking the memory of Daphne Caruana Galizia through makeshift means, attracting international atten- tion and arguably adding nuances to tourists' perspectives of Malta and its culture," Xuereb writes. However, Xuereb's dismissal from his Valletta 2018 post, along with that of former programme coordinator Mar- gerita Pule, in fact also stands as a black mark on the Foundation's reputation. A seemingly out-of-the-blue move decid- ed upon just months before the official beginning of the Capital of Culture year, the move raised questions both on the ethical implications of the dismissals, as well as the suspect strategic choice behind replacing such a key post at the eleventh hour. An open letter signed by a generous number of local artists to this effect led to a dismissive response by Micallef himself, with Parliamentary Secretary Deo Debattista stepping in to offer some consultation sessions with the artists in question, little of which appears to have built substantial bridges. Reacting to the aura of fear -- even hostility -- that appears to characterise the artist/government body relationship in Malta, Maren Richter, curator of the 'Dal-Baħar Madwarha' exhibition, com- mented that, "Art and culture should not be orchestrated nor overshadowed by politics. Art itself is never free of the political. But it should be given the free- dom to speak for itself." Richter also observed how, "There were quite a few international TV teams in Malta this year, who would tell me that they got the impression that artists feared to talk about certain issues in pub- lic – with the result that those TV teams rather focused on this observation than on the actual art projects. This is a real pity. Ideally, politics should be narrated through the arts not arts through poli- tics. And the bigger a festival, the more this has to be taken care of actively." After all was said and done, a number of local artists and cultural stakeholders appear to be ready to treat any misgiv- ings as water under the bridge, provided that real, structural shortcomings are seen to and acknowledged. Among these is the undeniably baf- fling reality of the Foundation never having a 'proper' artistic director. While Mario Philip Azzopardi -- a contentious figure in his own right, with a social me- dia trigger-finger to rival that of Jason Micallef -- was officially given that post, he would quickly clarify that his role was simply that of orchestrating the large- scale spectacles under the 2018 remit, such as its opening ceremony on Janu- ary 20 and the Pageant of the Seas event. For Toni Attard, head of strategy at arts funding body Culture Venture and former director of strategy at Arts Council Malta, the lack of such a central figure goes some way towards explain- ing the erratic shifts in approach that characterised the Foundation's run-up to the Capital of Culture year. "From the first bid-book to the final delivery of Valletta 2018, one notices quite a different programme," Attard said, stressing how the initial idea for the Capital of Culture year was "more artist-led", with various projects origi- nating from the artistic communities themselves rather than being conceived and controlled by a central govern- mental body. "Granted, some of these survived the cull and made their way into the final programme… however, they ended up being fringe-like events. This is hardly surprising given that Val- letta 2018 ended up without any official artistic director on board, save for its large-scale events." The lack of attention being given to 'smaller' events certainly finds itself echoed among representatives from the theatrical scene. Among them is Sean Buhagiar, Artistic Director of Te- atru Malta. While stressing that Valletta 2018 provided an undeniable boost for the Maltese cultural scene -- not least because it put culture on the national agenda in an unprecedented way -- he agrees that the tendency to boost flash- ier large-projects at the expense of their smaller counterparts was something of a misstep. "Besides the fact that I be- lieve there was way too much happen- ing -- causing audience exhaustion and an unsustainable calendar of free events -- it was quite a shame to see brilliant projects like Magna Zmien, Gewwa Barra, Latitude 36, Solar Cinema and other projects led by passionate artists being almost disregarded when com- pared to the high-priced, sugar-coated, large-scale projects. From what I've ex- perienced personally, it is these smaller- scale projects which will form part of a real intangible heritage. The focus could have been narrowed down, so as to im- prove such projects. I would put this down mostly to a lack of a clear, cohe- sive artistic vision," Buhagiar said. Similarly, actor and playwright Mal- colm Galea said he would have pre- ferred to see "fewer extravagant and expensive one-off projects and more of a focus on smaller projects that have a higher chance of being self-sufficient and ongoing for the next few years, thereby generating a legacy." Actor and director Philip Leone-Gana- do, whose 'Shakespeare at the Pub' pro- ductions offered an interesting 'fringe' experience of local theatre, unshackled from public funding institutions, was even more impassioned when discussing the shortcomings of Foundation -- both in terms of its attitude towards smaller and 'dissenting' voices, and the overall direction that it took as an entity. "I wish they had realised that appoint- ing divisive figures to lead your project will lead to a divisive project. I wish they had engaged with the whole of the com- munity, not just the parts of it that said the words they want to hear. I wish their insight into what makes the Maltese cultural scene tick extended beyond the festa, that appealing to everyone is ap- pealing to no-one, that 'give the people what they want' only takes you so far. I wish they'd focused less on spectacle and more on laying a real groundwork artists could build on in the years to come," Leone-Ganado said. Adrian Buckle, founder of Unifaun Theatre, was even more direct and abrasive in his assessment of the Val- letta 2018 Foundation and its legacy, simply stating that, "V18 will only be remembered for the parties." A more sober analysis came from Daniel Azzopardi, Programme Manag- er at Spazju Kreattiv at St James Cava- lier -- one of Valletta's most prominent cultural institutions. "There's always room for improve- ment, and this is no exception," Azzo- pardi said, emphasising the need for "more training programmes and invest- ment in professional development ini- tiatives in areas such as technical work, backstage and production manage- ment". He also regretted an apparent lack of synergy and collaboration with other public cultural organisations in the development of a holistic long-term sustainable strategy that "enhances op- portunities for professionalisation, cre- ates alternative ways of funding, devel- ops systematic audience engagement practices and sets benchmarks for artis- tic excellence". However, others took an even more pragmatic approach to the matter, sug- gesting that we should moderate our expectations as to what to expect from a Capital of Culture, even confronted with its European reality. It is a view- point perfectly encapsulated by Mark Camilleri, Executive Chairman of the National Book Council. "The biggest recipients to the success of Capital of Culture were businesses in Valletta, but people should not be sur- prised by this because this is what often happens in Capitals of Culture. Govern- ments tend to view Capitals of Culture as an opportunity to increase tourism and business in the city more, rather than bolster cultural and intellectual de- velopment," Camilleri said, adding that, however, that, "It would be empirically wrong to say that the Capital of Culture didn't bring about any benefits at all to local culture industries". "The Capital of Culture gave a legiti- mate excuse for cultural and education- al bodies like the National Book Council to lobby for more public funding and re- sources. We have used Capital of Cul- ture as a pretext to lobby government to grant the National Book Council a 16th- century Baroque palace in Valletta. We were successful, and we aim to turn the newly-granted palace into a freely- accessible public space, Museum of Lit- erature and a bookshop which serves as a cultural agent. In a similar way, it re- mains up to the culture and educational institutions to ensure to leave a long- lasting legacy and bring forth cultural and intellectual development," Camill- eri added. Contacted for comment, Valletta Ma- jor Alexiei Dingli reiterated his desire to disassociate himself from the Founda- tion, and refrained from commenting further. teodorreljicmt@gmail.com V18 Foundation chairman Jason Micallef