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17 News maltatoday, SUNDAY, 8 JANUARY 2017 of the Blessed Virgin on the same day of the historic victory on September 8. Up to Inde- pendence in 1964 Malta enjoyed no other civil commemoration except those of the Empire. This dearth of non-religious commemora- tions meant that for centuries the Maltese never invented any tradition that could unite them outside religion, reflecting an identity without a civic collective memory. Liturgy and the British Empire seem to have restrained secular nationalism in what Smith (2009) calls the evolution of the community's iden- tity. The 1919 Sette Giugno popular rebellion produced four Maltese victims felled by Brit- ish military gunfire in Valletta. At the time, the four heroes were immediately recognized by the workers, the intelligentsia – most of it Italianate in culture – and political groups, as symbols of nationalism. Almost all social sectors united, with many of them gradually grouping themselves into better organized political parties to force Lon- don award Malta its first responsible govern- ment in 1921. Not unlike the 1798-1800 vic- tims, the 1919 dead under British rule could only be remembered out of the public sphere, another 'blocked' colony-induced practice. Most of us have selective memories of what we learnt about the past, and in time may re- alise that part of the past could have been mo- bilized to serve partisan, ecclesiastical or other purposes. Servile lethargy While several secular masses in Europe cul- tivated common dress codes and activities, such as organized support for their own na- tional and regional football teams, in the same vein, Malta seems to have fared best at invent- ing two major unusual activities for decades: a set of two opposing loose forces of Maltese football supporters one for England, the ex- colonizer, and the other for Italy, the Island's old terra madre, as if the Maltese had no na- tionality of their own. The colonial years had produced this pre- sumed historical malady that is blocking out what is one's own for what one considers to be superior to one's native heritage and iden- tity. Under British rule one could comprehend an amount of lethargy induced by servility towards one's national memory, but after in- dependence society was expected to change faster and feel freer in its own sovereignty to construct a vigorous liberated memory. Post- independent authoritative decisions or indeed omissions do not always indicate this is hap- pening, though. After erecting a Sette Giugno monument at the Addolorata Cemetery in 1925 – away from the British gaze – Maltese society had to wait another 61 years to erect a proper national monument to its past heroes in the main square in Valletta. In 1986, a Labour government built the monument, while the succeeding Nationalist one, three years later, upgraded Sette Giugno – as the event came to be known – to one of the five national days of the country. The first official celebration of this event, en- joying the support of both political parties rep- resented in the Maltese parliament, took place in the same year, consolidating a widespread sense of identification. But unfortunately, if not also ironically, in 2009, merely 20 years later, this significant national monument, be- longing to a united collective memory, was relegated to an obscure corner of Valletta on the peripheral bastions of the city by a govern- ment whose party, the Nationalist Party, way back in 1919 had politically exploited the orig- inal event and helped generate the anti-British memory for quite some time. Auspiciously at the end of 2016, after a popular consultation exercise, the monu- ment was returned to its rightful place on St George's Square, restoring a memory balance in a space otherwise dominated by an out-size British royal insignia facing the republican President's Palace. Atop the Main Guard, un- der the crest an inscription recalls how 'by the love of the Maltese' – who were informed of Malta's imperious absorption into the British Empire three and a half years after the Paris and Vienna post-Waterloo Congress – the Is- land became a British protectorate. Contrary to what was asserted in the recent 2016 A Strategy for Valletta public consulta- tion draft published by the Planning Authority in June (https://opm.gov.mt/en/Documents/ Public%20Consultations/A%20Strategy%20 for%20Valletta%20-%20A%20Public%20Con- sultation%20Draft.pdf, page 14), in 1813, first governor Thomas Maitland, after receiving orders to remove the Knights' escutcheons in Valletta and replace them with the British coat-of-arms, not only did not 'ignore' such orders but erected several huge coats of arms around the palace. Lord Bathurst's order to promote public loyalty to the British Crown knew no bounds: Maitland put up similar royal insignia in the palatial courtyard, in the Bibliotheca, in Merchants Street (bizarrely superimposed on Zondadari's bust), in St Paul Street at the entrance of the Old University and another huge replica on top of Victoria Gate replacing Porta Marina, besides a number of others in Floriana. In postcolonial spaces 'the stories of the past... are always contested; which milestones to celebrate; which tragedies to mourn; which figures to venerate and which to delete'. In- dependent republican Malta still appears to continue 'venerating' this perceived 'superior' past, unwittingly manifesting a national sense of presumed inferiority among nations. More- over this is blocking other possible local mon- uments – Vassalli's is a case in point – which deserve their rightful place in the capital. Furthermore the numerous British royal crests in Valletta complement the odd 20 other colonialist monuments to governors and lesser known British officials obtrusively including Queen Victoria in Republic Square by the side of the same palace. One can only speculate that when this spring, Britain trig- gers Article 50 to leave the European Union, possibly in the same palace, it will feel better knowing that it does so in a building where Britannia remains the symbolic ruler of an- other EU capital. Valletta appears to be block- ing its own national story to relate instead that of the dominating ex-colonialist. Filling historical gaps On the road to celebrating Valletta as the European City of Culture in 2018 a number of initiatives have been taken some of which fully respect residents as should be the case. Though it is wise to address the capital's citi- zenry when altering Valletta's landscape one must also remember however that the penin- sular city also tells the national story. National monuments – only a handful of substantial ones exist in Valletta – should replace less significant colonial memorials like that of the 1816 Lieut. Col. Edwards, Maitland's secretary in Ceylon, occupying pride of place in front of the lift at the Upper Barrakka Gardens. In recent years and since the building of Renzo Piano's artistic modern idiom at its entrance, Valletta seems to be taking a fa- vourable stance towards abstract expressions of historical personages and events, perhaps not always with the expected success. The 2015 Valletta Summit monument on Castille Square remains tied in knots. Along with La Valette's statue, hastily erected in 2012 in the small square behind the converted Opera House ruins 450 years too late, last Decem- ber another new monument found its place in the precincts of the same Piano complex: this time it was the turn of the city's original archi- tects Laparelli and Ġlormu Cassar to receive homage in a contemporary variety. It may be wise to move with the times and present quasi-abstract images as long as the message comes through. Monuments are erected to serve as a dialogue of history or- chestrated by the state towards its populace even if at the expense of some private entity (as in the case of La Valette and Laparelli- Cassar memorials) and therefore possibly not forming part of an integral long-term plan. Identity formation The recently published report on history questions as tackled by O level history stu- dents uncovers the confusion in the minds of certain students regarding the visual display of our past through monuments. Some students (happily over 60% passed) did not succeed to answer correctly a question about Malta's prime ministers whose effigies decorate Val- letta's corners in different poses. A lack of testimonials of Napoleon Bona- parte's one week stay in Valletta in 1798 – a commemorative indication where he landed would not be amiss – led students to mistak- enly believe the French Emperor was a post- war Maltese political leader. One can imagine Laparelli's and Cassar's fate as to what histori- cal information this new vague memorial is able to convey about the latter's early contri- bution to Malta's identity through the build- ing of a city that put the Islands on the map. Such initiatives to represent hitherto little- exposed past personages in an abstract form, while fitting in with contemporary expression may on the other hand point to a lack of clear thinking on how best to reconstruct Valletta's public space testimonials for a proper cultural identity. Planners may be overlooking the im- portant role of the capital city as the guardian of the national story, which needs to be told and understood. A practical step that might help in the short term would be to follow the example of Aus- tria where every national monument, memo- rial or architectural gem is marked by a pen- nant with the national colours (just plain red and white) accompanied by brief but essential information. This has been excellently done in the case of the newly placed Sette Giugno on St George's Square. A plaque in four lan- guages succinctly explains the whole event – except perhaps for the word 'revolution' – technically one might qualify it as a strong national protest. Nothing wrong in opting to generate monu- ments in a modern artistic idiom but with- out bothering to fill in the historical gaps we missed during the 19th century with clearer imagery we risk plodding ahead rather than marching towards this vital objective. The known is trustworthy while the unknown may not always be immediately trusted. Dr Charles Xuereb is a historicist Laparelli-Cassar newly placed monument near Parliament – will it gain lost ground in promoting deserved recognition of the Valletta builders? A gloomy view of the President's Palace during Yuletide, covered up for festive projections, shows lack of respect for the office of the Republic's highest authority.