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maltatoday SUNDAY 7 JANUARY 2018 31 This Week MARK CAMILLERI LOU Drofenik is not a new name in the Maltese literary scene. A Maltese-Australian author based in Melbourne, Drofenik, who writes in English, started by self-publishing her first nov- el Birds of Passage in 2005 and so far has written eight novels. The Confectioner's Daughter is Drofenik's first novel to be pub- lished by Horizons, a relatively new and upcoming Maltese publisher. Horizons' foresight served it well. The Confection- er's Daughter won the National Book Prize for novels published in 2016. This is the first time a novel written in English has won the Prize since the National Book Council introduced the bilingual rule putting both Eng- lish and Maltese, as State official languages, on an equivalent plat- form. Winning a prize in the novels category against competition by renowned authors such as Im- manuel Mifsud makes the rec- ognition to Drofenik even more prestigious and rightly so. Lou Drofenik had already received two National Book Prizes for her novels, one in 2008 with In Search of Carmen Caruana and another one in 2011 with Cast The Long Shadow. She was twice awarded the Australian North Central Literary Award for Cloves and Bitter Almonds and Beloved Convict. Although Drofenik's position as the best English-writing Maltese novel- ist was practically undisputed given the lack of Maltese litera- ture in English, the fact that she has proved her mastery along- side other renowned Maltese authors, irrespective of the lan- guage used, means that her place in the Maltese literary canon is assured. Here we are speaking of undoubtedly one of the most significant contemporary Mal- tese writers. The novel is lucid, gripping, dynamic and reads like a film by Giuseppe Tornatore. It is set in early 20th century Malta, where the patriarchal establish- ment rules over women with overwhelming force, the voice of women is often muffled and women tend to keep to them- selves. In a small village environment which can easily turn hostile and violent towards independ- ent women who make choices outside of the norm, the rags- to-riches success of a poor baker turned confectioner who inher- its a small bakery from her de- ceased father is welcomed by her fellow villagers with both envy and respect. Her younger Sicil- ian husband, whom she married after bribing a priest to marry them off quickly after having conceived his child, is murdered leaving Ġuditta, the confection- er, alone to run her business and bring up her child. The good side of Malta comes to light when friends and even unknown strangers empathise with her and come forward to help her. As the daughter of the strong-willed Ġuditta grows in the stifling patriarchal envi- ronment of the village, a sense of freedom and independence grows with her. Licia, the con- fectioner's daughter, leaves the island for greener pastures only to find new challenges of a dif- ferent kind, yet of a similar na- ture. The story shows Malta in its many different aspects. The ugly, superstitious, overtly zeal- ous and religious, male-centred society, while on the other hand there is also love, independence, solidarity and social justice. Women are at the centre of the story and throughout the novel face great challenges, making the theme of women's emanci- pation strongly present in both the background and foreground of the story. As the story spans through generations we see the charac- ters evolve and grow along with their changing historical envi- ronment providing a socio-his- torical background to Maltese society from the eyes of female characters. Drofenik, a Maltese emigrant who went to Australia in the 1960s, during the decade in which tens of thousands of Maltese left the islands in search for a better life, knows very well the great challenges faced by Maltese women back then. In her unpublished paper A Mo- ment of Rebellion, Drofenik writes that her decision to im- migrate to Australia was driven by her desire to own her life; to recreate herself while seeking liberation from the clutches of old prescribed customs which her home society had long im- posed on her. Similarly, Licia, who leaves Malta for good, rec- reates her life from scratch – a daunting and challenging task in comparison to staying in Malta in the comfort and security of her mother's home. The characters of Licia and Ġuditta are a rare class of female characters in Maltese literature: strong-willed, independent and defiant. To many young women today who may still experience the stifling patriarchal nature of Maltese society, Licia and Ġuditta may be inspirational characters. Female heroes are rare in the Maltese literary scene, but they are also so in lit- erature all over the world. Lou Drofenik's National Book Prize for The Confectioner's Daughter as the best Maltese novel in 2016 has coincided with the global debate on women's rights, sparked by the outcry over sexual abuse and miscon- duct on actresses in Hollywood by powerful men in the film in- dustry. Drofenik may be writing about stories which are set in the past, but she may also be writing about many traits which are still with us to their very day. With The Confectioner's Daughter, Drofenik may have written not only a historical novel, but a po- litical manifesto for the libera- tion of women. unfold A political manifesto on the liberation of women which I produced. Its walls are as significant as the debris which I collected and enclosed in frames. It is as if The Mill, a building of almost three hun- dred years-old, is housing the remains of other old buildings, the majority of which are now lost. Do you hope that your work will at least lead people to reconsider the status quo of our urban environments and their development? And speaking more generally, what can artists do to effect positive social change in that regard? It is very attractive to think that art can lead a social or po- litical movement of some sort but I don't think it can. There has been and there still is art which has a strong protest el- ement in it but in most cases art is the result rather than the cause of something. What I mean is that art is made by a particular group of people who have greater sensitivity than others have and they have this need to express what they feel about a particular thing. In order to do this, they resort to means of expression – such as painting, music and so on – because the usual method of 'talking about it' is not suf- ficient. These individuals are what we call 'artists'. However, after an artist has fulfilled their need in tackling an issue by producing artwork, then the latter is exhibited for others to experience. And the reason why artwork gets shown to the public is because it can and should influence it. Since artists can feel and notice things which others cannot, they can offer the public al- ternative perspectives towards an issue. What artists should do more of, is respond to such issues through their work in whatever way they see fit and then make it accessible for eve- ryone to see. What do you make of the local visual arts scene? What would you change about it? There is certainly more go- ing on than there was 10 years ago both in terms of quantity and quality. This is due to the increasing number of people who work independently and outside non-private institu- tions. I cannot discuss in depth other artistic areas other than the visual arts but I can dis- cuss culture because the visual art scene in Malta is hindered from an attitude towards cul- ture in general, an attitude that is fostered by public institu- tions. It is not up to these insti- tutions to 'make' culture but to let it happen. At times it feels like there are a group of people inside these institutions that think that they can make cul- ture by sitting around a table and writing it down. This is utterly ridiculous and completely out of touch with what culture is all about. This absurd view is reflected in the quality of work that gets pro- duced or in projects that start off but die down after a short time. Of course these institu- tions and individuals who sup- port them can come up with arguments about who decides what quality is. But their ar- guments do not hold because they are detached from the art world context and needless to say, no country can make it alone in the world, let alone a tiny one like Malta. There are those artworks and events that get produced for purposes such as for power, whether institutional or indi- vidual. Art that gets produced for such purposes is not art but rather something that looks like art. And something that is fake, besides wasting public money, does not fulfil the in- stinctive, spiritual – or whatev- er one wants to call it – needs of the people, but rather fools them. I also think that there is an urgent need in bringing to Malta important artworks, ex- hibitions and other events of international repute. Besides putting Malta more on the international cultural map, it would give the Maltese public access to high quality artworks and make it understand what the purpose of art is, that is, something that everyone can relate to and deeply needs. In Between Obliterations will remain on display at The Mill – Arts and Crafts Centre in Birkirkara until January 28. Opening hours: 17:00-19:00 (Monday, Wednesday and Fri- day; excluding January 22 and 24). Attard will be at the venue today, January 14 and 21 be- tween 11:00 and 17:00 to meet visitors. The exhibition is sup- ported by the Gabriel Caruana Foundation and Gozo Arts "At times it feels like there is a group of people inside these institutions that think they can make culture by sitting around a table and writing it down – this is utterly ridiculous" Maltese-Australian author Lou Drofenik (centre) pictured with her publisher upon winning the National Book Prize for novels published in Malta in 2016