Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/969423
11 maltatoday SUNDAY 15 APRIL 2018 News WHERE WERE THEY? Past Campaigns spearheaded by Graffitti /fronts in which it was involved Against Hilton Development with Front Kontra l-Hilton (1994-1997) Anti MacDonald's Day (1995-2000) Verdala Golf course with Front Kontra l-Golf Kors (2000-2004) Zonqor AUM development with Front Harsien ODZ (2015) Manoel Island with Kamp Emergenza Ambjent (2016-2018) Paceville Masterplan with Kamp Emergenza Ambjent (2016-2017) Political stands by Graffitti 1994 Opposed state Vatican agreement on marriage 1995 Called for decriminalisation of abortion 1996 Endorsed Sant's Labour in general election 2000 Supported EU membership bid following internal vote 2016 Called for resignation of Konrad Mizzi and Keith Schembri while calling both parties different versions of the "same shit" Putting their money where their mouth is: Graffitti and KEA get stuck in as they unfurl a massive banner right in the middle of the Planning Authority board meeting on yet another relocation of a fuel service station outside development zones Old and new: from left, Andre Callus, the now public face of the group, and sociologist Mary Grace Vella, who belonged to the crop of activists from the mid- 90s and is still active; a younger Michael Briguglio, sporting a RATM t-shirt, and right, youth worker Chris Mizzi smiles from behind the Manoel Island fencing that Graffitti and KEA prised open to protest the closure of the foreshore to the public pregnant with tension especially on the thorny issue of political al- liances and whether to reach out to political parties. Turnover of activists Some members, including my- self, left the organisation at the turn of the millennium to join the Green Party. Co-Founder Michael Brigug- lio, who has remained a fixture in civil society activism, went on to become Alternattiva Demokratika chairperson and a local councillor for the Greens in Sliema, before joining the Nationalist Party after the last general election. Today he lectures sociology at the University of Malta. Others, like the lawyer Alex Sciberras, also passed into AD's youth section before leaving to contest for Labour and becoming Msida mayor for one term. Novelists Mark Vella and Guze Stagno were active for some time. It-Torca's former editor Aleks Far- rugia also passed through its mili- tant louver doors. Journalist Jurgen Balzan was active too before join- ing Alternattiva Demokratika and later starting his career in journal- ism. Sociologist Mary Grace Vella is probably the sole survivor of the original crop of activists harking back to the 1990s. Some former members are now directly involved in policy-making. Between 2000 and 2003 former ac- tivist Silvan Agius served as Policy Director of ILGA Europe, and in the 2013 general election he stood as AD candidate before joining Helena Dalli's Ministry where he presently serves as director of the Human Rights and Integration Di- rectorate. Some other members, like Com- monwealth youth worker Chris Mizzi, became active in the vol- untary sector. Mizzi was especially active during an 'interregnum' period of activism after the depar- ture of Graffitti's founders, and the new crop of activists today. Mark Camilleri, who had his taste of Graffitti before founding the mischievous student pamphlet Ir- Realtà and the Front Against Cen- sorship, now heads the National Book Council. Activist David Pisani remains a key figure in the more orthodox left-wing organisa- tion Zminijietna with whom Graf- fitti shares its office in Strait Street. Some present-day activists like the recognisable Andre Callus, who has grown in to the move- ment's public face, have been around since the early noughties. This crop of younger activists in- cluded LGBTI and pro-Palestine activist Alex Caruana. Monique Agius, who chaired the first Front Harsien ODZ stood as a candidate with the Democratic Party in the last general election and now mili- tates in the Civil Society Network. Front Harsien ODZ provided a rare and short-lived occasion for the older generation of activists to engage with younger ones, which inevitably resulted in creative, but ultimately paralysing tension. Perhaps one of the marvellous discoveries I made during my brief return to activism included old scrap books full of press cuttings from days gone by. Lately Graf- fitti was instrumental in setting up Kamp Emergenza Ambjent, which also includes Brikkuni frontman Mario Vella. KEA took a promi- nent role in a campaign to secure access to the coast in Manoel Is- land, again in an alliance with its Labour-led council. And last week it teamed up with the PN-led St Ju- lian's council and the PL-led Pem- broke council to oppose the City Centre project on land granted by government to developer Silvio Debono. Its role in Maltese society has certainly evolved, not just as the handful of protestors unfurling 'middle-finger' banners at a visit- ing US warship, but as the crucial actors of resistance on Malta's cri- sis of land use. jdebono@mediatoday.com.mt Grab him by the head! One-time Graffitti activist Mark Vella stands his ground during a protest on 1 June 1995, over the creation of the Junior College that supplanted the Sixth Form Lyceum