Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/997322
17 maltatoday | SUNDAY • 24 JUNE 2018 INTERVIEW Chairman of V18 Foundation to pick petty fights? I have a responsibility to de- fend the integrity of the Foun- dation and its team. Mario Vella continuously lambasts Valletta 2018 and calls it what- ever name that comes to his mind. He refers to the Valletta 2018 Foundation as dirt and scum. I refute that. Now, when someone like Mario Vella encourages other artists not to participate in events supported by the Foun- dation and then does other- wise, that is very hypocritical. So yes, I stand with what I said on his Facebook post, since he took part in the Earth Garden – which was heavily supported by the Foundation for the past three years – while calling for others to boycott V18-spon- sored events. Besides, I'm baffled by Mario's treatment! Is it OK for him to call me a low-life scum and oth- er dirty words? Nobody reports on that! It's sad. I'm truly wor- ried about all the hate speech on the social media and some of this hate speech is celebrated in Mario Vella's Facebook posts. Why don't you report on that? It's like he can but I cannot. If I'm subjected to bullying, why can't I respond to that? I am all for celebrating the freedom of speech and ex- change of opinions – I think it's healthy – but I think the stuff that Mario Vella writes and says is absolutely bollocks. I believe we need to calm down and open a national dialogue against the hate speech on so- cial media and try to under- stand each other. It's getting out of hand, we can't turn a blind eye to that. How does this stream of hostility affect Valletta 2018 day-to-day operations? It absolutely does not affect our day-to-day operations. We have a strong cultural pro- gramme and I can't believe it's already six months down the line. People come in thousands to our mass events and that's what matters most. The Maltese public was looking forward to Valletta 2018. It cultivated high expectations. However, many pointed out that some of the V18 activities like Malta Green Festival, Malta Fashion week and Valletta Film Festival had been established prior to 2018, which gives an impressing that V18 is a mere stamp on existing events. Do you think Valletta 2018 is living up to the expectations it cultivated? Valletta 2018 did not com- mence in 2018. We got the title in late 2012 and the offi- cial confirmation came around March-April 2013. We im- mediately began building a solid structure, set the founda- tion, the board of governance, started engaging our human resource and started planning. We wanted to give Valletta the events which never existed and to further support the exist- ing ones. We involved the fel- low organisations like the Arts Council Malta. And although we decided to support such events as Notte Bianca, Malta Jazz Festival, the Malta Inter- national Arts festival, we also gradually introduced other ac- tivities so that the programme would culminate in 2018. Take Valletta Pageant of the Seas – it's a huge spectacle of an in- ternational dimension. Therefore, Valletta 2018 has been gaining momentum for the past few years. The success of the events was brought by the experience that we gained in the previous three-four years. Do you think that the European Capital of Culture is more about bolstering tourism in and improving visibility of European cities rather than a space for high culture? To which extent is ECOC about economic stimulation and investment and to which – about culture? I think the Maltese creative industry has benefitted enor- mously from hosting the Eu- ropean Capital of Culture. It's getting bigger by the month. Whereas a couple of years ago there were around 8,000 people working in the crea- tive sector, by the first quar- ter of this year their number reached 12,000. It has hap- pened because we invested – I refuse to say "spent" – in the creative industry, which is the fastest-growing industry in Malta. Valletta 2018 is not Ja- son Micallef. We've achieved this together with Arts Council Malta, Spazju Kreattiv, Teatru Manoel and the newly formed organisations like Cinemalta and Teatru Malta. The change that this heavily publicly fund- ed initiative has brought to the cultural sector is unprecedent- ed. It's no coincidence that in- coming tourism is also on the increase. So many people are asking about Valletta; their desire to come to Valletta and stay here has never been as prominent as it is today. So yes, I agree with you that tourism has been given a huge boost. We have been promoting Val- letta 2018 with the Tourism Authority for the past two and a half years. Also, Valletta attracted pri- vate investment. Old dwellings and palazzos are being turned into boutique hotels. We have increased accommodation in Valletta – we now have thirty one fully operational exquisite boutique hotel in Valletta. Frankly, proliferation of boutique hotels rather concerns me. Their presence makes living in Valletta more expensive, the city is becoming a place for the rich. And it also might turn into one lifeless tourist accommodation. Doesn't it concern you? Of course it does. We need to find a proper balance. A few years ago we had a dying capi- tal city. We wanted to restore faith in Valletta which was absent 10-15 years ago. There was a stigma against Valletta. That was the first step – to get Valletta on the level of a Euro- pean capital with huge invest- ment, local and foreign. The next step is to ensure that the Valletta community keeps living in Valletta and in- crease the population of Val- letta as much as possible. Now, it's not easy. What we have in mind is the second regenera- tion happening from the end of the year and throughout the next two and a half years. The government has reserved 30 million euro of public funds which will be invested in the lower parts of Valletta where the heart of the community lives. We will have new water- front, restoration works on the social housing estates, resto- ration of Auberge de Bavière, which hosts the Lands Author- ity, restoration of the primary school. We have plans to cre- ate the first day care centre in Valletta for the aging popula- tion. That is a promise and the works will start as soon as Val- letta 2018 is over. RG. What is the future of Valletta 2018? Do you think it has succeeded to become a catalyst for the Maltese arts? I think it still is premature to talk about this. We will look into it closer when we wrap up in March next year. However, we are planning to ensure that the legacy of V18 carries on. The government, the Ministry of Culture and the Parliamentary Secretary responsible for Valletta 2018 have reached an agreement on a new structure respon- sible for keeping the legacy alive. So this summer we will introduce the first Valletta Culture Agency which will be a curator of the cultural events in the city. What was your most rewarding moment as Chairman of Valletta 2018 Foundation? What was the least rewarding one? It's a tough question. There have been so many events, so there is no one most re- warding thing or the least re- warding one. I think that the most rewarding is the public engagement, the interest of the audience. The number of people attending cultural events has increased – I am so pleased with that. The least rewarding – I don't know. I don't think I ever sat down and thoughy "this must be the least rewarding occasion dur- ing my years as Chairman". Maybe I'll reply to this ques- tion by the end of the year.