Malta urged to increase public access to the arts

A European experts' report on Malta's culture and the arts has said that a key policy objective should be to increase access to the arts, heritage, libraries and archives.

The report was presented to the council's Steering Committee for Culture by a group of experts headed by Ms Pirrko Rainesalo of Finland. The report was assembled by Professor Anthony Everitt, a cultural policy expert in the UK.

The team found that attendance at cultural events or activities in Malta was comparatively low. A key policy objective should therefore be to increase access to the arts, heritage, libraries and archives by encouraging participation in creative activity, ensuring cultural sustainability and investing in culture.

Cultural development in Malta would also require substantial additional financial investment.

The group welcomed the new school curriculum, saying it would lead to greater promotion of creativity in schools.

"A cultural policy for young people should be established covering formal education and the youth service."

The group lamented that "much of Malta's built and natural heritage is ruinous and needs restoration."

It said there was need for increased training in management and marketing for heritage administrators and an integrated heritage policy should be established, which encouraged private owners and the Church to agree a common approach with the state.

Some of the large stock of unused and dilapidated buildings in Malta should be adapted to new, contemporary purposes.

The group said Malta's intention to develop cultural tourism should stimulate economic growth while at the same time enhancing the island's cultural facilities. However, further market research may be desirable and care should be taken to strike a careful balance between visitors' needs and conservation.

Greater investment needed to be made in libraries and archives, both for capital purposes and the purchase of books. A common approach to the conservation and development of archival holdings should be agreed by the Church and the state.

Carnival needed to be re-invigorated, in part through greater expressive freedom and the festas would benefit from a greater artistic input than at present.

A package of measures would be required to foster the individual artist, including international promotion, improved professional development, provision of rehearsal spaces and artists' studios, grants to artists, support for new writing (especially in Maltese), for book publishing and for the development of crafts.

Consideration needed to be given to the institutional development of the performing arts. A fund should be established to support drama and dance of a more ambitious nature than at present. In time, this could lead to the creation of a national theatre company. Training in management and marketing for arts administrators should be prioritised.

The group said there were gaps in the built infrastructure for the arts and an audit should be conducted to form the basis for a capital development strategy.

Consideration should also be given to determining those areas of Maltese life where the language used should be Maltese; to promoting Maltese in schools and to encouraging new writing in Maltese.

A range of cultural measures should be taken to support Maltese populations in other countries.

The quality of local broadcasting and audiovisual production should be enhanced and participation by the people in media activity encouraged.

Consideration should be given to the role of the private sector in support of cultural development and to the desirability of special hypothecated taxes, the proceeds of which would be expended on culture. Use should be made of the European Union' s structural funds.

The report said the new institutional arrangements for the management of the heritage, as determined by the Cultural Heritage Act, 2002, could provide an example of good practice for other European countries. The new Malta Council for Culture and the Arts should be empowered to act independently of the government and should make use of peer advise when making artistic decisions.

Local Councils too had an important role to play in the cultural field; but the devolution to them of relevant powers and duties should be implemented gradually.