Calling for culture

I spent most of last week attending a meeting for Education and Culture Ministers from the EU member states in Rotterdam. A paper prepared by the Dutch Presidency of the European Union was entitled "Call for Culture".

The Lisbon goal is to make Europe the most competitive knowledge economy by the year 2010. The ministers at the Rotterdam meeting felt that this target could not be achieved if no measures relating to culture were taken. It is now proven that culture and the arts are growth areas and that is why we refer to the "creative industries".

Understanding that there is an economic justification is comforting at a time where we tend to measure success by monetary benchmarks that are the easiest to quantify. The argument for more investment in the field of culture and the arts would still hold even if there was no economic basis for it.

The European Union has gone well beyond being merely an economic community. All European countries do well to reach beyond that box, to search for their raison d'être by probing further to discover the fundamental values that make us fulfilled human beings.

My impression following the Rotterdam meeting is that Culture Ministers throughout the European Union share a common vision and determination to give this sector its due importance. Welcome news reached us during the meeting that the European Commission will be making various concrete proposals to achieve this target. That will mean more funds for the various culture and audio visual projects.

Since the Treaties of Maastricht, Amsterdam and Nice, and more recently the European Constitution, the EU has encompassed more than economic integration alone. Moreover, since enlargement the Union has acquired more cultural diversity.

This is a historic juncture that needs to be related more effectively to the European citizens. A recent communication issued by the Commission, "Making citizenship work", emphasised "the need to foster the mobility of artists, cultural and audio-visual works".

As I pointed out in an intervention at this meeting, what might initially appear as contradictory terms 'unity' and 'diversity', within the EU are the backbone of its strength and significance. This applies in particular to the cultural sector where we need to learn from each other's experiences and where sharing our separate national and local ways of expressing ourselves will form the multicoloured and rich texture of the European mosaic.

This is a sector that does not depend only on what the different Governments within the Union do about it. As the paper prepared by the Dutch presidency highlighted, "Investing in culture and economic growth is not just a matter for governments. Citizenship and entrepreneurship are not amenable to dictates from above: they only develop in a 'bottom-up' fashion. What Governments and the EU must do is to encourage initiatives and remove obstacles."

An important recommendation made by the Dutch presidency and endorsed by the ministers present regards the mobility of museum collections within the EU. This is a powerful means of giving real meaning to the concept of the 'Europe of the citizen' but requires removing various obstacles that at present are a hindrance to such mobility.

Through Heritage Malta, Malta is already adopting a very pro-active role in this direction. The exhibition on torture that has been housed for a year at the Inquisitor's Palace in Vittoriosa exemplifies mobility of museum artefacts from San Giminiano in Italy to Malta.

Participation later on this year in an exhibition dealing with crusaders in armour through which Malta will make a strong presence at an exhibition entitled Monaci in Armi that will be held at Castel Sant'Angelo in Rome will exemplify mobility in the opposite direction.

A positive thought that I could share with my Dutch hosts regards a major initiative that has been taken up by Heritage Malta - convincing the curators of the highly renowned Allard Pierson Museum in Amsterdam that allows us to put up an exhibition dealing with "Wonders from Prehistory - Neolithic and Bronze Age, Malta, 5200-750 BC" in that museum. The exhibition will be open from October 28 until February 28, 2005.

The exhibition will present to the people of the Netherlands a general overview of Maltese prehistory through different media, in particular through original artefacts, bilingual information panels, pictorial blow-ups and interactive information technology.

More than 300 original artefacts have been identified to serve as the main focus of the presentation. They include pottery, implements and miniature altars coming from various prehistoric sites in Malta and Gozo. Four temple models will complement these artefacts.

The exhibition will take up five rooms as well as a corridor within the Pierson museum and will display the following time line and themes: Room 1 - Introduction to Prehistoric Malta, Malta before Prehistory, the early Neolithic Period; Room 2 - Temple Period: the architecture; Room 3 - Temple Period: the people, their religion and everyday life; Room 4 - Bronze Age Malta; Corridor - Watercolours by Brockdorff; and Room 5 - Information on all the prehistoric sites in Malta and Gozo, other museums and sites managed by Heritage Malta, as well as an interactive presentation on the Maltese temples.

Throughout the four-month duration of the exhibition, audio-visuals on Malta and its history will also be screened at the museum's auditorium, and since the Allard Pierson Museum forms part of the University of Amsterdam, lectures by a Maltese archaeologist are envisaged.

This exhibition will follow others which have been successfully held in Florence (1996), Prague (1999), San Marino (2001) and Brussels (2001-2).

Gratitude is due to all involved within Heritage Malta as well as to the management of the Allard Pierson Museum in Amsterdam for giving life and making possible this initiative.

Putting on my tourism hat, I can think of no better way to promote Malta as an experience where the sun, sand and sea are 'bonuses' over and above an enriching cultural experience where our true competitive edge lies.

The European Union will not only be promoting mobility of museum collections, but also about mobility of artists in the visual and performing arts sector.

Last Friday I discussed with James Vella Clark and Trevor Borg the unique experience gained through their participating in a visual arts exhibition in Germany entitled "The New Ten". As the name suggests, it was a showcase of works of art by artists from the new EU states. The exhibition will now be travelling to other destinations within the European family and hopefully will at some stage be put up on our own territory.

The way forward is through culture. Even if we persist with measurements that are strictly economical, the argument only becomes stronger. In the UK, the creative industries already represent eight per cent of that country's GDP and this sector is one of the fastest growing economic sectors.

Calling for culture deserves to be a calling of each and every one of us. It is the calling which provides the best pillar for a knowledge-based society that is becoming economically healthier and that is promoting a lifestyle that matches present and future aspirations of European citizens.

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