A multicoloured coat

WHAT a wonderful spectacle! Malta has managed to ensure that it offers the rest of the world a spectacle of colour, talent, energy and sheer delight The opening ceremony at the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting at the Mediterranean Conference Centre on Friday morning portrayed our 7,000 years of history in a professionally packaged 35-minute production.

Foreign media have heaped praise on the Malta spectacle. It reminded many of us of the similar praise that Malta received on our EU accession celebrations just over a year and a half ago. For the first time ever, we could watch a spectacular event through and within a circular water curtain.

When the Ministry of Tourism and Culture was examining the different proposals for a spectacle at the opening ceremony, the water curtain concept won the day. There was however a long road between seeing a proposal on paper, awarding the tender, negotiating details, and finally enjoying the actual performance. It was well worth our while and I am particularly grateful to Welcome Events for bringing their concept to life and living up to their promise.

A word of praise is equally due to all those who made it happen, be it on or off stage. The YADA group led by Felix Busuttil provided the enchanting choreography set to an original musical score by Philip Vella, Gillian Zammit impeccably sang our national anthem, Anthony Bezzina built the complex stage, Reuben Zahra together with his group, Nafra, played traditional Maltese instruments, Edward Mercieca was the master of ceremonies in the lead-up to the spectacle, and throughout the performance one could see Lou Bondì directing, visibly and rightly elated when the production was over.

Yesterday night, as well as this afternoon and this evening, the spectacle is being repeated to be enjoyed by the public. The three extra performances were sold out and there is a demand for copies of the spectacle that has been staged.

I think it is highly appropriate that we make use of the best we have to offer through contemporary visual and performing arts to present Malta to the rest of the world. Combining those arts with our history and cultural heritage provides for Malta's own 'value added', our competitive edge. This is where tourism and culture are in synergy.

The Commonwealth is all about networking and the Malta summit was placing emphasis on the use of ICT as a crucial tool in that process. Culture provides a vital networking tool and I am pleased that CHOGM 2005 was used as a backdrop for various cultural events.

On the eve of the opening ceremony, my ministry saw to the staging at the Manoel Theatre of "The Commonwealth Resounds!" - a spectacular multicultural musical event featuring Maltese musicians, together with singers and composers and performers from all over the Commonwealth. The following day, the same show was put up in Gozo.

The concert followed a format devised by Alison Cox for a special concert given at Buckingham Palace in the presence of members of the Royal Family on March 1 as part of a Royal Music Day. Musicians from India, Pakistan, Africa, the Caribbean (Jamaica), the South Pacific (Fiji, Australia), Cyprus, the UK, Malta and Gozo took part.

For this multicultural musical event a marvellous souvenir programme, to celebrate Malta as a cultural host to over 150 international performers in "The Commonwealth Resounds!", was produced with images by the celebrated photographer Malcolm Crowthers. He was with the rest of us at the Manoel on Thursday night, enjoying the show, as well as taking more photographs!

The Royal Commonwealth Society and Buckingham Palace supported this event and have helped organise a highly prestigious 'curtain-raising' event for sponsors and supporters of "The Commonwealth Resounds!" held in London on November 17.

Classic FM ran trailers and broadcast highlights to 5.9 million listeners as the main media partner.

From our own national perspective, we had good reason to feel proud of the angelic performance offered by 16-year-old harpist Cecilia Sultana de Maria. Cecilia is of Maltese origin and played solo as well as part of the Purcell Trio. Cecilia in 2002 accepted a place at the Purcell School where she holds a scholarship under the UK Government's Music and Dance Scheme. Equally doing us proud were the Cantores Sancti Juliani led by Lino Attard, and accompanied by Cecilia on the harp. Gozo was ably represented by the Ghaqda Folkoristika tal-Qiegha.

The Commonwealth is a multicultural, multiracial, multilingual and multi-religious organisation. Multicultural musical events of the calibre of "The Commonwealth Resounds!" represent the internationality of the Commonwealth and help in fostering understanding between the people of the member states.

Another cultural event of incredible taste and style was the one seen to by the Royal Over-Seas League which last night presented a gala concert at the Manoel Theatre. The concert featured the astounding Micallef-Inanga piano duo, South African soprano Joyce Moholoague, pianist Andrew Aarsons and Australian saxophonist Amy Dickson.

More cultural events were staged at St James Cavalier. They included an activity of visual arts having as a theme 'Digital Discourse' with artists from various parts of the Commonwealth coming together to display their talents. Another exhibition worked on the concept of 'Zero Carbon City' portraying a proactive message in favour of the environment.

An interesting music event was "Sounds Unlimited", where Renzo Spiteri joined Michael, Pedro and Chris in an unforgettable fusion of different percussion sounds intermingling with ordinary domestic and industrial sounds that could be brought together clearly through the use of new technologies. In these events, the British Council and St James Cavalier acted together to bring to discerning audiences a different and original touch of what the Commonwealth diversity can stand for.

There was more. The tourism side of my ministry saw to a whole series of events aimed at the hundreds of foreign journalists and other media persons here for CHOGM. We wanted to present these people with different tastes of the Malta experience. That included restaging the highly successful "Birgu by Candlelight", which already forms part of the Historic Cities Festival, a night at Mgarr to take in a sample of our agricultural character, events at Mdina, as well as creating the typical atmosphere of a Maltese festa (in this case that of St Catherine) in Zurrieq and Zejtun.

Moreover, the Malta Tourism Authority arranged for an enhanced gun salute at our Saluting Battery, used in particular to greet HMS Illustrious, as well as an exhibition depicting the different phases of our history. This was put up at the Mediterranean Conference Centre.

The Tourism Authority was also present at the Commonwealth Business Forum held at the Hilton. That forum brought over to Malta top-notch decision-makers and key personalities in the world of business and enterprise. All had words of praise for Malta and for what Malta can offer to generate further economic growth and employment.

Malta had a unique opportunity to display its very best in its shop window and so it did and scored top marks.

Unfortunately one organisation deliberately chose not to sing from the same hymn book. On the eve of the spectacular CHOGM opening, the General Workers Union held a protest demonstration and meeting used by Tony Zarb to declare his "war" on Government and to give signals that can only serve to scare investors and militate against job creation. His was the one and only discordant note, matched only by the Labour Party that apart from other antics used its Valletta club to convey the following message.

The editor will bear with me for not correcting the original text which I am reproducing word for word - in the latest edition of Queen's English: "Welcome all Heads of States CHOGM. Thank you for making our Government upgrading some of our roads after 18 years. Please come every month."

In cultural terms, CHOGM represents a multicoloured coat. Part of that coat's fabric are Malta's own unique colours. Last week those colours shone brightly despite partisan and old-fashioned attempts by some who for strictly partisan motives, seek to have Malta display a different image.

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