Adrian Mamo, chairman, Malta Council for Culture and the Arts, Valletta
Decision on Pornolotics
I refer to Mario Vella's Opinion piece entitled For Nations Vague As Weed (August 4) and his earlier contribution (Unbecoming Europe, July 22), which aimed to question the decision by the Malta Council for Culture and the Arts (MCCA) to exclude the exhibits under the name Pornolitics from the collective exhibition The Life Model held last month.
The decision was not one taken rashly and a meeting was held with the artist himself to discuss the matter beforehand. The decision had nothing to do with censorship and was deemed the right course of action when it was evident that the exhibits could give rise to libellous action. The artworks in question were subject to interpretation but, according to legal counsel, potentially libellous, with serious consequences. This may be an unacceptable reason for exclusion in Dr Vella's view, but a very valid one in the eyes of the MCCA, which is public-funded and not above the law.
In organising the Malta Arts Festival, of which the collective Life Model exhibition was one component, the MCCA currently has a responsibility to ensure its continuity for future editions. It therefore could not allow a situation which could give rise to any form of illegality. It would furthermore have been irresponsible of the MCCA to drag third parties into the issue. Admittedly the line between freedom of expression and the protection of the rights of the individual against attacks on his/her reputation (and the Law of Data Protection) is a fine one, and at most, the MCCA may be criticised for having taken the cautious side.
The MCCA has no intention of sidelining the issue of artistic freedom of expression or of censorship. The MCCA is not content with current legislation and will address the matter in its proper forum.
The upcoming Draft Cultural Policy, drawn up by the MCCA in conjunction with the Ministry for Education, Culture, Youth and Sport, will be presented for public debate. It proposes, among various other policies, a revision of the regulation of artistic content in the visual and performing arts.
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Joe Xuereb
Aug 18th 2009, 15:48
Adrian Mamo, not having the foggiest idea of the nature of the exhibits that you are on about, I could not for the life of me begin to start to understand exactly what you are saying. The gist, as I humbly understand it, is that there are exhibits that could be deemed libellous. Would this relate to libel laws as applicable to Malta and not, say, Afghanistan (only joking)? Not so far-fetched when one considers that divorce (resisted and prohibited) laws are applicable, worldwide, only in Malta and one other far-eastern country the name of which escapes me. I understand that Malta is big on uniqueness. Like the vast U.S. of A., it respects people's sensitivites. A litigious society, just like that in the U.S. of A.