The 'missing' Sette Giugno monument

I must be one among many others who are deeply disappointed that the Sette Giugno monument has not been reinstated in St George's Square in Valletta and I feel more aggrieved that there seems to be no intention to even consider the matter.

For one thing, Anton Agius, the sculptor who conceived this magnificent monument, held this work of art dear to his heart as being the appropriate tribute at the appropriate site to show the solemn respect every Maltese and Gozitan has for the patriots who lost their lives in the eventful days of June 1919.

Are we so heartless and indifferent that we can without scruple simply not care that this Sette Giugno masterpiece has "disappeared" from the landscaping of Pjazza San Ġorġ? It is good to remember that when this monument was there, every Maltese and Gozitan could exercise the decent and deserving gesture of publicly recognising our gratitude for the ultimate sacrifice of those victims whose names and surnames are actually inscribed at the base of the monument, namely Manwel Attard, Karmnu Abela, Ġużè Bajada and Wenzu Dyer.

As the situation stands now, these names (and the events and place they evoke) have been cruelly set aside or, even worse, conveniently eliminated in order to rot in some forgotten government store.

When the Sette Giugno monument was in its proper place, very close indeed to the environs where the climax of the 1919 events actually happened, it could and did elicit for us such sentiments as those expressed by Emeritus President Guido de Marco when he wrote in a foreword to the critical essay edition by the art critic Louis P. Saliba the following words: "Through (his) skill, Anton Agius has succeeded in acquiring recognition as a leading contemporary sculptor.

"I find two works of his which particularly strike me and to a certain extent they are in contradiction. One of the figures of the Sette Giugno monument is that of a man screaming on being shot. The sculptor has managed to bring out, and freeze in time, the figure's facial expression, which releases a terrible silent scream."

Are we so insensitive as to leave such praise to be recorded simply on paper in a book and not have the living work of art itself displayed in St George's Square as was the case until recently?