Christian Peregin
'Don't let Pope Benedict see monument' - Luqa council
Government has no plans to remove it
Luqa's controversial sculpture is back in the news. Photo: Darrin Zammit Lupi
To the disbelief of many, an April Fool's Day joke became all too real yesterday when the Luqa local council actually pleaded for an infamous phallic-type sculpture to be uprooted "as a sign of respect for the Pope".
Mayor John Schembri called the work shameful, vulgar, obscene and embarrassing - and said even the village's Church authorities wanted it removed quickly and had actually written formal complaints.
Ceramic artist and sculptor Paul Vella Critien, who was responsible for the "monument of shame", lashed out at the "ignorant" people who did not understand art, when confronted with the council's request yesterday.
Pope Benedict XVI will visit Malta this weekend and his route will involve passing through the Luqa roundabout, where the column stands tall.
"There is widespread cross-party consensus that the object placed at the entrance of Luqa is not the most fitting way in which to greet the Pope, especially by what is considered to be the most Catholic country in the world," Mr Schembri said.
He added that the council was again launching a "firm and heartfelt" appeal to the government to make a "timely and mature" intervention and order the removal of this so-called work of art which had been lumped upon the village of Luqa. Ever since this parody of artistic expression had been "erected", he said, the council had never ceased to draw the attention of the government to the fact that it was a "vulgar insult".
Just two weeks ago, the Nationalist Party's media carried an April Fool's joke story saying the "monument" would be removed because of the Pope's visit.
When asked if he was pleased to have possibly inspired such a reaction from the local council, head of news Nathaniel Attard said: "I think it's positive. We did not run the story with any intention of putting pressure for it to be removed. We just made a joke out of it because it's inappropriate that the Pope would pass through there."
Describing the issue as "much ado about nothing", he said he was of the opinion the Pope would not even notice the monument.
"But now that the issue has been raised and since many people interpreted the monument as being vulgar, I don't think there's anything wrong with removing it," he said, adding, however, that if it was insulting, it was not just insulting to the Pope but also to the people of Luqa.
A spokesman for the Curia avoided giving the Church's position on the matter, saying it should not have to get involved since this was the council's issue.
When informed that the parish priest, Karm Camilleri, was also calling for the monument's removal, the Church spokesman said The Times should put the questions to him. However, he could not be reached yesterday.
Meanwhile, the government said it had "no plans" to remove the sculpture.
Mr Vella Critien said his "Mediterranean column" was not a phallic symbol and complained he was never given the chance for a decent interview to clear this misconception. "This is a style I have been using for the past 10 years. I have similar monuments in Germany, Italy, Melbourne, Sydney and another one in Malta," he said.
He described the column as a modern 3D representation of a symbol that has been used since Egyptian times. It points at eternity, using abstract and irregular aspects, in a futuristic and avant-garde style.
He argued that the Vatican had the largest collection of erotic artwork in the world so the Pope would not be scandalised by the monument. "He would look at it as a work of art. The Pope is not the man in the street."
While everyone had the right to interpret the piece in any way they wanted, he said it was a pity most of the Maltese were "uneducated".
"My mistake is that I threw pearls to swine," he said, quoting the Bible.
The council is made up of five Labour members (including mayor Mr Schembri, Joseph Scicluna, Joseph Paul Piscopo, Joseph Camilleri and Lucia Massa) and two Nationalists (Victor Caruana and Frank Psaila, who is also the information director of the PN).
The decision to call for the removal of the statue was unanimous.
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Stephan Galea
Apr 18th 2010, 20:11
Nice Going!! Maltese people never learn if all this panic was not raised the pope wouldnt even know what it let alone the possibility that he does not even see it. It looks more like a totem than a male's private parts. But be sure that the Pope has already seen it as his advisors check local news/newspapers before and report about them before such visits. Also the facebook group adds to this. About "most Catholic country in the world" I think you might want to make a survey about this because with these kind of closed minded actions are pushing the youth become atheists.
Christina Pace
Apr 16th 2010, 22:19
I say we should cover it with a see through plastic pouch and write "contraception: protection" on it. If everyone is so willing to interpret the monument as a phallic symbol, might as well get a point across.
Joe Zammit
Apr 14th 2010, 00:10
Luqin, continue in your conviction. If you are convinced about its removal, use all possible means to get rid of it. If the majority of Luqa residents are against it, you have every right to its removal. Outsiders have no say in it. Press and press and in the end you will be victorious!
Lisa Seisun
Apr 13th 2010, 23:10
why should this momument be removed? the pope is only comming for 2 days here. for him qe made the roads, flowers etc... all wasted money for a person that the bible never mention and now we want to remove a monument of art that has been there for years????? if someone feel embaraced by this monument just hide it with a billboard or something temporarly or change the route plan but to remove it is far too much now !
Karl Consiglio
Apr 13th 2010, 21:27
And once we at it dont let him see the "LOVE monument in St Julians
Karl Consiglio
Apr 13th 2010, 21:00
So the Pope shares our dirty mind.
MARK SAGONA
Apr 13th 2010, 19:58
The Luqa Mayor and Council should resign immediately en bloc for their incredible presumptuousness in artistic matters! In their request they have only highlighted their ignorance and stupid mentality.
Colin Attard
Apr 13th 2010, 16:46
The joke also arrived on BBC News!! I hope that the mayor, and the whole Luqa local council and most of all who ever signed the petition from the local parish church, have got the message that they are ridiculous. That they are ridiculing our country and our religion. I’m sure the pope is not narrow and dirty minded as they are.
Henry S Pace
Apr 13th 2010, 16:45
'Mr Vella Critien said his "Mediterranean column" was not a phallic symbol and complained he was never given the chance for a decent interview to clear this misconception'
I wonder this design ever came to any discussion on the table of the Monument & Plaque Committee appointedby the Government. I am sure that this committee rarely meets to discuss such capulavuri by unknown artists. It would be appreciated to know if any of these ladies (if any) and gentleman on this committee ever discussed this mano d'opera.
Monuments and plaques are put up to commemorate some special event however, one cannot understand the real significance of this strange shape.
In my opinion they should have resigned and if up to now they did not the Prime Minister should remove them outrightly.
Kevin Cassar
Apr 13th 2010, 20:17
The prime minister cannot remove anyone just because they are stupid. If that happened we'd have no parliament and no councils.
Christina Pace
Apr 16th 2010, 22:31
I think you should stick to what you know and stay out of these matters. Clearly you are not at all familiar with the Maltese art scene because otherwise you would not refer to Mr. Vella Critien as an unknown artist. And for anyone who wants to interpret this monument as a phallic symbol I would like to say that short of a baboon's blue ass I highly doubt any maltese member is so colourful.
John M. Grima
Apr 13th 2010, 16:44
A very simple solution would be to, PUT A HAT ON IT. Don't throw the baby with the bath water! It would be a waist.
Antoine Zammit
Apr 13th 2010, 16:44
Forget removing it now, the story has hit International News, it is the No 2 most Read Story on the BBC.
It has become Malta's most famous landmark and very soon it will be Malta's most popular tourist attraction.
Up there with the Eiffel Tower.
Prosit :-)
Ray Buhagiar
Apr 13th 2010, 16:40
Not only a mickey mouse country but also pajjiz ta' Gahan
Joe Fenech
Apr 13th 2010, 15:18
Put blinkers on him!
Chris Fenech
Apr 13th 2010, 15:06
I'd like to suggest the Luqa Council and Parish Priest to go back to school, and in their free time read some books.
alex cortis
Apr 13th 2010, 14:50
It is insulting to the Pope to assume he is so narrow-minded as to take offence at a monument. After all most of the paintings and statues in Rome are of nudes! Not to mention the ones in Germany!
Maybe we should steal Michelangelo's David, and erect it there (no pun intended). At least that's a "real" phallus: "real" so-to-speak. Or we could have a hollow circle in its stead! Or one of each to avoid the risk of being called a sexist nation?!
By the way, is Malta really the most Catholic country in the world, or just simply the most hypocritical?
T Camilleri
Apr 13th 2010, 14:36
Can Paul Vella Critien tell us who modeled for it?
john fenech
Apr 13th 2010, 13:57
What had been condoned for so many years might as well survive the visit of the Holy Father. Instead of all this fuss, which I am sure have already hit the Vatican grapevine, wouldn’t it had been better to either cover the work of art with some kind of an appropriate screen , no not a coloured condom, or else leave it as had been for years.
Who knows maybe the sculptor of this, how did he express his work, ‘3D representation of a symbol that has been used since Egyptian times. It points at eternity, using abstract and irregular aspects, in a futuristic and avant-garde style’, might get a couple of request ffor similar work from the international field.
Come to think about it, I find it taxing to imagine what is experimental or innovative about the thing (avant-garde), since the Egyptians- 5000 years ago had the symbol even in the kitchen...Ask ISIS what happened to poor Osiris!
daniela londner
Apr 13th 2010, 13:49
THIS IS SUCH A FUNNY ISSUE......IF ONLY THE POPE KNEW ABOUT IT , IT MIGHT, JUST MIGHT, PRODUCE A SMILE ON HIS STATIC EXPRESSION.....
Phil Humphries
Apr 13th 2010, 13:07
If this alleged phallus can stand proudly before the people of Malta for several years, then it must surely be allowed to remain for several seconds as the Pope passes by. And even if this artwork does depict one half of God’s most gracious gift to mankind, then why should it offend his most holy representative on earth? Besides, I imagine IL- Papa will have more important sex-related matters on his mind when he visits Malta. And let’s be honest, there are far more embarrassing things for him to see if his party were to take a different route.
Anyway, if the totem pole of love is removed or, God forbid, it is shielded from the papal view by a giant condom-like shroud, then what will the visitors have to talk about as they pass through Luqa on their way to and from the airport? - the latest offers at Lidl, perhaps ?
Come on Luqa Council, lighten up for goodness sake.
Ramon Mizzi
Apr 13th 2010, 12:54
I do not wish to get into arguments about the Pope and the monument but wish to tell artist Paul Vella Critien not to call people ignorant as art is there to be appreciated by all, now if all think that the monument is a what people think it is, you have to face the fact and deal with it. Part of being an artist is to pass on a message and if the the message is not what you had in mind, then you failed as an artist, with all due respect.
As with regards to the Pope, probably he'll smile about it because am sure that His Holiness has a sense of humor after all.
A.Zahra
Apr 13th 2010, 12:37
U halluna , tridu issibu l-okkazjoni biex tnehhu dak il monument .Ma nahsibx li il-Papa ser jati kas dak il- monument , l-ewwel haga nahseb li ser ikun imdawwar bin nies ,lanqas ser ikun jider u it- tieni haga jekk il-Papa imur Firenze imut mela bl arukaza daqs kemm ghandu kollox barra u kbir l-istatwa ta David . U halluna !!!!!!!!
lgalea
Apr 13th 2010, 16:39
A.Zahra Jien ma naqbilx li għandu jitneħħa għax ifakkarna fil-PN u l-UE.
A. Slater
Apr 13th 2010, 12:15
@J. Darmanin
If this so-called ''accident'' does happen, I hope the sculpture ends up where the sun doesn't shine.
Paul Caruana
Apr 13th 2010, 12:15
The pope has yet to arrive, but we are already feeling his benevolent presence:
1. We wake up in the morning, and find that long neglected roads have been refurbished.
2. Suddenly, we have all become holy critics of abstract art.
Viva l - papa!
Oh and by the way, I believe he will be having his birthday, so I think if we light a flame on top of the monument he might mistake it for a brightly coloured candle during his drive by, rather than the other thing.
etienne grima
Apr 13th 2010, 12:10
ara qedin sew ta.. Ghax gej il papa kwazi dawwarna malta ta taht fuq.. issa anka l monumenti ha naqalaw . u ghalina kollox jghaddi.. mux ahjar taraw kif ha ggibu dal pajjiz ghal quddiem bit taxxi li nhallsu milli taraw kif ha timpresjonaw in nies. issa mur ara jekk jitkaza naqra bdal monument,, emmnuni ghandu iktar biex jitkaza fil knisja kattolika tijaw milli dal monument.
Anthony Sammut
Apr 13th 2010, 12:08
hahaha....Removing it becuase of the pope? What a bunch of conservative hypocrits!!! If it was a shame, it should have been removed a long time ago.
Whats worse then conservative people trying to hide their own mistakes from the leader of their Church? This is so lame
And if the pope really says something about the monument....going to the Vatican (or nearly every church) will then be a sin. Nude paintings, Nude Sculptures, Beheading Gore Paintings, etc...
Wake up Malta. I am not in any way trying to ridiculate the Catholic Church. But it is how it is practiced by so many people here, which will automatically put off younger generations from taking any notice of it.
effie carbonaro
Apr 13th 2010, 11:54
instead of being removed can this monument be covered with something so to reduce expenses.like perhaps a big condom.it can always serve to our most catholic population in the world(malta) for save sex before marriage.
Christian Sciberras
Apr 13th 2010, 11:45
I think the Maltese should read this article Three times if not Four.
Eman Formosa
Apr 13th 2010, 11:43
Hold on dear friends. Before taking any decision about the monument's future don't forget its second significance! It's there to remind all about the (ex) Mambra clients!!!
Annalise Farrugia Bennett
Apr 13th 2010, 11:41
I agree with this being a late April Fool joke, or joke of the day. Thinking about it then they should cover all the paintings that there are in the Sinstene chapel in Rome as the figures are all nude. This Island is a place of Mickey Mouse.
Alan Montanaro
Apr 13th 2010, 11:40
I believe His Holiness will be calling at the Palace in Valetta. May i suggest we go the full hog and dress the nude statue of Neptune in boxer-shorts. I believe the Gobelin's have a few nudes too... lets stitch over them.
We deserve to be laughed at.
charlo camilleri
Apr 13th 2010, 11:29
Ma nafx wiehed ghandux jidhaq jew jibki!!! Tal-ghageb kif inwaqqghu kollox ghall-vulgarita`... inkluz espressjoni li fit-tradizzjoni artistika u fl-istorja tal-kulturi (inkluza dik Maltija sa minn zmien it-tempji neolotici) hija s-simbolu tad-"divine phallus" li jaghti l-hajja, l-energija u l-qawwa! Nistghu innehhu mela l-obelisk li hemm il-Blata l-Bajda, il-monument tal-gwerra fid-dahla tal-belt, l-obelisk ta' Pjazza San Pietru u tant simboli simili tal-hajja u l-qawwa imxerrdin mad-dinja sa mill-qedem! Il-Papa bniedem kolt wisq biex jinterpretah b'vulgarita`! Tridx innehhu wkoll it-tberik tal-fonti bil-blandun fil-Vgili tal-Ghid...ghax tintuza l-istess simbologija?
victor pulis
Apr 13th 2010, 11:27
When Michelangelo painted the sistine chapel, an artist was commissioned to paint trousers over the nudes. He was nicknamed 'breeches' for his trouble! To think that almost five hundred years later the Maltese are still of the same mind set. I have a suggestion to make, if we add a couple of fins to the monument it may pass as a rocket but then there's the possibilty that it would end up looking like a German V2 missile which would really be inappropriate in the circumstances!!
Andrew Harding
Apr 13th 2010, 11:12
Many times we have been past this monument and thought just what were they thinking by having this in such gaudy colours in a fine traditional country like Malta, it is totally out of keeping with the landscape, local colours, and scenery, and before someone tells us it's art, art is only attractive in the eyes of the beholder.
Roger Calleja
Apr 13th 2010, 11:07
@ Mario Tabone Vassallo - your sarcasm never hit any headlines like this one did. If you want to have this monument free of charge and without any hastle, just call us. we'll be glad to oblige and put it in your front garden.
http://www.sbs.com.au/news/article/1234832/Pope-to-be-spared-penis-statue#display_comments
http://uk.news.yahoo.com/18/20100412/tod-obscene-sculpture-must-go-before-pop-7f81b96.html
http://www.lessentiel.lu/rechercher/story/24433053
http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/318311,phallic-sculpture-embarasses-some-in-malta-ahead-of-popes-visit.html
http://network.nationalpost.com/NP/blogs/posted/archive/2010/04/12/going-postal-phallic-statues-rubbing-becah-bums-and-tattle-taling.aspx
Need any more publicity more ridiculous than that.
And a word to our mayor: every time you open your mouth you ridicule us with the whole wide world. If you want to remove this monument, you should have done it in the first week you saw it constructed. Instead of rough-mouthing the government for putting it up without any permits or whatever, you should have taken action like real men do. Not speak about it in the last week of the Pope's visit. The pope will never be scandalised by such monument. It's the people of Luqa who are being ridiculed in the foreign press.
J. Darmanin
Apr 13th 2010, 10:32
wellllll... you'll never know how some old vehicle could have some sort of freak flying accident and hit the monument accidentally.... just saying!
Barrie Smith ex-pat
Apr 13th 2010, 10:27
Quote : Don't let the Pope see monument:- Why is he so naive then or led a sheltered life or whats the reason, doesn't the pope appreciate modern art ? I think that some people ought to spend some time outside their shell in Malta tavel to Germay and learn a thing or two from outsiders. How ridiculous & low mentality some Locals has in Malta, and here we are advertising with great big letters for tourists to come and spend time in a modern country! what a laugh. as in Ha ha haaaaaaa! Not amused ex-pat from Down under.
Eric Camilleri
Apr 13th 2010, 10:06
Triq il-Ghasel in Mosta has been the only street in the neighbourhood without tarmac for the last 18 years (YES 18 YEARS). There was very little hope that the Pope would pass through this street since the lunar potholes where as usual only topped up with the typical black rubbish. On witnessing this "patching" all our tarmac dreams were poped up in fumes. In view of the circumstances our Mosta neighbourhood are prepared to adopt this controversial Luqa Monument and have it installed in Triq il-Ghasel on the condition that this street is tarmacced well and good, irrespective of a Papal visit or not !
Mark Vella
Apr 13th 2010, 09:52
"what is considered to be the most Catholic country in the world"
Kellimom naqra! Ejja ha nuruh kemm ahna bravi!
ftheuma
Apr 13th 2010, 09:50
Come on snap out of it. The pope is used to seeing phaluses, painted or sculpted, all over the vatican. I do not think that the Luqa one will cause him to have a turn. Truly this non-issue is pushing the levels of stupidity to the next level.
Mario Tabone-Vassallo
Apr 13th 2010, 09:42
Jekk il-membru taghhom jixbah lil dal-monument, naghtihom parir professjonali b'xejn li jmmoru jaraw tabib immedjatament