A museum without walls

There comes a time when one feels one has run out of steam in the sense that, after having written everything one could possibly wish to write about, one takes a look around and feels that not much joy can be derived from repetition.

I have written about, culture, divorce, gay issues, environmental issues, immigration issues, aesthetic issues and I suppose, modestly speaking, I have built up a reputation for honest plain-speaking.

I have touched upon topics that concern me greatly as a proud and concerned citizen of this microcosm we call our homeland.

There is plenty to praise but also plenty to criticise. Criticism, as long as it is constructive, is healthy and vital to the maturation of the fine wine that we liken our intellectual, artistic and cultural achievements with.

When people criticise they do so because they care and deeply too. So many of us grumble and moan and never get down to doing anything concrete about it.

For every one person who complains or criticises, read another 500 people who agree wholeheartedly but do not have the wherewithal to take any sort of action.

Yet, it is evident that, no matter how many tomes are published, no matter how many reports are compiled, no matter how many signed letters of protest are written, the present government will not engage criticism head on and is ignoring it no matter how justified or well-intentioned it is.

This is leading to a frustrating and deepening sense of malaise and disillusion setting in.

It all started after the St John’s Co-Cathedral proposal of an underground museum to house the Perellos tapestries was withdrawn by the Prime Minister after he was advised by Archbishop Paul Cremona that the controversy was dividing the country. We then had the launch of the even more controversial Renzo Piano project just before the summer parliamentary recess.

For an entire summer the government ignored the heavy barrage of protests, at no time engaging anyone directly or indirectly. In this method the government simply got on with it; thinking that, in time, people will get used to it and, possibly, come round to it as well.

Although efficacious in the short term, this policy is a sort of delaying tactic that does not solve much in the long run.

When, eventually, the Piano project is inaugurated amid the appropriate fanfares, we will most probably still be without a Museum of Modern Art, a concert hall, a modern theatre or a public library. By common consent, these are entities we desperately need to enhance our cultural development. And that is just the tip of the iceberg. The Piano project addresses none of these lacunae. However, lacunae they will remain.

The world is changing and will go on doing so. With austerity cuts being cruelly slashed across Europe in the aftermath of one of the greatest depressions in modern history and as the most influential Western nations are still engaged in a ruinous war in the Middle East and have been for the past eight years, we cannot expect our Brussels gravy train to be too rich as countries like Greece and Ireland are on the verge of declaring bankruptcy.

As far as we have been told, Malta has fared relatively well and has ridden the storm, which we have been told is almost over although that bird of ill-omen, Alan Greenspan, has publicly declared this was but a light foretaste of things to come and the next dip in the world’s fortunes will be dire.

It is therefore essential to make hay while the sun shines and devote more time, energy and money in consolidating and enhancing what we have, which, considering our size, is formidable indeed.

With the artistic heritage left by the Knights, the language left by the British and our overidingly European heritage, we have a unique product that can and will attract visitors for decades and decades to come. It is simply that the process needs to be speeded up.

I have this horrible sinking feeling that, should Mr Greenspan be right, we will have missed the boat forever. With our becoming EU Capital of Culture in 2018 we have to show the concert of European nations that we are not merely a proof of the veracity of Aesop’s fable about the frog trying to be as big as the cow but a tenaciously proud island nation, which, for centuries, has produced the most wonderful silk purses out of sow’s ears.

By the time this appears we will probably all have already relegated most revelations of yesterday’s Budget to somewhere in our subconscious. All I know about was that indications point to increased allocations to artistic projects and organisations. It is up to these entities to make good use of them for it is in the maintenance of our heritage that our future lies.

Our future is in cultural tourism and to be able to fully become such a country will take a great and concerted effort to boost up cultural awareness and appreciation through enhanced education and efficient and dedicated administration. The whole of Malta could be a museum without walls…

kzt@onvol.net