The application for Valletta to become a European Capital of Culture in 2018 will be formally submitted today. The city’s candidacy is being presented by Valletta mayor Alexiei Dingli to the managing authority appointed by the European Commission, the Parliamentary Secretariat for Culture. From here, the “bid book”, as it is often referred to by past and prospective ECoCs, goes to Brussels for adjudication over the next year.

Started in 1985, the ECoC initiative has become one of the most prestigious and high-profile cultural events in Europe. Studies have shown that the event can be a valuable opportunity to regenerate cities in terms of society, the economy and culturally, raise their international profile and enhance their image in the eyes of their own inhabitants and give new vitality to their cultural life.

It is not a foregone conclusion that our vision for Valletta 2018, expressed through our working title V.18, will succeed. The bid has to excel and address various criteria. Little wonder then that the bid has been two years in creation, under the guidance of a new entity, the Valletta 2018 Foundation, on behalf of the city’s local council and the entire Maltese territory, which also forms part of the bid.

Officially set up today – though long in action – the foundation’s remit is to formulate and implement the vision and strategy of Valletta 2018. Crucially though, it has been working hard to provide a firm backbone to the evolution of Valletta 2018. Past experience has shown that even promising ECoCs have lost direction and momentum, often falling short of expectations, due to early oversights in setting up lasting structures for good governance.

As we reel off names, announce the official birth of Valletta’s candidacy and the entity championing it, note landmark dates and watch the ceremony today, it’s reasonable to ask what we can expect of Valletta as a European Capital of Culture 2018.

Realising a successful ECoC involves obligations and constant work over the next six years. ECoCs inevitably have large-scale cultural programmes for the year, which take immense planning. But the success of an ECoC lies not solely in an impressive array of one-off events but also in a city’s ability to create a positive legacy – socially, economically and culturally sustainable – to serve its communities and visitors well into the future.

The document outlines a coherent vision for Valletta 2018 that has resonance here and internationally. It may be the first step in our capital and country’s bid to host an EcoC but it is the most important of all stages on our road to 2018.

The V.18 vision is also more than the foundation’s voice in isolation; we have been active and thorough in consultation, drawing on both individuals and entities, sharing platforms and engaging with a diversity of stakeholders. In June this year, for example, the foundation hosted a public conference and workshops entitled Imagine 18. The conclusions of the animated discussions that took place during the two-day event fuelled key themes which have generated our vision.

The overarching vision for 2018 is to create “an environment of exchange”. Valletta, and all Malta, clearly has an immense history of exchange, not just the material and commercial, but also the symbolic, such as the migration of people and of ideas. V.18 rekindles this heritage of exchange, giving it contemporary significance. The bid’s depth comes to light when we drill further into its chapters. To flesh out this vision and the objectives within which it is set, we have some eight themes; the output of our wide consultation.

The traditional, such as Valletta’s geo-politics and cultural history, for example, are looked at afresh. The sea is renegotiated and seen for its potential as a “blue lung”, meeting 21st century needs for space. Another theme, V.18 as a “Caravaggio City”, seeks not to hark back to our artistic patrimony but be a call to action to international talent to engage with Malta’s cultural scene.

With the presentation of the formal bid, the Valletta 2018 Foundation is reaching the end of one process and the beginning of another. The bid book presents our potential; as such, it could become one of the most upbeat moves we’re witnessing in recent times and there’s every reason for us to realise it. This is the real significance of today.

The author is chairman of Valletta 2018 Foundation.

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