New dawn for Valletta?
City makes it through first stage in bid to become Capital of Culture
Valletta has been selected as a prospective European capital of culture for 2018, giving it nine months to prepare for the final selection phase.
The chairman of the evaluation panel, Manfred Gaulhofer, yesterday announced that the jury was pleased with Valletta’s bid and was confident the city would live up to its obligations.
The title of European Capital of Culture is awarded to two member state cities every year. Among others, it has been awarded to Istanbul in 2010 and Marseille will be capital of culture in 2013.
If Valletta makes it through the final phase in nine months’ time, it will share the year with a Dutch city to be chosen next year.
The European capital of culture is a location chosen by the EU for one year. During that year, the city holds a string of cultural events intended to leave a long-term cultural legacy.
Valletta represented the whole of Malta when it submitted its bid for the title for 2018 as all local councils had signed a charter agreeing on a common application.
Usually, cities battle it out between themselves to come up with the best bid, however, bearing in mind the country’s size and limited resources, the government had urged the councils to unite under a common bid. This will mean events, rather than taking place in one region, can be held all over Malta.
Mr Gaulhofer said a city was not automatically chosen even if it was the only one submitting a bid.
The independent jury will now issue a number of recommendations and in nine months’ time, a delegation of four people, made up of two Maltese and two international experts, will pay a one-day visit to Valletta to see how things are progressing. The final selection will be made after that.