The benefits of exposing young minds to the creative arts are well-documented. Ramona Depares finds that, despite grumblings to the contrary, the long-term plan to take culture to the little ones is already reaping results.

When it comes to children and culture, the numbers rarely paint a pretty local picture. Yet, when we scratch beneath the surface, the situation is not as dire as the statistics might lead us to believe. Malta does indeed have a framework for a healthy arts scene in place, and this framework has been tailor-made to include and attract the younger generation.

The younger generation is already reaping the benefits, with more and more children getting involved in the arts both as active participants and as spectators.

With ample private schools that cover the whole spectrum of disciplines and also organise their own productions, active involvement has never been easier. And more importantly, the main artistic institutions in Malta are now making children a priority market, with programmes and festivals that are created with the younger ones in mind.

One such institution is the Manoel Theatre, whose Toi Toi programme – headed by music therapist Rosetta Debattista – continues growing from strength to strength. The programme was introduced three years ago with the aim of introducing children as young as two to the arts, and today is a fully-fledged team effort that is the result of the dedication shown by various arts practitioners.

“The fact that the programme accepts children of such a young age was quite a novelty in itself. In the UK, for example, such activities typically cater for children aged five upwards. We decided to split events according to three age groups in order to be able to provide a more precisely targeted experience,” Debattista says.

The technique worked, and today Toi Toi spans music, dance and theatre, with Teatru Manoel Youth Theatre and Teatru Manoel Youth Opera being two successful offshoots. At least five concerts a month are held, and parents and children both clamour for more.

“The demand is there. Parents attending the first concert sometimes are a bit grumpy. I suppose they view it as extra work. But invariably they leave with a smile on their face, with both youngsters and grown-ups looking forward to the next one.”

This perception of cultural events being boring may be part of the problem, Debattista acknow-ledges. She explains that, unless children see a love for the arts reflected at home, extra-curricular lessons and events will not have a lasting impact.

Unless children see a love for the arts reflected at home, extra-curricular lessons and events will not have a lasting impact

“The message that the arts are something to be enjoyed needs to be reinforced at home, otherwise events remain one-offs with no real effect from a holistic point of view. Even if parents just find the time to watch a concert on television, it helps.”

Accessibility is another issue – although Toi Toi events are not free, prices are kept rock-bottom in order to make it possible for whole families to attend.

Moreover, the Manoel Theatre has stopped charging admission fees to children for evening productions and concerts that are produced by the theatre itself, a measure which makes a significant difference for families with two children or more who would like to patronise more events.

The introduction of the Culture Card has also, to a certain extent, facilitated accessibility to all sorts of cultural events. The card credits students in the first three years of secondary school with a fixed amount of €15 which can be used for cultural activities.

The idea behind it is to enable students to attend at least three activities per year. And while €15 may sound like a modest sum, the card has helped expose families to activities that may otherwise have fallen under their radar.

This trend to make cultural events more accessible to children and students has been picked up by a number of artistic organisations, the latest example being the Gaulitana Festival of Music currently taking place in Gozo. Students are being offered tickets for a full-scale production of Tosca at a substantial discount.

However, a functional framework and willing participants are not enough to raise a well-rounded generation of students who have an appreciation for arts across the board.

Debattista believes that arts and cultural activities need to be better integrated within the national curriculum, rather than being treated as after-school activities or as a concession.

Actor and producer Malcolm Galea agrees. Galea’s theatre company, More or Less Theatre, was conceived with the idea of catering specifically for children. Today – together with business partner and actor Joseph Zammit – Galea specialises in theatrical productions for students.

“The concept was born after I was commissioned to create an educational comedy for the first edition of the Żigużajg International Arts festival for Children and Young People. The result was The Complete History of Malta (More or Less). We realised that the piece had the potential to create prolonged interest among schoolchildren. In fact, over two years after opening, we still receive regular bookings for school performances.”

The strong feedback both from schools and from children themselves led to the creation of two other productions using a similar formula; Everything You Need to Know about Science (More or Less) and The Complete History of Europe (More or Less).

The repertoire has been a hit with students, and a measure of this success can be attributed to the way Galea and Zammit keep improving upon these productions.

“I’m accustomed to creating theatre pieces around very specific sets of variables. We keep calibrating the scripts with every performance, exploiting highlights and removing or improving dips,” Galea explains.

Getting children involved in the arts

Of course, this would not be possible without the collaboration of schools and educators, showing that maybe the educational framework is not as closed to the arts as a casual glance might suggest.

“Certain schools are wonderful in their approach. However, we still face the occasional mentality that the arts are a waste of time. Some parents balk at the thought of spending €4 on a play ticket, when they would be happy to spend more than that on fast food,” Galea says.

He adds that it is common for children to be discouraged from pursuing an art form as their main academic interest.

“You can actually make a comfortable living off the arts if you’re willing to make some initial sacrifices, think strategically, and be professional. Good art takes time, dedication and a considerable degree of intelligence. It is not a waste if an academically promising student decides to focus on pursuing an art form,” Galea explains.

Echoing Debattista’s words, he adds that parents need to expose their children to art from an early age, in order to help them grow up to appreciate it. With Maltese children already exposed to Eurovision and festi – both of which Galea believe are prime examples of art in our daily lives – he believes that this is not as difficult to achieve as it may at first appear.

“Parents simply need to reinforce this diet with less mainstream examples. Their children will benefit from it and they will probably enjoy it too,” he says.

The benefits of exposing young minds to the arts are today undisputed. Galea quotes “an enhanced appreciation and knowledge of culture, a healthy outlet for imagination and the development of creativity” as obvious benefits.

“Even if these children do not grow up to work in artistic fields, creativity is an asset in whichever career they decide to pursue.”

Debattista agrees, adding that exposure to the arts enhances a child’s sensitivity, helping develop a more humane side.

“The arts help us tap into, and develop, a dynamic range of human emotions. Music, theatre, dance, visual arts… all these allow us to explore our senses,” Debattista, who is also a music therapist by profession, says.

This same wonder is reflected in the faces of children who crowd festivals like the afore-mentioned Żigużajg, Science in the City, the recently launched Ħolqa and even festivals that are not specifically targeted towards children, like Notte Bianca.

Many teachers have to make huge efforts to fit in such activities within their jam-packed curriculum work

Of course, limiting children’s involvement in the arts to some festivals a year is hardly the desired goal – and in fact, it is anything but. St James Cavalier, for example, besides organising Żigużajg also offer a holistic children’s arts programme that runs throughout the whole year.

The programme includes theatre, music, visual arts and dance, and ropes in both schools and parents in a series of activities that take place both during the day and after school hours.

Daniel Azzopardi, projects manager at St James Cavalier, explains that the programme was launched in 2007, with a strong framework of workshops targeting five to 16-year-old students.

“This scholastic year we have already registered a record number of 5,764 students who have participated actively. And these do not include those who attended last year’s Żigużajg – over 5,900,” Azzopardi says.

Tellingly, the most popular activities are the ones which directly engage the students’ imagination. Azzopardi mentions workshops on storytelling, puppetry, song composition and paint tricks. Secondary schools, on the other hand, are more orientated towards attending programmes that are directly related to their curriculum, such as screenings of Shakespeare’s plays and team-building exercises.

So far, Azzopardi continues, they have seen a healthy balance between the number of State, private and Church schools that take part. The team is currently studying demographics to engage schools whose participation in these programmes is “scarce”.

“Many educators do acknowledge the importance of the arts and the benefits of having their students creatively engaged. The issues are primarily with a system framework that does not necessarily cater for such needs; many teachers have to make huge efforts to fit in such activities within their jam-packed curriculum work.”

Azzopardi points out that fitting in a wide range of activities within a restrictive education framework is no easy task.

“The system has to change to encourage participation in creative activities for the holistic well-being and intellectual maturity of upcoming generations.”

Of course, the problem is compounded when schools and teachers themselves are not interested in culture activities. However, Azzopardi hopes that research will yield information about how best to “build bridges with new educators”.

And reflecting the beliefs expressed by his peers, Azzopardi concludes that “the arts should not be seen as an extra-curricular benefit, but rather as an integral part of the system”.