Cultural entities have to open the door to the public in a bid to break the mentality that cultural events were not for all, Culture Minister Owen Bonnici urged this morning.

“It is not the first time that I meet people who dismiss the idea of watching a performance because they tell me ‘the Manoel Theatre is not for me’,” he said at the official opening of the new premises for the Malta Council for Culture and the Arts at Casa Scaglia in Valletta.

The council has gone from one entity which previously managed everything from funding and festivals to a larger body with three specific directorates.

In recent years it was being weighed down by its festivals arm but the larger entity would now enable the separation of the organisation of festivals from the strategic development of the cultural and creative sectors.

The creation and development of strategies for the sector will fall under the Strategy Directorate, while festivals will now fall under their own distinct directorate, whose role will be to focus on the management and development of the diverse festivals portfolio of the Council.

The third directorate – Corporate Affairs – will provide all the support services for the effective and efficient functioning of the other two distinctive directorates.

The council has also been rebranded and legislative amendments to change MCCA’s name to Arts Council Malta will be launched soon.

Dr Bonnici said that apart from the material changes, however, the 13 cultural entities in Malta needed to encourage more people to participate in cultural events.

He also urged the entities to work together under the council’s umbrella.

“While it’s nice to celebrate diversity and each entity must maintain its identity, we need to work together.

“Funds for culture are not found on the street and we need to maximise every penny,” he said.

The minister said that as a politician he will stay at arm’s length as the country’s cultural message should be dictated by the artist.

Funds, he said, will be allocated to artists by the MCCA, which apart from organising cultural events, it takes care of the cultural development within Malta and works on strengthening the country’s relationship with international cultural entities.

Meanwhile, MCCA chairman Albert Marshall called on artists to help decorate the new premises with their works, which did not necessarily have to be donated.

Referring to the new corporative image of the council for the arts, Mr Marshall said this was left in the hands of the creative youths at BRND WGN as the council did not want the new image to weigh down on culture with a heavy traditional design.

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