Albert Marshall, chairman of the Malta Council for Culture and Arts, defends public criticism of the body and tells Kristina Chetcuti the government’s cultural vision will be made public in a month’s time.
The government’s direction on culture will be out within “one month or so”, and the chairman of the Malta Council for Culture and Arts wants to make it clear there will not be “any reinventing of the wheel”.
“I am preparing a document, a very important document, the strategic plan for 2014, and obviously it’s very futile and immature to reinvent the wheel,” Albert Marshall tells The Sunday Times of Malta.
However, he added, there are some elements that need to be revised.
Writing in Times of Malta, Vicki Cremona, chairwoman of the University’s School of Performing Arts, had criticised the government for the lack of direction and vision for the arts.
Mr Marshall feels this “posturing” is “very unfair”, especially as Ms Cremona has been involved in important Arts Council projects.
“I believe that Vicki has huge contribution to make and I want to continue to work hand in hand with her if she is willing.
“But if she believes that there is no direction, perhaps she is in the wrong place.”
Sixty-six-year-old Mr Marshall – an author, theatre director and former CEO of PBS and Super One television – today occupies vice chairmanship posts at PBS and V-18, as well as being MCCA chairman.
Since MCCA’s CEO Davinia Galea departed, he has temporarily taken up the vacated post, although he hastens to add he is still a non-executive chair.
Asked if an official appointment will take place soon, he says: “I have no idea. I am doing my utmost to run this organisation as smoothly and efficiently as possible.”
Recruiting a new CEO is not his “prerogative” but he does not find juggling both roles awkward because this is a time of “flux and change” in the Maltese cultural sector.
His salary is in the range of €9,000 a year.
“I think it’s madness to spend so many hours to do what I am doing in the organisation, but it’s fun,” he says.
Administration of culture is “second nature” to him and he does it “with joy, renewed energy and with vision”.
When Malta Arts Festival artistic director Mario Frendo resigned last month, Mr Marshall came under fire because he was holidaying in Australia.
“It was not a two-month holiday. I left on November 28 and came back on January 15. That’s not two months, and in the midst of all that period, it was Christmas week and New Year week where usually business is frozen up. So let’s put things in the right perspective.”
I am a bit bored by the fact that our festivals are so European and haven’t opened up for cultural representation from China and Asia
Moreover, he says, he was also working in Australia: meeting the Maltese Community Council, the Australian Council for the Arts, securing popular actor Paul Capsis for a summer performance as well selling PBS products to SBS television.
With Mr Frendo claiming he had not been given a confirmed budget for more than a month and therefore could not book artists for the summer festival, did Mr Marshall feel the need to cut his holiday short?
“No way,” he says. Before he went on the trip, he says, he had left everything in the hands of his vice chair Paul Cachia.
“I did not just head off to Australia – it was all planned in such a great detail.”
Mr Marshall describes Mr Frendo’s resignation as “odd” and “impatient”.
Because the country’s Budget still had not been approved in November, he had told artistic directors “to take it easy” before booking artists, until they got clearance from the financial controller.
“I did tell them though that if they had already committed themselves to any artist – I was going to honour them.
“Mario decided that time was precious and he couldn’t wait that long and resigned,” he says. He has since discovered that before this resignation, Mr Frendo had not committed to any artist.
The post of artistic director for the Arts Festival is now being filled by five “creative” people: Mavin Khoo, Rueben Zahra, Sigmund Mifsud, Toni Attard and Vince Briffa – all paid “a fraction” of what Mr Frendo used to get.
“I don’t think we need an artistic director to lead a festival that is only five months away,” he says, adding that there is a drive to come up with “the best festival ever”.
Artists are being engaged and the festival is scheduled for the final fortnight of July.
All three of the MCCA festivals – Jazz, Għanafest and Arts – have a budget that is €50,000 leaner this year. This is due to about €500,000 inherited debt carried forward from 2013.
“Given this bleak financial scenario – something had to give,” he says, stressing “over my dead body” that not one cent will be deducted from the arts fund, which is close to €200,000.
He plans to involve the private sector more: “This idea of having to survive exclusively on the public purse is a fallacy.”
There has been lots of talk of the MCCA changing its structure but he is not exactly sure what the changes will be.
Probably, festivals will be hived off so the MCCA will have more time to concentrate on its core remit: administration of cultural policy and the art fund.
What is certain is that he will “fight tooth and nail” to retain an arm’s length policy, so politics does not interfere with culture.
Questioned about the appointment of Valletta 2018 Foundation chairman Jason Micallef, who was picked by Parliamentary Secretary for Culture Jose Herrera, he says: “I am not really interested whether a person including myself is politically appointed or not, the important thing is delivery.”
He lauds praise on Mr Micallef: “In my opinion, Jason is doing brilliantly, he is very aggressive in the way he is attracting private industry to V-18.”
Mr Marshall is happy with Malta’s recent cultural agreement with China for V-18 projects but should events not be all about Valletta being the culture capital of Europe?
“Yes, but Valletta was once an amalgamation of pockets of knights from all over the world,” he says.
Not China, though.
He laughs: “I am not a eurocentric. I am a bit bored by the fact our festivals are so European and haven’t opened up for cultural representation from China and Asia.
“It’s time we decentralised this concept of a European centre... the idea is the beauty of hybridity”.
He is adamant that at the moment, culture is “not at all” like a footnote – despite it falling under the Tourism Ministry umbrella – and declares himself a staunch believer in culture having its own ministry and independent from tourism.
Still, he says, Malta has a cultural obligation in contributing to the tourist industry given that tourism is an economic lifeline.
Asked about public concerns that culture has been dumbed down to populist events such as football and fashion weeks, he says: “I have no patience with people who rigorously try to narrow the definition of culture.
“I want to understand culture in terms of embracing senses like cuisine, sports, carnival, religion do.”
Tuesday’s edition of Times Talk will discuss the poor participation of the Maltese in cultural events.