Home-grown art, music, film, literature and other creative pursuits have been promised a policy boost thanks to a draft strategy for creative industries released earlier this week.
The strategy lists a school of performing arts within the University, a professional film training course, an apprenticeship scheme for creative industries and a national theatre agency with specialised ensembles of young performers among the government’s tangible goals for the cultural and creative sectors.
Jointly published by the culture and finance ministries, the draft strategy envisions Malta as an “attractive, contemporary and stimulating creative hub within the Mediterranean” by 2018, with creative talent given a leg up to break on to international scenes.
Pointing to examples such as Luxembourg and Singapore, the draft strategy argues that Malta’s small size need not limit the growth of its creative industries.
It points to fragmented policy-making – no fewer than 11 ministries and 22 authorities have fingers in creative industry pies – as a major stumbling block in the growth of Maltese creative industries.
To counter this disjointedness, the draft strategy suggests strengthening the remit of key agencies such as the Malta Council for Culture and the Arts, the Malta Film Commission and both the crafts and book councils.
It also makes the case for certification and accreditation systems to be put in place to ensure quality levels are maintained.
The Malta Competition and Consumer Affairs Authority, it suggests, could help establish professional skill standards. The draft strategy drives home the need for students to be exposed to cultural and creative pursuits from an early age.
And while acknowledging the opportunity presented by Valletta’s 2018 European Capital of Culture bid, the authors warn that a concerted effort to develop adequate infrastructure and human capacity will be required if Malta is to fulfil its creative and cultural ambitions.
The fruit of a specially-established working group first announced in the November 2009 Budget speech, the draft strategy also surveys the existing state of play for Malta’s creative industries.
It finds that, in 2010, the government spent €26.5 million on the creative and cultural industries, with the government spending an average of €63 per person every year on such industries. This represented a significant budget increase of 13.2 per cent over the previous year, with the strategy authors attributing this budgetary boost to a policy shift towards the contribution of NGOs and creative enterprises in driving the sector.
Tourist spending on creative goods and services ran up to €47.5 million in 2009, about six per cent of the revenue from tourism.
The survey also estimates – based on 2007 data – that there are 3,600 enterprises working in the creative sector, employing 7,590 people each with an average annual wage of €15,600.
And while the music, visual and performing arts and software sectors have grown by more than 10 per cent annually over recent years, lessened demand for design, creative and audio-visual services meant those sectors declined in importance.