It is difficult to discuss architect Chris Briffa’s proposal to turn Is-Suq tal-Belt into a Valletta Art Museum without pushing some particular agenda.
A Valletta Art Museum would educate visitors about the society that built it, as a storehouse of cultural values- Peter Farrugia
Articles that have appeared in this newspaper talk about “transformation” and “change”, other papers have said “rehabilitation”, while the Suq (Valletta’s indoor market) ischaracterised as “dead” and “depressing”.
Briffa has had to take quite a bit of flak for suggesting that the Suq be replaced, and social media sites flared with a deluge of criticism.
The people I know who have actually visited Lily Agius Gallery and seen the proposal presentation (a 10-minute video) are impressed by the vision, but wary of its implications.
There is no question that Malta needs a decent art museum. The country needs a dedicated and well-managed space that will make modern and contemporary art collections accessible to the public.
Museums are not simply temples where the elect worship great art (and tourists are parted with their cash at overpriced gift shops).
A Valletta Art Museum would educate visitors about the society that built it, as a storehouse of cultural values and a platform for innovation. However, supporting markets is equally important, with their unique role as social and economic spaces for local communities.
What better message for healthy eating (seriously needed in Malta) and city regeneration could the Suq promote, if it were nurtured as a responsible market space?
Briffa has offered a reasoned response to the proposal’s critics. He said: “Like many others, I want to have the market reborn in Valletta. I live and work in the city, 100 metres from the Suq, and it would be great to have this behind my doorstep.
“But I am also realistic and after our research, we concluded that reinstating the market at present will not be feasible, and potentially dangerous – dangerous because people in high places are talking about a food market or a ‘food court’, which will mean that the present tenants will have to move out, new ones with new contracts and high rents come in, and eventually it will turn into a very tacky place with fast food joints, and outlets similar to the ones on the Valletta waterfront.”
Whatever you make of the suggestion that select shops will inevitably give way to fast food outlets, Briffa goes on to outline the proposal’s features. These will include a wide-stepped piazza leading to lower sheltered, wider streets around the building.
This will turn the current basement into the ground floor where the current tenants will be housed, preserving the current function and its urban significance.
The hall would be restored as one intact space and one space for exhibiting art – a long-awaited space to exhibit modern art, contemporary art and whatever has been lying in storage for far too long.
But why has the Suq been allowed to decay in the first place and why is Valletta challenged in so many ways, seemingly incapable of attracting sustainable interest?
It seems that somewhere along the line, the country has fallen out of love with its capital.
What we really need are creative people capable of remythologising Valletta and whether Briffa’s proposal is a self-consciously “cultural” offering or not, it’s a step in the right direction.
The exhibition can be viewed at Lily Agius Gallery in Cathedral Street, Sliema, until April 14.