V18 Foundation has one artistic director who handled big events with all other projects managed and implemented by its programming department, a spokesman said.
As Valletta 2018 artistic director, Mario Philip Azzopardi was responsible for the direction of a number of “large-scale events” under the auspices of the European Capital of Culture, the spokesman said.
Mr Azzopardi suggested earlier this week he was merely one of a number of artistic directors, each responsible for their own events. Speaking during a panel discussion on Monday, Mr Azzopardi also said he was responsible for just “five or six events” under the auspices of V18.
“Mario Philip Azzopardi is the sole artistic director appointed by the Valletta 2018 Foundation [and] has been in this role since January 2015,” the spokesman told the Times of Malta.
“The foundation would like to take this opportunity to confirm Mr Azzopardi’s position and to reject any claims regarding the appointment, public or otherwise, of others in a similar capacity,” he added.
They are going to have the leeway to create
“Mr Azzopardi is responsible for the artistic direction of the large-scale events, namely Pageant of the Seas, the event marking the opening of the European Capital of Culture year and an opera production. There are various artists and directors contributing to these projects,” the spokesman said.
“All other projects are traceable to the Bid Book and are managed by the foundation’s programming department in collaboration with other artists and directors who are responsible for the implementation of those projects,” he said.
When contacted for a reaction, Mr Azzopardi said he “misspoke” in his original comments and never intended to imply there were any other artistic directors.
“Each event will have a contact person or producer, who will have a large degree of autonomy,” he said. “They will work in consultation with me but they are going to have the leeway to create,” he said.
Mr Azzopardi agreed the organisational structure had not been well communicated to the public and said the foundation would shortly be issuing an extensive statement to explain the set-up.