Cultural participation in Malta will be the main topic of discussion at a national symposium starting this week, which will present the main findings of a nationwide survey held in 2016.

The study, commissioned by Arts Council Malta (ACM) as part of its research programme, builds upon its 2011 survey and delves deeper into current issues of cultural participation.

This survey, which was designed in collaboration with the National Statistics Office (NSO) and the Valletta 2018 Foundation, goes beyond previous studies by attempting to explore why people choose to participate – or not – in cultural activities by uncovering their attitudes, preferences and lifestyles. This data can then be used to profile audiences not only by demographic but also by psychographic (value-based) factors.

“The new study will reveal to what extent the arts do in fact form part of the lives of the Maltese people – and how we can increase public engagement with the arts and culture,” said Albert Marshall, executive chair of Arts Council Malta.

The findings from this survey will be presented at the half-day symposium, which is aimed at cultural managers, policymakers, researchers, arts marketeers and producers in the arts, heritage and media sectors.

The following day, an ACMlab session led by researchers from Morris Hargreaves McIntyre (MHM), an international cultural strategy and research agency, will discuss audience segmentation based on their report targeted towards cultural operators.

The findings will also be collated in a number of publications commissioned by Arts Council Malta,  including a selection of critical essays by 10 contributors with expertise from different fields.

The Cultural Participation Survey symposium will take place on Wednesday at the Valletta Campus Theatre, Valletta. Registration is free and can be made by sending an e-mail to fundinfo@ artscouncilmalta.org. The publications will also be available for free download from www.arts councilmalta.org after the seminar. For more information visit www.artscouncilmalta.org.

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