Creativity centre attracts 300,000 visitors

More than 300,000 people, mostly Maltese, have visited St James Centre for Creativity, in Valletta since it opened three years ago, Mario Schiavone, the centre's marketing and public relations officer, said yesterday.

Asked whether the majority of the Maltese could feel the centre was a no go area for them because they considered it too elitist, Mr Schiavone said the activities the centre was putting up appealed to most cultural tastes.

"Some time ago we had a concert of scores from musicals which many people like to hear again and again.

"As the figure of the number of visitors shows, we are moving in the right direction. We would definitely like more people to visit but it is a gradual process," he added.

The number of visitors is based on daily head counts taken by staff at the two main entrances of the building which has five entrances in all, so really the figure of 300,000 is a conservative one, Mr Schiavone added.

A regular activity involves school children and another attempts to attract children and parents to try their hand at various art animation exercises.

The centre's new chairman, Michael Fenech, told a news conference called to launch the programme of activities for the next three months that the centre was not the white elephant some might have felt it to be.

However, there was a danger, Mr Fenech continued, that in wanting to offer as varied a programme as possible one ran the risk of delegating St James to "all things to all men".

This was what the committee at St James is experiencing because everybody expected everything of the centre. "This is neither realistic nor practical because resources are limited and there is the tendency to disregard quality if one goes for quantity ending up being a Jack of all trades and master of none", Mr Fenech stressed.

The programme for the next quarter includes art exhibitions; a conference on the temple builders of Malta; "Amphitryon" by Heinrich von Kleist, which will be presented by Actinghouse productions; Patrick Vella's one act play Il-Mizien Fetah Ghajnejh, which will be presented by the Curtain Raiser Theatre Troupe; a festival of Russian films with English sub-titles and the Azad Cinefest.