EU Commissioner discusses banned play over lunch

The controversially-banned play, Stitching, was discussed over lunch yesterday between Education and Culture Minister Dolores Cristina and EU Culture and Education Commissioner Jan Figel, who is in Malta on his first visit.

Ms Cristina said she was interested to talk to Mr Figel about the issue since the comments he gave to the press were "almost identical" to hers.

She said she read the script of the play and when asked whether she agrees with the ban, she said that if she was on the board of classifiers the play would be "one of those that would worry me".

She said that, like Mr Figel, she believed that freedom of expression was not absolute, especially when it came to human dignity. "When I read the script I really felt for the women who were sent to the gas chambers in Auschwitz," she said, in a reference to a controversial line in the script.

When asked whether she thought the play needed to be seen in context she said that since it had been discussed so much there was no context to see.

"The statements in the script are enough," she said.

The two were attending an award-giving ceremony of the European Union Programmes Agency, a body that helps people to tap into funding under EU educational programmes, at the end of a packed day for the Commissioner.

Earlier, he had talks with the Prime Minister and visited St John's Co-Cathedral, in Valletta, as well as Mdina and the Malta College of Arts, Science and Technology in Corradino.

When asked about Stitching, he confirmed that the play was mentioned by the minister over lunch but added that cultural policy was the responsibility of the national government and he respected the board's decision.

He said we should learn from the successes of other countries and promote "access" to culture as much as possible.

cperegin@timesofmalta.com