National Portraits: Works in progress (2)

Jessica Debattista (Mediocrity of National Portrait Gallery, February 26) was right in stating that the website www.npgmalta.com was not, at the time she was writing, of a suitable nature for the National Portrait Gallery of Malta Foundation. It was Patrick Dalli who first brought the website to public attention. The foundation did not. This was for the simple reason that we ourselves felt that the website was not ready for public exposure. Why Mr Dalli chose to do this is not something we feel we are in a position to comment about.

With reference to Mr Dalli's latest letter (Gallery Unworthy Of 'National Label', February 26) let me address all his points more clearly:

We had never launched the website. It came up in a Google search, a fact which cannot be controlled by anyone. I repeat, we never launched it. We have not removed the website as he suggested. We have instead improved on it, which we shall continue to do. We welcome any suggestions from the public. Please do contact us with any contributions.

Our National Portrait Gallery does not consist of "11 easels in a semi-circle". Those are few of the paintings which are being produced by a number of artists. They were set up as part of Youth Week 08 (all the other exhibitors were in tents as well) to help Maltese people appreciate the road which eventually led to Malta becoming a sovereign state. Had Mr Dalli visited Youth Week he would have appreciated that the "Turkish Bazaar", as he had called the gallery, was an excellent effort by young people to pool their resources and raise cultural awareness in Malta.

The Prime Minister did visit the exhibition. He visited the entire Youth Week exhibition, every single stand, ours included. We extend our thanks to him for taking the time out of an overwhelming schedule to show his interest in the goals the young people of Malta are trying to achieve.

Tourists have for years been calling Malta a backwater because we do not have a national portrait gallery. Mr Dalli must have been too busy with his circle of art friends to have heard these comments before. A number of volunteers have taken the plunge and started the ball rolling. Instead of negatively criticising (we welcome and encourage suggestions and constructive criticism) Mr Dalli attacks a website. How petty. I was, however, the first to admit he had a point. Indeed we have taken action on what he wrote. We do, however, urge people to focus on the fact that for the first time in our history we have a concentrated effort to try to set up a National Portrait Gallery.

Mr Dalli asked why the government dragged its feet. It didn't, it gave us great moral support and excellent feedback. Yet Mr Dalli seems to be one of those people who expect the government to "just" get a building, coat of paint and then "just" get the artists. Which subjects will they portray? Which epochs? Which themes? Which aspects? How does one best explain our history to young people? What about psychometric considerations? These are all issues which we have addressed.

It has taken two years. Maybe had Mr Dalli approached us when we made a call for volunteers he could have helped. Instead he chose to sit back while other people took the plunge.

Finally, I remind Mr Dalli that the synonyms of "foundation" include "base" and "basis".

We thank all those who have contacted us and encouraged us and are happy to assure them that we have updated the website and already have another two events in the pipeline. Please contact us on info@npgmalta.com or visit www.npgmalta.com for more information.