Few people in Malta are interested in attending or paying for arts and cultural events, with the pandemic exacerbating the disinterest, a survey of the sector has shown.

Attendances for nearly all forms of cultural and arts events were down compared to 2016, with the highest negative variance relating to cinema and other projected artistic performances (a decline of 28%), followed by art gallery or similar (a decline of 9%). Concerts saw a 4% drop while theatre saw a 3% decline. The only increase was registered for events or festivals connected with literature.

Only 5% of respondents say they have visited a historical site in person since the easing of restrictions last year, with 5% attending a gallery exhibition, 4% going to a concert, 4% went to a literature event, 4% the cinema, 4% went to a museum, 3% went to the theatre, 2% to a contemporary dance performance and 1% went to a general dance performance.

And attempts to shift audiences online during the partial lockdown appeared to have failed. The only positive outcome from the otherwise bleak survey is that the majority are prepared to make a one-time donation for events that were previously free.

The study, carried out by the Arts Council, looked into audience perception of cultural events in Malta, carried out through focus groups as well as a survey in three waves, which the council said had at least 500 participants each. The data was collected between November 23 and December 15, 2020, between January 25 and February 19 and between July 5 and July 30, 2021.

Only 11% spent more than €50 annually 

The study found that prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, the majority of people (55%) did not spend any money on any art or cultural activity on a yearly basis, while 23% said they spent less than €50 per year and only 11% said they spent between €50 and €100 on cultural activities annually.

The youngest cohort (18 to 24 years old) were most likely to have spent money on the arts while the eldest (age 65 and over) were the least likely to have spent anything at all.

Of those who did attend local online culture events, 91% did not spend any money in order to do so while 3% said they spent less than €50 to attend.

Asked whether they would be willing to give a donation when viewing an online event, the majority (47%) said they would not, while only 26% said that they would.

Attempts to shift audiences online during the partial lockdown appeared to have failed

Respondents again responded negatively to the idea of sponsoring an arts organisation or performance, with only 9% saying they would be willing to contribute. Overall, the majority of those questioned (65%) said they were unwilling to pay for any online content.

However, when factoring the impact of COVID-19 on the local arts industry, more people (44%) said they were willing to pay for events that were previously free than those that were not (30%). When asked whether they would be willing to make a one-time donation, the majority (59%) agreed.

No confidence in attending in-person events, online

The future of in-person attendance to cultural events is also somewhat bleak, with the majority of respondents saying they were not interested in attending any sort of cultural event in-person over the next 12 months.

The data found that 24% said that they were likely to go to a historical site in the future, 23% to museums, 20% to literature events, 17% to art galleries, 14% to the cinema, 10% to contemporary dance performances, 11% to ballet performances, 26% to concerts and 24% to the theatre.

Arts and culture attendance in 2021 compared with 2016.

When asked what factors would encourage their attendance to cultural events in person, enforcing COVID-19 regulation was respondents’ top choice (29%) followed by having a vaccine (20%) and restricted audience sizes (12%).

Only 3% of respondents said they had visited a local virtual historical site, 4% a virtual museum, 1% a festival related to books or literature, 3% a virtual art gallery or exhibition, 1% a virtual dance performance, less than 1% a virtual ballet performance, 7% a virtual concert and 7% a local theatre performance.

When it comes to attending arts and culture events online during the partial lockdown, between March to May 2020, the overwhelming majority of respondents said they were not interested in attending any sort of virtual cultural event, across several disciplines.

Across the three waves of the survey, more people were inclined to say that their interest in online activities will continue to decrease, with 83% of people saying their participation in such events would likely decline in the coming years, irrespective of whether COVID-19 remained a determining factor.

Majority could not name a single cultural body

When quizzed on their awareness of public cultural organisations (PCOs), where respondents were asked to mention a maximum of three, the majority of people (51%) could not mention even one.

The most name-dropped PCO was Teatru Manoel (29%), followed by Pjazza Teatru Rjal (12%) and Spazju Kreattiv (10%).

“The research shows that overall, individuals are not inclined to increase their likely participation in arts and cultural activities online when compared with the previous 12 months (prior to COVID-19),” the study concludes.

The 110-page report goes on to make a series of recommendations to try to generate interest in the sector.