A delegation from Plus Tate, a network associated with the prestigious Tate art museums in Britain, is in Malta to discuss a contemporary art museum space with the authorities.

A “museum space for modern and contemporary art” is one of the actions contemplated in the National Cultural Policy launched yesterday, which says that the ministry responsible for culture, in collaboration with the Council for Culture and the Arts, Heritage Malta and the University should identify a site and implement the necessary work to open the museum.

Toni Attard, an adviser to the Creative Economy Working Group, a government body tasked with coordinating such projects, said that whatever was done artistically nowadays had to be taken within the international context. The Plus Tate visit was serving as a sounding board for the Maltese government and the network itself, which also stood to gain from the visit, Mr Attard said.

Members of the delegation, including the directors of Turner Contemporary and the Middlesbrough Institute of Modern Art, met, artists and museums representatives.

“Nowadays, museums operate in partnerships,” Mr Attard said.

There was no word on where the museum space might be located, however, the cultural policy speaks a lot of “culture-driven regeneration”, which would see an old building being revived for use as something else, such as St James Cavalier, in Valletta, which was previously a government printing press.

The document suggests that, ideally, the space should be developed “adjacent” to the University, the ministry, the arts council and Heritage Malta to maximise on the benefits for the formation of new artists.