The national arts awards, Il-Premju għall-Arti, recently recognised important contributions to the arts. In this fourth and final article of the series, the Sunday Times of Malta interviews Charles C. Gatt, recipient of the lifetime achievement award, and Charles Azzopardi from Bank of Valletta, which was honoured for its work promoting the arts. We find out how they felt about winning, how COVID-19 has impacted their work and how they think the arts sector will respond in the aftermath of the coronavirus.

Charles C. Gatt, winner of the Lifetime Achievement Award

Charles C. Gatt

The award really took me by surprise. It is very encouraging to realise that this work, which has not been extensively publicised, has been discovered and recognised. Here, I would like to thank the chairman of the Arts Council,  Albert Marshall. Also, one has to consider that these projects originated from different areas and styles of music and the visual arts. I have to give credit to both Ray Calleja and Sarah-Lee Zammit, who have certainly made the effort to dig into the work carried out with the  local art group START, the European art group Frequenzen, and my collaboration with local and international composers and musicians.

 The impact that the COVID-19 situation has had on my work has been a mixed blend of positives and negatives. I must admit that I have enjoyed a few beautiful moments, such as when I could hear birdsong in my small yard in the morning. Nonetheless, like everyone else, I approached each grocery bag or cardboard box arriving at my door, with a high level of apprehension. Being a 75-year-old, I had to live in quarantine mode and deal with it. This turned into a full-time job of painting and working on performance and new ideas on vibraphone and drums. On the bright side, this became a great time for practice and flow of ideas. I have been communicating with friends and family all the time. Everyone I spoke to was worried about the virus but somehow, it became less pressing for self-employed musicians when the subject turned to their looming unemployment. When shops and restaurants were forced to close under lockdown, the wealthy and middle classes found shelter in their comfortable dwellings while most establishments began to dismiss their self-employed musicians along with immigrant workers.

The pandemic offers us a chance to meditate upon the kind of future we dream of building for ourselves- Charles C Gatt

 What has happened to us with COVID-19 will ultimately affect the quality and quantity of all forms of human life. It is a virus, yes, but it is also definitely more. Some believe it is God’s way of making us see sense; others theorise it could be a political conspiracy.  Whatever it is, it has humiliated the most powerful and brought the world to a halt. Many of us still desire and dream of tracing our steps back to ‘normality’ as we refuse to concede to this fissure: the ‘what was’ and the ‘what is’. In the middle of this terrible despair, the pandemic offers us a chance to meditate upon the kind of future we dream of building for ourselves. We should all be scared of going back to normality. Marlon Brando, Pablo Picasso and Miles Davis all ended up in voluntary quarantine at the end of their lives. Some artists are lucky to find this kind of spirituality in solitude when they reach maturity. Pandemics have influenced humans to break the mould and reinvent the world.

 Art can help us find universal reference points which can also serve as guidelines in the life of each individual person. Besides thinking, feeling and wanting, the creative urge possesses a sense of goodwill, self-respect together with respect for others and a desire to transform things for the better. Picasso said, “You must do everything with love.” Love is the secret of art’s transforming power. This power can help us emerge clean out of this environment of materialism, power, consumerism and hedonism. Joseph Beuys said that all men are artists. We might only be art lovers. If everyone approaches his work with love, we can hope that this will lead us to a harmonious adaptation of our individual differences.

Charles Azzopardi, executive PR and marketing at Bank of Valletta, recipient of the Honour for Cultural Promoters

Charles Azzopardi

Bank of Valletta has always aspired to going beyond being the financial provider of choice of the Maltese community and has strived to be a very active citizen within the community in which it operates. The Bank has partnered with a large number of high profile artistic projects throughout the years, which include the operas held at the Manoel Theatre, the Astra Theatre and the Aurora Theatre in Gozo and The Joseph Calleja Concert among many others. The Bank has also organised 27 art exhibitions honouring Malta’s most prolific artists, while preserving Malta’s rich cultural heritage through partnerships with heritage trusts such as Heritage Malta, Fondazzjoni Wirt Artna, Fondazzjoni Patrimonju Malti and Din l-Art Ħelwa, while supporting numerous restoration projects. Bank of Valletta has the well-being of the Maltese community as a top priority, and we do this wholeheartedly. The award came as a surprise to us and we are indeed very grateful for this recognition for our efforts over the past 20+ years.

Bank of Valletta, recipient of the Honour for Cultural Promoters

The COVID-19 situation is an ever-evolving situation and the Bank, as all other businesses and sectors are quickly adapting to this new reality. The Bank recognises its role as a systemically important bank to the Maltese economy and community, and also needs to protect the health and safety of its almost 2,000 staff member complement. Our main efforts have stressed on the importance for our customers to use our digital services, such as BOV Internet and Mobile Banking, our ATMs, e-mail and the Customer Service Centre. Indeed, a special helpline was established to help customers deal with this situation vis-a-vis their banking requirements. These services encompass a very large section of services offered by the bank, and their usage would mean less people visiting BOV Branches, avoiding direct contact and reducing the risk of contagion. We are using our digital channels and social media to keep the customers informed of any updates and also thank the media for their collaboration in helping us to spread our messages.

Going forward, we are very closely monitoring the evolving situation with advice from the health authorities and will continue to comply with their directives while always exploring new and innovative ways to bring our services to our customers at the least possible risk to the public and to our very dedicated staff members.

We strongly believe in the resilience and innovation of the Maltese community. The Bank’s Community Programme encompasses much more than art. It supports heritage, the environment, sports and education among others. The disruptions brought about by COVID-19 have seen the traditional mediums, such as artistic exhibitions, concerts, classroom lessons and sporting events be brought to a standstill. However the community has quickly adapted and concerts are happening virtually, like the recent Malta Together festival, also supported by BOV. Museums are offering virtual tours, lessons are being held over videoconferencing and business is being conducted over the internet. We have to adapt to a new reality and normality. We are convinced that Maltese artists, performers and organisers will all come together and continue to deliver the high level of artistic performance that we have become accustomed to. We are convinced that the Maltese artistic community will rise up to the challenge and continue to deliver, while raising the standard.

Nominations for Premju għall-Arti 2021 are now open at www.premju.mt.