Just as summer was reaching its peak, Arts Council Malta published its latest paper: Strategy 2025 Care, Create, Flourish. It is a rather strange beast.
To begin with, it is unusual in that it focuses on a period of less than two-and-a-half years.
Most strategies usually call for five, 10 or even 20-year strategies.
What can possibly be achieved in that short span?
Next, among the buzzwords and phrases is a certain repetition of ideas and concepts.
The strategy stresses the importance of culture, the connection between culture and the community, education, diversity, internationalisation. It calls for several ‘actions’, many of which are technically already in place.
It does all these things within a strangely sterile, theoretical environment. It spends little time examining the reality at ground level, unless to pat itself on the back by, for example, pointing at the increased funding within the cultural sphere.
And it spends no time at all to consider how the government’s influence and management in this sector are having an effect – negative or otherwise – on the whole community.
And herein lies the problem.
In the visual and performing arts, this country boasts more than its fair share of creativity. And, yet, the overriding belief is that quality must go abroad to thrive and that this country seems to promote mediocrity in all sectors.
The reason for this is obvious.
Most of the public spaces, and most of the cultural money, is in the hands of PCOs, that’s public cultural organisations to you and me.
These, whether they are an exhibition space, a performing arts space or even broadcasting and film, will be run by quangos or boards, its members often directly selected by the minister or cabinet.
This puts management decisions in the hands of people who are not competent in the field. The result is the total breakdown of the sector.
Let’s look at the recent spate of high level ‘free’ cultural events organised by Visit Malta.
No doubt, the minister for tourism will say that these events are an investment to attract more tourists. But they are having a terribly detrimental effect on the sector. They devalue the product and leave the private promoter stranded as they try to pit their own ticketed event against free events.
Or let’s look at the Manoel Theatre programming which sees two musicals, both in the same ‘variety’ genre of show, playing back-to-back.
This just after a musical being presented at the Mediterranean Conference Centre, which makes it three musicals in a row in a short space of time. This is not only bad for the performers who are being forced to pick only one of the three productions to take part in, it’s also bad for audiences who have a very limited spend and also face a one-out-of-three choice.
We can also look at the amount of money spent on ‘populist’ (but frankly not inspiring) events such as the Infiorita or Pageant of the Seas, two hobby horses of the over bloated, jobs-for-the-boys PCO, the Valletta Creative Agency. And let’s not forget the Malta Film Awards debacle.
Before talking about strategies for 2025 or beyond, the arts council would do better to take a hard look at itself and other PCOs, at the whole ecology of this sector and the management systems in place.
For too long, positions in these PCOs have been given out to individuals not on the basis of qualifications but as a minister’s personal gift.
As a result, the cultural sector is in deep crisis and no amount of theoretical strategising will make it – to use the strategy’s own slogan – care, create or flourish.