People who have attended live performances and venues at least once in the last year report higher life satisfaction than those who do not, according to a major new cultural participation survey (see the pdf link below).

The study, published today by Arts Council Malta, Valletta 2018 and the NSO, found that 91 per cent of people had attended cultural events in the previous 12 months.

Nearly half of the population reported having been to the cinema at least once, while close to a third had visited a historical site, museum, or live theatre or music performance.  

While the overall figure is largely unchanged from the level recorded five years ago, the last time the survey was carried out, small increases were seen in the number of people attending cinema, live theatre and music.

Community events such as carnival and local council festivals also witnessed increased attendance, with a 10 per cent rise for village feasts.

Book readers, however, remain in worryingly short supply: less than half the population – and just a third of men – say they have read at least one book in the last year.

“What the survey confirms is that Malta is an extremely culturally active nation,” Arts Council director of strategy Toni Attard told the Times of Malta. “It also highlights the diversity of engagement we see, with a large proportion of people not only attending but actively participating in culture.”

Mr Attard highlighted figures showing a difference in life satisfaction in relation to cultural attendance: those who attend cultural events reported an average life satisfaction of 8.0 compared to 7.3 among those who do not.

“This shows that the discourse goes beyond ‘bums on seats’ to general wellbeing,” he said. “By teaching a child to do drama or arts and crafts, they may not become the best artist but it is still going to have a positive impact on their life.”

For policy makers, Mr Attard said, the study highlighted areas where increased attention could lead to reaching new audiences, just as the declining cinema attendances of a few years ago had led to a major investment in digitisation.

“One thing we noticed was a huge difference between the number of people who were aware of public cultural venues and those who had actually attended. Many of those who hadn’t attended said they were interested, which represents a potential we have to work at translating into audience development.”

Mr Attard added that the survey, which will be launched as part of a cultural symposium today, could also help private companies understand the diversity of their audience and hone their marketing strategies.

In particular, he highlighted the strong participation in community-based creative activities (such as passion plays), measured for the first time in this survey, adding that there was space for the mainstream arts community to better understand the emerging patterns and build new connections.