As the public consultation process for a new Culture Strategy is now in full swing, the sixth session of ACM Hangouts focuses directly on the topic of policy and strategy within the cultural sectors.

Coordinated and hosted by Elaine Falzon, this edition of the monthly sessions invites professionals, experts and creative practitioners to explore the role of cultural policies and strategies and their impact on the sectors.

Adrian Debattista, head of strategy at Arts Council Malta, highlighted differences between policy and strategy which, while having a close relationship and effect on each other, are not the same thing.

Cultural anthropologist Rachel Scicluna said that specific cultural strategies must be relevant to their context, while keeping in mind economy, historical legacy and other facets.

Policy, Scicluna added, can be messy because the process is not necessarily linear. People might say they need one thing, but then do something differently, and it is because of this that observation and research need to be a part of the process.

Mario Azzopardi, director at the Cultural Directorate, noted that time and context play a major role: a cultural strategy formulated in 2018 would not have the same focus as one devised now, because the problems being faced now are altogether different.

Magdalena Moreno Mujica, executive director of IFACCA, (a global network of arts councils and ministries of culture) said that the digital era has disrupted what was previously a linear process of developing policy. Audiences are now participating in the development of art; some policy-makers are jumping the presentation stage and going straight to distribution.

Mujica added that COVID-19 brought about an even greater disruption.

Guest speaker Davinia Galea, managing director of Arc Research and Consultancy, explained that there is no European cultural policy so it is up to individual member states to develop their own processes.

Guests agreed that cultural policy and strategy does not happen in a silo, but needs to be addressed in relation to themes like archaeology, science, technology and the environment in order to ensure relevance.

Catherine Tabone, Valletta Cultural Agency’s Chief Executive Officer, said that the formulation of culture policy and strategy has had to evolve to respect pandemic guidelines.

Culture strategy, she says, now needs to take into account that events often carry extra expenditure in order to happen – such as transforming an opera from a live venue to a television production, while importing artists and satisfying health protocols.

This session of the ACMHangouts ended with an intervention from Mary-Ann Cauchi, Director of Funding at Arts Council Malta. Cauchi stressed the importance of keeping policy-makers close to the sector, while offering nine keywords that help inform the process.