Malta/ 1. Historical perspective: cultural policies and instruments  

Cultural activity in Malta has been shaped by political, ecclesiastical, educational or family privilege and influence. Throughout the centuries, the country was occupied by a succession of foreign powers, with one of the results being a struggle for the diffusion of culture and traditions, including a battle over the question of the Maltese language. For example, in the first half of the 1900s, the Istituto Italiano di Cultura and the British Institute became antagonists, meshed in a cultural battle for political influence and control. The Italian lobby campaigned for the Italian language to be adopted by the cultured elite, including the professional class, and for it to be used in all official documents and legal codes, including the Constitution. On the other side, British colonial authorities supported the use of Maltese to counteract the Italian influence and backed up Maltese writers who played a key role in the fight for the Maltese culture and language. World War II secured Malta's alliance with the British against the Italian-German axis.

A massive cultural renewal in the 1960s was led by a new generation of writers and intellectuals and had significant effects in the fields of literature, theatre, the visual arts and music. Malta's traditional hierarchical models were challenged and classical and romantic approaches were abandoned. Cultural objectives were being articulated by the young intellectuals and taken up for debate in the media. There was also a significant shift towards local production on television and radio. As there was still no official cultural policy at the beginning of the 1960s, responsibility for culture formed part of the portfolios of various Ministers, including those responsible for Education, Foreign Affairs and Justice.

Malta's proclamation of political independence from Britain in 1964 heralded in new concepts for the democratisation of culture, mirroring developments in other countries. In 1965, Malta became a member of the Council of Europe, at a time when the country started to diversify its economy from a military to a service and a market-oriented model. Within such a context, cultural heritage emerged as a crucially important asset. Cultural policy finally gained its own profile when a Minister for Education, Culture and Tourism was appointed after the first elections in 1966.

In the 1970s and 1980s, the two main political parties, the Nationalist Party (NP) and the Malta Labour Party (MLP), began including cultural policy in their electoral programmes. In 1971, the NP pledged to support culture through the creation of an Arts Council. In 1976, they promised to recognise artists and intellectuals as catalysts in the life of the nation. The NP also promised to "extend facilities to the whole people" and to "intensify cultural exchange with other countries". The pledge to construct a National Arts Council was made again in the NP electoral manifestos of 1987, 1992 and 1996 and the Malta Council for Culture and the Arts (MCCA) was actually created in 2002, after an Act of Parliament. In the 1990s, it became the declared policy of the Nationalist Party to review culture "not as the privilege of an elite few, but as the dynamic heritage of the whole people."

The Malta Labour Party also articulated its cultural objectives pointedly in the early seventies and appointed a Minister for Education and Culture in 1971 when it assumed power. In its 1976 electoral programme, the MLP dedicated a whole chapter (IV) to "the intellectual and moral aspect of culture to combat materialism". Linking education and culture inextricably, the party also declared that culture should be an instrument to accelerate the socio-economic needs of the Maltese islands. At the beginning of the 1980s, the MLP emphasised culture as a source of identity and stressed the "democratisation of culture and the arts". In the 1990s, the Labour programme stressed the promotion of culture among children and young people, the role of the media in promoting authentic cultural values and the role of culture to promote Malta's international image, especially within a Mediterranean framework.

In 1993, the Ministry responsible for culture (under a Nationalist Party government) commissioned the first comprehensive survey relating to cultural activity in Malta which resulted in the publication, "A Cultural Assessment of the Nation". This report endorsed the fact that cultural trends are mainly influenced by the media in its multiple forms and that traditional entertainment (e.g. village bands, folk festivals) remains active and important. It also emphasised the active role of NGOs in traditional cultural activities.

In 2001, the Ministry of Education, which at the time had Culture and the Arts as part of its portfolio, published a public consultation document to establish a cultural policy for Malta. A delegation from the Council of Europe visited Malta in June 2002 to assess the discussion document and suggest strategies for its implementation. The experts' report, written by Professor Anthony Everitt (UK), was subsequently submitted to the plenary session of the Cultural Committee in Strasbourg in September 2002. Unfortunately, even though the document was regarded as a unique opportunity to address the future of cultural affairs in Malta, the draft document was never finalised into a final policy document. Notwithstanding the lack of formal or legal adoption of the policy, a number of recommendations in the report were implemented in the following years. Namely, the legal framework to establish the Malta Council for Culture and the Arts (MCCA), (Chapter 444, Act 8), (http://www.maltaculture.com/filebank/docs/chapter444.pdf), the Cultural Heritage Act 2002 and the creation of the National Book Council.

These legal frameworks were also necessary to address Malta's commitment as a member of the European Union to promote and protect the cultural heritage of the country whilst fostering and developing its creative identity and cooperation.

With its accession in the European Union on the 1st of May 2004, Malta enhanced its strategic position in an enlarged Europe and confirmed its commitment towards the economic and political development of the European Union. This also meant that Malta had to contribute to the successful ratification of European Union treaties and agendas. Therefore, Malta's commitment towards the freedom of creative expression, the fundamental right to access culture and the celebration and preservation of the cultural diversity of its citizens as outlined in the Treaty of Maastricht is encouraging further political investment in culture. Underpinning this commitment lies the freedom of movement for the professionals in the cultural sector, freedom of establishment, and free movement of goods and services with the European Union.

European accession also meant that Malta could capitalise upon European initiatives such as the Culture and Media programmes which are currently under the responsibility of the Ministry for Tourism and Culture. EU educational programmes, under the remit of the European Union Programmes Agency within the Ministry of Education, Youth and Employment, are also offering schools, NGOs and Foundations new opportunities for cultural funding, development and cooperation. These programmes, together with other funding programmes, such as the European Structural Funds, Interreg programmes and European Regional Development Funds and the agenda set through the EU communication on Culture gave scope for government, and perhaps added pressure, to view culture as an important sector in the economic and social development of Malta.

In December 2006, the Ministry for Tourism and Culture published the first National Cultural Heritage Strategy following the enactment of the Cultural Heritage Act in 2002. The main objectives of the strategy are based on citizen participation, improved governance, development of cultural resources and sustainable use of heritage resources.

In January 2007, the Ministry launched a Tourism Plan for the Maltese Islands and Malta's National Tourism Strategy. For the cultural sector, these documents outline policies though which the niche sector of cultural tourism is to be developed in the coming years.

Even though a National Cultural Policy and strategy have not yet been officially proposed by the Ministry for Tourism and Culture, ad hoc cultural policy initiatives have, in the past ten years, been instigated by numerous Ministries and cultural organisations. An important milestone in the history of cultural affairs in Malta was set in 2007 with the inclusion of the creative industries in the government pre-budget document and the implementation of new budgetary measures for culture in the National Budget for 2008. The pre-budget document states that "cultural development needs to be at the heart of our nation - culture plays a fundamental role in human development, moulding our identity and acting as an indicator of a society's progress and advancement".

With the run-up to the General Elections in 2008, the Malta Labour Party, which is currently in Opposition, also embraces culture as one of its political priorities through a document outlining a list of 36 recommendations for Culture.