The horrendous mediocrity which is blossoming around us and which will seemingly continue to engorge this country always provokes me to ponder upon and study the reasons for such a reality.
I must carry out the task to possibly contribute, in a modest manner, to Malta's international artistic and cultural participation, which I one day hope to see materialise on a level equal to that of other nations.
The present mediocre condition troubles me intensely especially when I see the works of high calibre which Maltese artists have offered to the international art scene in the past. These were not without problems, but the works of Antonio Sciortino, Josef Kalleya, George Preca, Carmelo Mangion, Emvin Cremona, Joseph Pirotta, Vincent Apap and others, make the sad state of today's art shamelessly evident.
Elisa Bonham Carter and Charles Saumarez Smith of the Royal Academy of Arts, London
With all the problems Malta had passed through, artists still had the capacity to establish a school of art which could compete with other schools which existed contemporaneously. The role of the Maltese students in Rome, Naples and even London, among other cities was a very active and competitive one, and they always succeeded in creating a name for themselves.
The works produced by these artists have artistic value regardless of one's affinity to their philosophy. These works honour Malta and the identity of this nation: Apap's Triton Fountain, Dante and Churchill, Sciortino's Christ the King, Les Gavroches, Speed, and others.
Giuseppe Schembri Bonaci with French sculptor Andre Hogommat
However, today we have fallen into the abyss of mediocrity, or rather, we have continued to drown in the huge sea of mediocrity present since the end of the career of Vincent Apap: there was the late Anton Agius whose works showed a great inconsistency, from beautiful work such as St Francis and Manwel Dimech to the middling Freedom Day Monument and other shameful works.
We currently have the monstrosity of the Camilleri Cauchi dynasty, with the latest what I term as the anti-monuments dedicated to Guido De Marco and Censu Tabone, works which disfavour both art and these historic Maltese statesmen.
It reflects a very bizarre situation when this mediocre monument is encircled by pompous lighting yet the masterpiece by Sciortino exactly opposite is doomed to darkness and pigeons. So what went wrong?
Unfortunately, Apap was a highly talented sculptor, yet one without successors. He didn't manage to create a school of artistic thought which could continue to evolve and develop and leave behind an artistic inheritance. Once Apap left the Malta Government School of Art it could be said that everything halted. And in the void left by Apap entered the chaos of mediocrity, both the traditional and the modernist, mediocrity which today has securely transfixed roots. So much so that it is blinding everybody, making us believe that this mediocrity is nothing but genius at work.
Obviously this is not the only reason for today's qualitative absence. There are other factors: the international development of modernist art, the globalisation of trade and consumerism, the total collapse of art criticism and other points which I have elucidated previously in various publications.
One of the most important and vital forms to stop this disaster is the creation or revamping of a strong artistic environment. And this must be initiated on both a political level so as to offer a strategic decision and also on the level of education. There must be a government which understands that art is one of the essential foundations of a nation, such foundations should not be limited to a tsunami of only villas and the number of hotel storeys to be built, Dubai style.
When there is a government which is conscious of this, the right step must be taken for cultural-artistic politics to be built on these foundations. A colossal mistake is that fragmented projects are materialising without any serious politics to bind all these energies together to achieve good results. This ensures the presence of rampant mediocrity.
One of the creators of all this unfortunate state (but not the only one) is the School of Art. Unfortunately, this institution has passed through many problems, even national ones. It is quite baffling to know that there were many efforts and sincere endeavours of the many people involved to fix the situation: yet to no avail. The results are horrendous. There are huge problems which require radical interventions by the political and executive class.
One must continue to dig deeper. A radical reform is necessitated in this sector, so radical that we must start from scratch. It is pointless to sew patches onto already torn jeans. Such ephemeral covers exacerbate the problem.
Giuseppe Schembri Bonaci with Prof. Giuliano Della Pergola
There is a need for education to be built upon: a) new strategic thought, b) a worldview to place education within the international spectrum and c) professional and artistic academia.
Without these three essential elements, we will remain enclosed within a provincial mediocrity.
There is a need to rebuild the glorious past of the School of Art and to build relationships with contemporary international art scholars and institutes so that ideas and practices could be established for the future. This would place the reputation of the School of Art on an international level and it would also serve as a mirror for the modern development of cosmopolitan society into which Malta is developing today.
The artistic politics of a school like this must also build a web between all Maltese towns and villages. It must be responsible for the politics of all public monuments and also for visual artistic events which would be occurring all over the Maltese islands. The school's programme must be coordinated with the programmes of other institutions, even those from different artistic spheres.
The school will not be able to survive on its own. It is important for it to have links to similar courses offered at the University and also at MCast. Together a professional system of national artistic politics may be created. Today the exact opposite is taking place. Everyone is complacently enclosed within their own bubble and producing mediocre pastizzi which are spreading all over Malta.
Every institution will remain independent yet there will be coordination and also specialisation in the different sectors of the practice of art.
A dream of mine which has been heavily criticised in the past as a Don Quichottian one is the idea to transform the huge territory occupied by St Luke's Hospital in Guardamangia into a phenomenal artistic centre. This space may be turned into an artistic heaven, an "art city". All the existing professional artistic programmes in Malta could be held there. Art courses of the University, MCast, together with the School of Art and the Society of Arts could be concentrated there in separate buildings with separate schedules.
There are enough buildings within the St Luke's Hospital block for art residencies and international cooperations to take place. A proper sculpture park would be assembled to counteract that nonsense which was unfortunately built at Verdala Palace in Buskett. There are many opportunities for gallery spaces to host temporary and permanent exhibitions, for lecture halls, film halls, debate halls, conference centres, canteens, artistic laboratories, cafeterias, restaurants, relaxation spots, spaces to encounter other artists coming from diverse backgrounds and institutions, and from other countries.
This is how we can create an "art city".
Well anyway, this is an ambitious dream. However, no one seems to realise how attainable this dream is.
The School of Art can play an important role in this project. We cannot continue to live in a bubble without any awareness of the ongoing happenings in the local and international art scene. A vital factor is for a healthy relationship to be retained between BA and MA University students and MCast students. These two educational institutions must themselves build up a strong professional relationship with the Society of Arts, which under the directorship of Vince Briffa has already been injected with modern and beautiful energy. Raphael Vella created a programme on the pedagogy of art within the Faculty of Education which is already bearing fruit.
Our Department of History of Art has always included art practice as part of its programme and has now opened up the MA in Fine Arts course. The MA programme involves the collaboration of teachers and artists from various backgrounds and institutions to give an idea of the benefit which emerges from creative affiliations. These professionals include Vince Briffa, Raphael Vella, Lino Borg, Gilbert Calleja, Jesmond Vassallo, Anthony Catania, Antonio Mollicone, and others. All are specialists in their respective sectors. Besides the participation of all the above, the programme has established partnerships with foreign art academies including the Royal Academy of Arts in London. Interesting links have also been set up with art institutions in Madrid, Paris, Leeds, Munich, Sofia and Moscow.
All these efforts would decay unless a vaster structure is constructed for contacts such as these to become chains which bind the institutions in Malta. And the School of Art can here once again play a determinant role.
It is important for a radical reform to take place for the school to regain the prestige it held at the beginning of the 20th century.
There is need for: i) the immediate salvaging of the colossal heritage at the school (which has unfortunately been dumped in a landfill for "centuries") of works of past Maltese masters. They should be registered and catalogued for students to conduct research, research which has encountered many difficulties due to horrible mistakes which were made in the past; ii) the curriculum must be profoundly revised and updated. Whether one agrees or not, students of the 21st century cannot be blind to what is occurring around the world, both the good and the bad; iii) teaching methodologies must be fundamentally changed for the school to develop into a modern academy with a leading syllabus which could compete with academies in other countries; iv) there must be a fusion of multiple and diverse experiences: both temporary and permanent teachers, teachers invited from other institutions, foreign teachers, workshops in different art centres, seminars, symposia, libraries and continuous inter exchanges; v) Bridging with the Department of History of Art and the MA in Fine Arts with the MFA in Digital Arts and even with the Faculty of Education.
These five points may only provide a modest beginning to the changes which have been exigent for the past 50 years. Work was done and many have attempted to bring about positive change. However, the Maltese art scene must now make clear and forceful demands for the total development of our country.
Article edited and translated by Nikki Petroni