Giuseppe Schembri Bonaci
In 2013, I was visiting London on one of my routine scholarly research trips which form part of my continuous analyses of modern and contemporary art movements. I was then lucky enough to attend to an exhibition held at the Saatchi Gallery, but was cynically convinced that this exhibition would not provoke the 'aura' which Walter Benjamin speaks of.
I entered the first floor and saw an exhibition of contemporary Russian art which was entitled 'Gaiety is the Most Outstanding Feature of the Soviet Union: New Art from Russia'. As usual, I was disillusioned by the development of Russian art, a situation which reflects my disillusionment of the present artistic status. It involved the copying of the artistic banality which has conquered and become dominant in the West.
There were obviously exceptions, especially with the work of Boris Mikhailov called 'Case History'. The artist intelligently entered into the depressive world of Dostoevsky and also into the visual thoughts of Artaud and his Theatre of Cruelty. Mikhailov works showed the fate of thousands of people who were reduced to the dire state of homelessness, almost overshadowing the macabre works of Bosch. In fact the works were very repulsively disturbing. The works of this Russian artist "open up a sense of existential truth almost within the parameters of Heidegger's definition. The truth of our situation gradually opens up in front of our very eyes."
However, such qualities were not present in the other parts of this exhibition. As stated by Anna Blood in the 'Burlington Magazine' (March 2013) the works in this exhibition represent "that which we expect from the Russian contemporary art world". Toby Skeggs in 'The Art Newspaper' (November 2012) decided not to enter into any analysis on this exhibition. Such a depressing show incited a sentiment of senselessness within me, so much so that I began to question whether I should continue to see the exhibition. I decided to turn back and exit from this mediocre or qualitatively inconsistent space.
Fortunately the insistence of my colleague Dr. Marjorie Trusted (a leading curator at the Victoria and Albert Museum) convinced me to stay inside and move onto another exhibition which was located on the upper floor.
Here I saw something not only different and of great interest but also a surprise. I unexpectedly entered into a world of nostalgia. The exhibition on the 4th floor was called 'Breaking the Ice: Moscow Art, 1960-1980s'. It not only recalled exciting and important memories of my own career, but also with beautiful regret and sadness revived friends and colleagues with whom I studied, worked and even exhibited: with sadness since I learnt from this very exhibition that some passed away.
There were works by Dmitry Plavinsky, Viktor Pivovarov, Dmitry Prigov, Vladimir Nemukhin, Ilya Kabakov, Ivan Chuikov, Genrikh Sapgir, Francisco Infante and others. Obviously when I felt so sieged by these friends of mine I was constrained to remember when Malta was a passionate and direct participant and important catalyst for the Russian avant-garde movement in the 1980s.
During the years 1976-1986 as Charge d'Affaires (on an Ambassadorial level) cultural and artistic activities used to form an integral and central part of the entire diplomatic praxis. My own artistic biography was not the only factor which led to such an approach, but it was also due to my profound belief in the success of Maltese diplomacy. Such success would be achieved only if cultural elements and policies were integrated within diplomacy's own politics of international relations. Without such integration the international community could not take us seriously. Our powers of negotiation would be worth nothing.
With this professional belief in mind, and together with my artistic vocation, the Maltese Embassy in Moscow gradually became a very active and spectacular centre for art and culture, so much so that it engendered a wave of respect generally and also one must underline of a certain anxiety from the conservative powers. Without my noticing the Embassy developed into a hub of cultural activity which gave rise to a form of proto-perestroika renaissance.
The enormous number of participants was absolutely suffocating the small spaces within the Embassy. This work continued to grow and gain an almost stunning popularity, and as Gorbachov and his reforms grew in strength, my activities increased in quality and quantity together with a radicalization of essential contacts so that my work in the diplomatic field could unfold with more efficiency and success. In fact Arthur Hartman, the Ambassador of the United States, with his amiable smile used to continuously repeat that the Maltese Embassy reflected the macroscopic events which were occurring in the Soviet Union on a microscopic scale.
Obviously this explosion in importance of the Maltese Embassy in the capital city of a superpower and my own relations with the Russian avant-garde created not only profound and positive relationships with progressive Russian forces but also caused a somewhat problematic situation with the conservative authorities which are still monopolizing the structures of power in the Soviet Union. Not only were the Soviet authorities unnerved by this but also, unfortunately, was the Maltese Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
Articles began to appear in prominent official and semi-official Soviet newspapers which criticized and attacked my cultural activities.
My situation began to evolve into one which was rather enigmatic. My love for art, my anarchic beliefs, my position on the lack of compromises for the freedom of thought and expression, together with the intriguing and exciting reality which was radically changing the world; changes, the likes of which had not been felt since the Second World War, all came together and became central to my professional activities. My love and loyalty towards my country opened my eyes to the absolute importance of the Embassy's obligation of dealing with these violent changes which were unfolding in the Soviet Union. I believed that the artistic activity, diplomatic functions and all the corresponding obligations had to reflect all these earthquakes in the most direct manner. I used to idealistically imagine, with some naivety, that these changes which were difficult to keep up with were unified with my great love for Moscow as a fantastic city of art and culture. I began to trust that the Maltese Embassy could become one of the unique and important catalysts in the process of these new global developments. Due to the Moscow avant-garde which I was certain would play a central role in this new Russia, the Maltese Embassy could place Malta within the avant-garde of the new relationships with this born again superpower. My role began to increase in importance when the total collapse of the Soviet Union was beginning. Unfortunately the Maltese Ministry of Foreign Affairs had a different idea. It was seeing a different image to the one I was experiencing myself directly. The tension between the conservative powers in this Soviet state structure remained strong but progressive forces were winning one battle after another: something which as the head of the Embassy I had to exploit. The tension with my Ministry grew phenomenally. I resigned.
After more than thirty years, memory retains the beautiful and important recollections and discards others. This was, mildly speaking, an exciting time and I used to physically feel I was forming part not only of the history of Maltese-Russian relations but also as a modest but active participant in international history. This may sound pretentious but I assure you that it is not. I am actually saying it in the most humble manner possible. At the same time I had begun to introduce, for the first time in the history of the relations between these two countries, the work of Maltese artists. Amongst these I organized exhibitions for Norbert Attard, Caesar Attard, Joseph Vella, Carmel Cassar, Paul Caruana and many others.
We had also translated poems from Maltese into Russian together with the Russian translator Evgeni Vitovski, Maltese poems which were read in Russian for the first time. Discussions on the works of Francis Ebejer in Russian followed publications of his works. Relations with leading theatres in the Russian capital city, with the Music Conservatory, with Ballet institutions, with academic centres including one of my alma mater, Moscow State University...however this requires another story or rather, several stories.
My efforts to integrate Maltese art within the international spectrum did not terminate with my resignation from my Ambassadorial position. This has been and is a continuous concern for me both as an artist and as an academic. With the Mdina Cathedral Contemporary Art Biennale, opening on the 13th November 2015, several artists from all over the world will be exhibiting contemporary works alongside Maltese artists in Mdina - itself a multicultural city. Such a large-scale collaborative international art project has never been seen locally, and I hope that through the Mdina Biennale the Maltese people will understand the significance and beauty of such international cultural relations.
Article edited and translated by Nikki Petroni