The billboard was right, after all. Malta’s presidency of the Council of the EUis not just a matter of politicians but also an opportunity to showcase Malta’s culture all over Europe.

And while our ministers, our politicians, have been putting up so-so shows or downright shameful ones, our artists have been putting them to shame.

Heritage Malta put up a show in one of Rome’s best museums and showcased some of the paintings from the National Museum of Culture.

The National Philharmonic Orchestra gave a concert at the Bozar in Brussels.

There are art shows in the EU buildings in Brussels.

And a dance troupe, ZfinMalta is touring concert halls in the UK.

They promised, they were mostly underfunded, and yet they succeeded in carrying the Malta name across the European cultural landscape.

They did not issue bombastic proclamations nor promise the earth. On the contrary, they mostly underpromised, but then they delivered which is more than we can say for our ministers.

Of course, this being Malta we got to see and hear all about our ministers, but nothing at all about our cultural ambassadors.

Or rather, we mostly got press releases, probably written by the ministers themselves, and copies of their speeches but nothing by way of an unbiased account of the meetings they held. In time, we may come to get such unbiased reports and we wait to see what they will say about our ministers.

As we are saying, we have been given no official account of the cultural presentations in various EU capitals – sometimes not even a measly picture. But we have been hearing accounts on the grapevine mostly from the protagonists themselves, how well they performed and how they were acclaimed.

Maybe our artists are not Grade A artists but they are moving places, they are getting around, they are no longer restricted by the small size of our island and slowly they are making a name for themselves on the big European stage. After all, it is not just at Eurovision time that Malta’s name is getting mentioned across Europe.

And our artistic heritage which features honourably at Palazzo Barberini in Rome, is actually wider than that which is exhibited there, although this is understandable seeing it features Caravaggio and Mattia Preti to compare them to paintings in the museum’s collection.

But we could have put together an exhibition of say modern Maltese painting and found museums where this can be exhibited.
Likewise Maltese music could have been given a wider airing than just one evening at the Bozar.

Still, considering all the restrictions involved, all in all it was a good show. The Presidency is six months long but we do not know if there more concerts, more exhibitions, more tournees coming up. But when one considers that the logo for the presidency is the work of a schoolgirl, we were afraid it would be a low-cost affair. It wasn’t and it has made people sit up and realize there is more to Malta than just sun and sea. And, as we said at the beginning, the artists have given a creditable showing which is more than one can say for all our ministers.