Arts executives for the Malta Council for Culture and the Arts say around 11,000 people have attended the second edition of the Malta Arts Festival, which took place in Valletta between 25 July and 19 August, with an estimated 90 per cent of the 36 events boasting full-house attendances.
“We went for a new look this year, which was well-received,” Arts executive Davinia Galea said.
Kicking off with MADC’s take on Shakespeare’s “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” at the Old Opera House ruins, the festival comprising everything from Caravaggio celebrations to Egyptian poetry to graffiti. A good number of international artists were also invited, a characteristic that distinguishes this year’s festival from last year’s edition.
Staple events such as MADC’s Shakespeare, National Orchestra Goes Pop, Etnikafe and Puerto Flamenco once again proved to be a success with the masses, in spite of the MADC’s somewhat dramatic break with San Anton Gardens, which had served on and off as a venue for the club’s annual Shakespeare productions since the 1930s.
The participation of the Danish Theatre group Odin Teatret was indicative of the festival’s attempt to cater to niche audiences with high-quality productions. “Odin made it clear to us that some of their workshops and performances would have to be limited to an audience of 50,” Frendo said. “We want to cater to high culture in a way that is not elitist by having quality events all-round.”
The executives were surprised by a low turnout for showcases of traditional Arab music, presented courtesy of the Egyptian Lixandra Project on 2 and 4 August. “This is definitely something we want to look into… we’d like to discover why people weren’t so enthusiastic about coming to see a very high quality showcase of Arab music when the rest of Lixandra’s events were well-attended,” Frendo said.
The appearance of the Arts Festival has had its effect on more established cultural summer events such as Evenings on Campus, which took place between 30 July and 9 August this year.
“Evenings on Campus has been around for 15 years, long before the Malta Arts festival. It has become difficult to compete, not only because there has been a democratisation of culture, a wider choice, but most especially because the cultural context has changed,” Anna Catania, Evenings on Campus co-ordinator and manager of the Koperattiva Kulturali Universitarija, said. “It is not the demand for the evenings which has changed but the meaning which society is giving to this product. Of course we will change things, it would be a mistake if we didn’t. However more than the content, it is on the change in ‘form’ and emphasis that we will be concentrating our efforts. We need to work towards creating a more relevant event to the contemporary context.”