A transnational cultural project on the arts in small states : the case of Malta

Abstract

The maxim small is beautiful is often applied to small-island states. It is also a fact that small islands are often faced with vulnerabilities and challenges for their remoteness and insularities. This article examines such peculiarities of small states focusing on art practices from a sociological approach. Can sociological investigation ignore the contextual factors, the limitations and challenges of a small geographical territory and its influence on art production and practices? This was one of the main questions tackled by the BJCEM (Biennale of Young Artists from Europe and the Mediterranean) transnational cultural project, involving an ethnographic study with artists in various small states. This full cultural immersion in Euro-Mediterranean small states aimed at mapping the differences and similarities in constraints and challenges of artistic practices. The working sessions of the BJCEM programme A National Oasis? A Transnational Research Programme aimed at deepening curatorial and cultural knowledge of visual, performing arts and cultural studies in small-states. It explored the geopolitical peculiarities complexity of territories such as of San Marino, Montenegro, Kosovo and Malta. This article specifically focuses on one location that was part of the project location, the small state of Malta. Reference to this location is made not to suggest identical challenges faced in small-states within the Euro-Mediterranean region. In effect, I contend that the distinctive socio-economic and cultural conditions of these locations contribute to different peculiarities. There are various aspects worthy of analysis, including the institutions of power in Malta, such as the Church and its work on censoring the arts throughout the years. However, this article specifically focuses on the notion of insularity outlined by referring to three features – artists’ need to train and work abroad, the status overlap of the artist, and the patterns of cultural consumption. Drawing on from knowledge obtained from this programme and from interviews with art practitioners in Malta who participated in this project, this article explores briefly the ambiguous, or what Mitchell (2002) calls ‘ambivalent’ situation of Malta, in relation to its art production and practices. The arguments brought forward are positioned broadly within a discourse on the dichotomy between structure and agency in the sociology of the arts theoretical framework.