In April Monique Corvers and I traveled on a mission to explore further exchange of arts and education between Malta and our home town, the City of Utrecht. This was my second trip. For Monique who is artistic director of music theatre Het Filiaal it was her first time on the island. As I experienced last time, it took Monique a day or so ánd an illuminating encounter with a wise old lady to grasp some of the tongue in cheek behind the Maltese practice of ‘complaining their way through life’. Report on a short journey– from culture shock to inspiration – meeting artists and other professionals working in education.
Visiting Malta in April you cannot but notice the strong presence of seasonal rituals and symbols. In December I got a taste of this through the Festa of Maria Immakulata, this time Easter was around every corner: in colors, foods and music. A splendid surprise was being taken to Bach’s St Matthew’s Passion in Mdina, the former capital and principle inland city of Malta. Seated between clergy in the shady purple illuminated baroque St Paul’s cathedral, I was tapping straight into the emotions and sounds belonging to my youth and (protestant) cultural upbringing. The experience illuminated one of the reasons Monique and I were here: to share best practices and join in collective talent building towards an effective –holistic– approach to creativity in the arts and arts education.
Thursday we saw Malta’s first full orchestral staging of Prokovjev’s Peter and the Wolf & Benjamin Britten’s Young people’s guide to the orchestra. Directed by Christopher Muscat, animated by visual artist Pierre Portelli and staged and narrated by Sarah Spiteri. The Malta Philharmonic Orchestra performed in the island’s largest venue, the Mediterranean Conference Centre in the former Knights Hospitallers’ hospital. Acoustically not ideal and with more than 800 children in the house quite a challenge. An important milestone however at which the parliamentary secretary Mr Mario de Marco was present.
Monique: “I’m always interested to see how kids enter the theatre. Is there a system? How long does it take for the kids to be seated? Are they exited, are they prepared? Those things do have a major influence on the success of a show. The concert was a good starting point for discussion with our hosts: ‘What is your goal? Do you want to explain music or do you want children to experience and maybe even love music? Do you want to create a habit? That is the habit of going to concerts or theater. Or do you want to create a craving? That is you loved it so much you only long to go back?’ “
Friday morning we visited the other side of the spectrum: St Margaret’s primary school in Bormla. Being shown around and talking to the headmaster gave us a good impression of the cultural status quo at school, its dreams and its difficulties. Two teachers of the music and arts department happened to be around and gave us additional insight in their teaching practice. Trained art teachers are actually being provided for in the Maltese school system (3 hours a week!) . However the curriculum doesn’t allow integrating art lessons with other disciplines or school projects as yet.
Monique: “I’m a hands on kind of person and enjoy meeting people at work. This school building, British colonial style with high ceilings, large windows and soft wavy curtains – all light and airy – it was wonderful being there. It’s in a rundown area but there are actually quite a few reasons to envy this school. Such as weekly visiting art teachers and a special classroom for art classes. Half an hour in the headmaster’s office was a surreal experience: Charlot Cassar and his staff members craftily divided their attention between their Dutch visitors, children at the door, a frantic grandmother on the phone, a furious mother at reception and other mayhem. All the while the school atmosphere remaining warm and structured.”
A holistic approach to art education means being aware of and positioning your art project in a wider context: that of the child’s everyday life, it’s professional prospects, the school curriculum, sports, welfare, changing society etcetera. This is what Utrecht would like to bring into this exchange: to collaborate with local professionals, get inspired and inspire them to look as much to the context as to the content of an art project. Meeting both teachers and artists in their own environment was important for Monique to get a picture. After the school visit she was excited by the idea of maybe developing a whole new project, based on local stories, getting on board everybody involved in art for children: teachers, parents, artists, animators and last but not least children themselves.
Friday afternoon on the terrace of St James Cavalier Centre of Creativity we met up with a group of ten local artists. In an informal setting we recovered personal memories of when the magic of art struck us for the very first time: a big sister playing the piano, discovering acting as an escape route from bullying, being fascinated by images looking through a lens…. Our own child memories are important root material for anyone wanting to engage young people in the arts. Monique: “I would have loved to see more of the work of all the interesting people I met, hear their stories and see the work of the Band Clubs which are fascinating me. It is quite tough making a living as artist in a community as small as Malta. I do admire the ways in which art and artists are coping (we might soon need their survival skills in the Netherlands too).”
Monique: ” I was told that Malta (or Gozo) is actually the very island where the fairy Calypso enchanted Odysseus. For years on end he renounced going home to his wife. Someone told me that Maltese artists suffer from a kind of Calypso-syndrome. They go abroad, study, come back brimfull of plans and ambitions – and then life on Malta is so comfortable and they forget. I did spend some enchanting days . Having met some Maltese artists I doubt if there is any truth in that story. But it is a good story.”
Saskia van de Ree, april 2011
