Small island, big events

If 2011 was the 'year of potential' on the cultural front - auguring promises and initiatives set to enrich the local artistic sphere - then 2012 can be viewed as something of a natural progression.

While a sizeable amount of fanfare was predictably reserved for Valletta scoring the title of European Capital for Culture in 2018 (more on that later), government had amends to make among local creatives if it were to wear that crown with any conviction.

The technically unconnected but culturally related mini-scandals involving the ban on the staging of the play Stitching, and the court case which nearly landed student editor Mark Camilleri and Alex Vella Gera in prison over the publication of Vella Gera's sexually explicit short story Li Tkisser Sewwi, both erupted in 2009 and by the start of 2012, remained unquelled.

Luckily, Culture and Tourism Minister Mario de Marco was shrewd enough to acknowledge that issues related to censorship in particular and freedom of speech in general needed to be tackled sooner rather than later, and in January, he proposed a system of self-regulation which would enable theatre and film producers to age-rate their own productions, effectively rendering the Film and Stage Classification Board redundant.

The Opposition was quick to politicise the matter, describing de Marco's draft law - which officially came into force on November 30 - as arising out of "convenience, and not conviction", hinting that the sudden interest to do away with censorship may have been little more than a damage-control exercise following the result of the divorce referendum.

But with Vella Gera and Camilleri being acquitted of any wrongdoing in February, it started to become evident that the tide may just be turning, and that Malta was on its way to becoming as culturally liberal as its European counterparts.

Vella Gera himself celebrated with the release of his latest novel - published, for the very first time, by Merlin - which, far from shying away from controversy, embraced it with open arms.

Is-Sriep Regghu Saru Velenuzi, which depicts a fictional assassination attempt on Dom Mintoff's life, was published mere months after the fiery former prime minister's death, and Vella Gera's interest in sexually-charged prose is still very much evident in its pages. But perhaps more crucially, the novel feels both undeniably 'Maltese' and unapologetically contemporary as it tells the tale of Noel Sammut Petri, the oblivious son to the Mintoff's prospective assassin, who finds himself drawn back to Malta from his cosy job as a Brussels translator by circumstance.

"I tried to steer away from getting too specific about anything except the gut feelings of people, which is what I've always felt is missing in most Maltese political fiction. That gut feeling that cannot be brushed aside or censored, or made more palatable with a joke or a witty aside, or some satirical tone," Vella Gera had said in an interview with MaltaToday on the eve of the release of 'Sriep... which has since become something of an unprecedented local bestseller.

With its unvarnished appraisal of the conflicted nature of Maltese identity, 'Sriep offers a stark shot of reality. But in 2012, we were also encouraged to dream, as the team behind Valletta 2018 went to great pains to convince us that Valletta's candidature as European Capital of Culture for 2018 was something we should all be getting really excited about, with the help of a very slick and well-oiled marketing campaign. So much so that, when Valletta was officially - "unanimously" - bestowed with the honour in October, it already felt like a foregone conclusion.

What was notable about the V18 Foundation's approach was its openness to discuss ideas - manifested in the 'Imagine 18' think tanks organised in the spring - coupled with a seemingly genuine desire to embrace all aspects of Maltese culture, while still maintaining an air of professionalism. Led by British composer Wayne Marshall, a team of artistic programme directors culled largely from the theatrical and visual arts scene will be spearheading the events that'll help shape Valletta into a cultural hub in 2018 in the years to come. In the meantime, we'll certainly be paying attention.

It's a good thing we had V18 to shine a light for us this year, too, because Malta once again failed to match Ira Losco's near-win at the Eurovision Song Contest in 2002, with this year's representative, Kurt Calleja, placing 21st with the fist-thumping ditty 'This is the Night'.

But never let it be said that the Maltese are sore losers: on July 25, local organisers Stand Out Events lured Swedish Eurovision winner Loreen to our shores for a concert at Ta' Qali. It was set to be a great year for Stand Out, who had also bagged much-loved Italian singer-songwriter Antonello Venditti for a concert in late August. But things went sour when it transpired that the gig was postponed, not out of a gesture of respect for the recently deceased former prime minister Dom Mintoff - as Stand Out officially claimed - but because of a garnishee order issued by the Public Broadcasting Services against the sponsors for the event.

Music fans from a younger bracket than Venditti concert attendees also had their annual fix of free fun, as Isle of MTV once again graced the Floriana granaries in late July. Following Snoop Dogg's sleazy hip-hop stylings last summer, this year's line-up was one of the event's most solid, with headliner will.i.am returning to Malta (after having already visited as part of the Black Eyed Peas) with his protégé Eva Simons and performing side-by-side with Canadian crooner Nelly Furtado and hip-hopper Flo Rida.

A longer-held tradition was maintained with The Malta Jazz Festival in July, which under the direction of Paris-based jazz musician Sandro Zerafa continues to seek out quality over commercial gimmicks. Some notable guests this year included the New York maestro Al di Meola, Grammy Award winning vocalist Diane Reeves and a plethora of other veterans and up-and-comers, both local and international.

Large-scale festivals continued to dominate the summer, as has become customary, with The Malta Arts Festival and the slightly smaller-scale Ghanafest completing a triad of institutionalised events that have since become fixtures of the season.

But there were a couple of nice surprises too, like the two-day Maltese-language music festival LISSEN (September 21, 22), which was proof, if any were needed, that local musicians are no longer ashamed to sing in their native tongue - whatever their musical genre of choice may be, though the 1,000-strong crowd at the launch concert of Brikkuni's sophomore album, Trabokk, in February was surely enough of a testament to this.

The rowdy folk-pop outfit were also selected to perform at this year's edition of the European Film Awards, which took place at the Mediterranean Conference Centre in Valletta on December 1 and featured Dame Helen Mirren, Bernardo Bertolucci and Michael 'Dumbledore' Gambon among its illustrious guests.

Capping off a year in which Malta was primped to be presented as a cultural gem to the rest of the world, the Awards, set against the backdrop of locally-sourced chaotic noise courtesy of Brikkuni, were an appropriate send-off.