St James Cavalier calls for public participation

Following the appointment of Toni Sant as the artistic director of St James Cavalier Centre for Creativity, as an essential part of his first few weeks in his new role, the Centre is launching IDE@, a series of activities which will be open to the public.

IDE@ is being created specifically as a conversation opportunity with the public about Malta’s Centre for Creativity. Guest participants for the inaugural activity will include Isabelle Gatt, Senior Lecturer in Creativity and Arts Education, multimedia artist Jimmy Grima, and Charles Xuereb, broadcaster and historicist.

“Through IDE@, we aim to give an opportunity to everybody to make their voice heard in this crucial period where we are envisioning a strategic plan for the Centre’s future,” Sant said.

Sant started in his new role at St James Cavalier Centre for Creativity as of the 15 October.

“The choice of an Artistic Director marks the end of the first phase of a journey of self-examination for St James Cavalier Centre for Creativity, which marks its 15th anniversary next year. The result of this is the appointment of Dr Sant, a choice we have made with confidence as an excellent first line on a new page for Malta’s Centre for Creativity. We are particularly pleased that the public has an opportunity to discuss his proposed Strategic Vision for the Creativity Centre during this series of IDE@,” remarked Rupert Cefai, Chairman for Fondazzjoni Ċentru għall- Kreattività.

“The road ahead is an exciting one and I am now already working with the rest of the excellent staff at St James Cavalier to ensure we have a Centre for Creativity which is truly inclusive, open and accessible to people from all spheres of society, while serving as a true catalyst for Creativity on the Maltese Islands. This must necessarily be done while recognising and building upon the huge legacy of a remarkable fifteen years of operation,” Sant said.

Toni Sant is a Reader in Digital Curation at the University of Hull. He is the author of Franklin Furnace and the Spirit of the Avant-Garde: A History of the Future (published by the University of Chicago Press in 2011) and Remembering Rediffusion in Malta: A History Without Future (forthcoming in 2015).

As a proponent of open knowledge he is also active as Education Organiser for Wikimedia UK and as Founding President of the M3P Foundation. These activities build on his pioneering role in Maltese-language webcasting and podcasting, following an early career as a professional broadcaster. Most recently he is particularly known through his work on Mużika Mod Ieħor, a weekly podcast featuring performers in and from Malta, since 2005.

The first session of IDE@ will be held on 26 November at 7PM. This is a free event but reservations are required. Those interested in attending are requested to visit www.sjcav.org to receive further information and an invitation to attend.