Infrastructure Malta backtracks on relocation of Anton Agius monument in Mosta

Infrastructure Malta will no longer pursue an application to relocate a monument designed by acclaimed artist Anton Agius in Mosta after objections from the heritage authorities.

The announcement was made on Facebook by Infrastructure Minister Ian Borg, who said the roads agency’s original proposal was based on a request by the Mosta council.

IM has now invited the Mosta council to pursue the application following “wider” discussions which have already started.

The application was to relocate the Agius monument dedicated to Maltese missionaries and replace it with a 7m high monument set on an ornate pedestal dedicated to the Virgin Mary.

Borg’s announcement came after MaltaToday reported that the Superintendence for Cultural Heritage was objecting to the relocation of the monument.

Borg revealed it was the Mosta local council, which asked for the relocation of the monument, and IM had only included the proposed changes in its plans on the understanding that there was a general consensus amongst the artists and other stakeholders involved. 

“But now it seems that wider discussions are taking place which go beyond the remit of Infrastructure Malta and therefore we have informed the council to lead the process if it still wants to pursue it… IM will focus on its primary job of improving junctions,” the Facebook post read.

Plans for the monument dedicated to the Virgin Mary were inserted in IM’s plans for changes to the roundabout junction and bypass lanes approved in April.  These plans were “endorsed” by the Mosta local council.

Subsequently IM applied to relocate Agius’s ‘Monument to the Maltese Missionaries’, to the entrance of the Mount Saint Joseph retreat house.

But the SCH insisted that Aguis’ monument meant to commemorate the Christian Jubilee Year in 2000 was purposely created to be viewed prominently and with a 360-degrees viewpoint.

The SCH warned the significance of its design will be completely lost if relocated, and wants the Agius sculpture retained in its central position in a roundabout within the street bearing its name.

The SCH reminded the Planning Authority of the cultural heritage significance of the monument which “forms part of the artistic oeuvre of the Maltese sculptor Anton Agius”, whose repertoire includes the Sette Giugno monument as well as the Manwel Dimech statue in Valletta. 

The monument was also cast by “an important contemporary Italian bronze founder” who was commissioned a number of important artistic works in Malta, including the Sette Giugno monument.