Valetta: European capital of culture or a plastic pig’s arse?
Valletta is the European Capital of Culture for 2018 — so why is its Maritime Museum the worst I’ve ever visited? A day of extremes, from hideous plastic statues to a world-class video art exhibition about migration. (4 min read)
Valletta, Malta is the European Capital of Culture for 2018. And it has been stressing me out! The blurb for the European Capital of Culture is great (https://valletta2018.org/what-is-valletta-2018/) but the execution is underwhelming.
There are hideous white plastic statues around the historical centre that locals sniff and tourists pose with. I hate them! And then there’s Minnie Mouse who is not so subtle in asking for a few euro for a photograph of herself.
Today I put in the effort to investigate a bit more.
SADLY, the Maritime Museum of Malta may be the worst museum I have ever visited. It was traumatic and it would turn a child off maritime museums for life.
To be fair, the location and first sight of the Malta Maritime Museum is very impressive – a huge period building on the waterfront surrounded by hundreds of boats and other interesting historical buildings. But walk through the door and one is immediately assaulted by the smell of centuries of dampness, fish and many generations of sea-sickness (to which I almost involuntarily contributed). It was truly ghastly and it was only the tax deduction for my visit that kept me focused.
The visitor reception doubles as the shop and the attendant is uncannily like Basil Fawlty in appearance but less interesting in demeanour. The museum catalogue is not bad but the stock was otherwise typical tourist tat and pirate crap.
The receptionist told me that they get 30 to 40 visitors on a good day… but a lot of people enter and then leave without seeing the museum.
The museum only uses half of the ground floor for exhibitions (the rest being shut-off) and one floor above. Two other floors are used for storage and offices. I started on the ground floor gallery and the first thing I saw was a display of brochures for attractions offered by other organisations. Then I noticed a small glass showcase on the wall with stone anchors – obviously the hero object of the museum!
This first “gallery” explores steam and machinery but to make it “interesting” they have juxtaposed contemporary art on the museum’s objects (and who would have thought there were so many artists in Malta without limbs). For those that are interested in outboard motors and boat motor blades, this is your type of place… and the presentation is very artistic in an accountant-designed kind of way.
I held high hopes for the top floor because, in the marketing photos, it doesnt look bad. I was expecting something like the Lisbon Maritime Museum. Not so! Boring objects (lots of books in showcases, pictures of boats on the walls and cases of junk), although there were a couple of potentially very interesting stories but not well told. Michael, this museum needs you! And ten of your friends.
AT the other end of the spectrum, my day ended at a fantastic contemporary art exhibition called “Dal Bahar Madwarha” (which is Maltese for “The Island is What the Sea Surrounds”). This exhibition, which is a combination of diverse video works and a couple of installations, is world class.
Even though I accept that the theme (migration and asylum seeking) is one of my hobby-horses, it was the work which impressed me. I’m not a great fan of video work but I was compelled to watch all of them… all the way through… and one of them twice! Even though they were by different artists, all had strong narrative and discussing it with others later, it provided a window into this aspect of Maltese culture. I’m also not such a fan of noisy children in art museums, but this cleverly encouraged conversation about a really important issue.
There’s obviously more to culture than museums and public art exhibitions, but today had such extremes I thought it might be of interest.
Namaste.
© Paul McCarthy & Iluminar.au
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