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Establishing a creative identity: Rebranding a creative space
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Establishing a creative identity: Rebranding a creative space Dr Valerie Visanich Lecturer, Data Scientist in Residencea,∗, Dr Toni Sant Reader, Artistic Directorb a b
University of Malta, Spazju Kreattiv, Centre for Creativity at St James Cavalier, Valletta, Malta University of Hull, Spazju Kreattiv, Centre for Creativity at St James Cavalier, Valletta, Malta
A R T I C L E I N F O
A B S T R A C T
Keywords: St James Cavalier Centre for Creativity Audience Cultural participation Omnivore Valletta Malta
Strategies on audience development have become central to cultural debates in Malta. Such interest stems partly from Malta's current low rate of participation in cultural events. While there has been a rising interest in analysing cultural consumption and audiences quantitatively, the modes of agency of cultural participants, who reflexively make sense of events differently, have received inadequate attention. This article tackles this gap by presenting empirical results of a recent qualitative study on audiences' reflexivity for the National Centre for Creativity in Valletta, Malta. The contribution of this article lies in the fact that it provides an epistemological understanding of the meanings and feelings of audiences for engagement, or lack of it, in cultural participation at the National Centre for Creativity in Malta. Results presented in this article were used as guiding frame in the process of rebranding this national Centre as a creative space in the capital city of Malta.
1. Introduction The aim of this article is to present the meaning and ontological experiences for engagement, or lack of it, in cultural participation at the National Centre for Creativity in Malta. Malta's cultural infrastructure is growing in importance by way of strategic investments on various artistic projects especially within the context of Malta's preparation to host the European Capital of Culture in 2018. Such strategies aim to increase Malta's cultural participation rate, which registers second lowest in Europe, at a meagre 18%. (Eurobarometer, 2013). The attendance to public performances is also low, with 49% saying that they did not attend concerts and 54% do not go to the theatre due to lack of interest (Eurobarometer, 2013). Despite the fact that there has been growing interest in obtaining statistical data on cultural audiences in Malta, there is missing work on understanding sociologically the meanings of different publics towards cultural participation. This article tackles this gap. By drawing on from a qualitative research, this article provides an understanding for participation at the National Centre for Creativity in Malta. The empirical results presented here are part of research commissioned in the process of rebranding. This article emphasises the interconnection of structure-agency and seeks to contribute to the debate about audiences, grounded on the principle that cultural audiences are the outcome of continuous interactions between dispositions and reflexivity. Here, cultural audiences are treated not simply as epiphenomena of political and economic
∗
structures. Instead, similar to Jeffrey Alexander's (2003) argument when speaking on cultural forms, weight is placed on the autonomy of such audiences and how they have the capacity to alter existing structures. The explanations of individual perception were mediated by an understanding of meaning and feelings of audiences and the person's internal and external symbolic structures. Developing a brand identity as a creative centre for an organisation such as Malta's National Centre for Creativity – i.e. one that has operated for more than a decade without systematic analysis of its audiences – necessitates a long-term qualitative study of its audiences. This is what led Fondazzjoni Ċentru għall-Kreattività – the legal entity that runs the Centre for Creativity - to appoint a Data Scientist in Residence in 2015. Working hand in hand with the organisation's Artistic Director and Marketing Manager, the Data Scientist in Residence was able to provide scientific insight into matters that may seem obvious to those inside a cultural organisation but have no concrete means to show that things are the way they know them to be. Such empirical evidence was used as a guiding frame for rebranding this centre as a creative space rather than as a showcase for artistic works. This is thoroughly explained in the next section. 2. Malta's National Centre for creativity St James Cavalier Centre for Creativity was established in 2000 when the old fortification of St James Cavalier in Valletta was
Corresponding author. E-mail addresses: [email protected] (V. Visanich), [email protected] (T. Sant).
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.ccs.2017.04.001 Received 19 February 2016; Received in revised form 10 April 2017; Accepted 11 April 2017 1877-9166/ © 2017 Published by Elsevier Ltd.
Please cite this article as: Visanich, V., City, Culture and Society (2017), http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.ccs.2017.04.001
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and strengthening artistic practice and cultural development. Moreover, MUŻA, the new national museum of Art in Malta, administered by Heritage Malta, is working on the process of community empowerment, both through educational programmes as well as in a non-formal manner and recognising the needs of each individual to access arts and culture (Debono, 2014).
designated by the Government of Malta, as millennium project to redesign the building as a Centre for Creativity. Architect Richard England was faced with the task of re-engineering this building, originally meant to keep people out, as one open to all and inviting anyone to come inside. The Centre for Creativity has functioned primarily as an arts centre, particularly because there is no such entity in Malta. However, the organisation has frequently encouraged engagement from other aspects of the creative industries outside the art world, primarily from creative endeavours that are not immediately associated with the arts, such as creative thinking and the sciences. The original branding of the Centre was directly tied in with the historic building that is St James Cavalier, a part of the city of Valletta's 17th century fortifications. So much so that the centre was named St James Cavalier Centre for Creativity. The original logo featured a prominent outline of the building and the name emphasised St James Cavalier over the Centre for Creativity descriptor. The effects of this connection resulted in having the general public and frequent visitors referring to this Centre in terms of the structure of St James Cavalier. This was also emphasised by research participants during qualitative interviews and their meanings are aptly presented in the empirical evidence section of this article. This led the Foundation to emphasize the Centre for Creativity aspect over St James Cavalier as a building by renaming the centre from St James Cavalier Centre for Creativity to Spazju Kreattiv (Creative Space). The precise wording on the Foundation's mission statement with regards to audience development and engagement is as follows: “to act as a catalyst for all forms of expression, by providing space and extending experience to reach all people and involve them in interactive participation” (www.kreattivita.org). The appropriate enactment of this primary aim, leads back to the concept of audience development and particularly audience engagement by ensuring alternatives to top down models of communication. This led to the need for a sociological research exercise in which for the first time, knowledge on the perceptions of persons who visit the Centre as well as those who do not, was acquired. Primarily, it is significant to give an overview of the creative and cultural events taking place at the Centre for Creativity, some of which are often perceived as ‘highbrow’ by the general public. An example of this is the cinema programme. The programme of live cinema screenings comes from the National Theatre in London, the Metropolitan Opera in New York, and the Bolshoi Ballet in Moscow. The cinema rarely shows Hollywood or other mainstream films which appeal to a broader audience. The Centre is a member of the Europa Cinemas network, and therefore shows several European and other world cinema productions, which are frequently deemed as not having mass appeal, particularly because they are screened with subtitles. However, this is not necessarily the case with live theatre and music presented at the Centre, as in this case a broad range of activities are presented, appealing to a wider public. It seems that people who are not familiar with the details of the events programme at the Centre may get the impression that the rest of the programme is the same as that offered in the cinema, which has for some time received the most coverage in newspaper advertising, along with productions of play performed in English – the language itself can act as a barrier for large segments of the Maltese-speaking public. This language barrier is not only an issue of distinction here but other theatre organizations in Malta that choose produce performances only in English, or at least predominantly so. Thus, it is worth noting that the national Centre for Creativity does not hold a monopoly over the cultural industries in Malta. There are other institutions working within the arts that work in parallel and in collaboration with the Centre. The Arts Council Malta (ACM) (ACM, 2016) works on a number of artistic projects to increase the accessibility of the Maltese public to the arts, partly by funding public cultural events. The ACM is the cultural advisor to the Government and works on the Cultural Policy and strategies for the arts. Through administering the Malta Arts Funds, ACM contributes towards investing in local artists
3. Theoretical framework According to the critical stream of sociology of art that exposes the power relations in the art world, audiences are treated as passive consumers of art and their capacities to decode art are dependent on their cultural capital. It is argued that there is a strong homology between taste, class and power and the appropriation of the arts as status markers, in which dispositions, cultural knowledge and skills, mode of thoughts and linguistic competences are acquired through the process of socialisation (Bourdieu (1973, 1984 [1979]) – an undemocratic effect of ‘high’ art in which “art and cultural consumption are predisposed … to fulfil a social function of legitimating social difference” (1984[1979],p.7). Focus is placed here on issues of prestige as a distinguishing feature in the high arts that serve to reinforce social boundaries. Audiences are studied as requiring an innate skill, which is inherited or acquired through the education system, to decode and make sense of artworks. This becomes “an illusion collectively shared and approved” (Bourdieu, 1996, p. 334). Following this argument, social actors cannot be considered away from their contextual conditions and their own biographical standpoints (Lahire, 2008). This includes an analysis of individual's educational level and social class. The Great British Class Survey (GBCS) by Savage et al. (2013) uses a Weberian approach to social class and draws from Bourdieu's concern of capital, as a form of power resource. The seven class model by Savage et al. rests on different access to economic, cultural or social resources in its ranking. The ‘established middle class’, for example, refers to individuals who obtained tertiary education, who are in well-paid jobs, who like ‘highbrow’ culture but are also have “emerging cultural capital” that include enjoying rock music and maintaining a Facebook page. Such class could also be similar in lifestyle to what Richard Peterson (1992) refers to as “cultural omnivores”. The omnivore theory rejects Bourdieu's high cultural tastes of the highly educated individuals in society. Instead it argues that individuals with tertiary education are more like “cultural omnivores”, embracing different cultural tastes associated with the high, middle and low brow tastes. People from higher status groups are considered to appreciate a wider array of musical genres, compared to lower status groups (Peterson & Simkus, 1992). Thus, the turn of the twenty-first century has brought with it a post-Bourdieu meta-critical approach, focusing more on the notion of reflexivity. Taking a cue from Tony Bennett's (2007) ontological understanding of culture, the Centre for creativity is not a static or passive inert entity but one that has its own autonomy. Since 2000, the Centre has been constantly made and remade and altered by individuals who were involved in its strategic planning and those who participated in its events. This, in return, influenced the modes of reception of both the insiders (persons who are directly involved) and the outsiders (the general public). Such understanding is required to devise strategies for audience development and engagement. In an attempt to explicitly examine audiences and make sense of ways people exhibit openness or limitations to cultural consumption, the use of quantitative methods are not sufficient in this case. Following this premise, our research was purposely built around a qualitative study. In line with Lahire (2008), an understanding of cultural practices of individuals requires a contextualised approach that takes into consideration the individual cultural profiles and their ‘intra-individual portraits’. This is the only way, according to Lahire that “leads to describing how cultural practices and preferences vary in relation to the domains, sub-domains, contexts or circumstances of cultural activity or 2
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consumption. An example of this is in the way cultural audiences are dominated by operators from within the creative industries. Cultural creators attend each other's projects resulting in having the same crowd of art practitioners visiting cultural events. Such events become a field for sociability and a way to strengthen one's network, what Baldacchino (2013) calls ‘cultivate connections’. This relative isolation is not unique to Malta but is certainly rather common in remote towns and small cities elsewhere where a thriving creative sector is many miles away for a major capital of cultural activity. The history of Malta as a colonial and post-colonial country influenced art practices and cultural consumption in Malta. Vicki Ann Cremona (2008) offers an analysis of the political change in Malta during the pre and post-colonial years as reflected in theatre productions that started to express a new national identity. She highlights the relationship between theatre and political protests during the postcolonial period and how this contrasts with recent theatre productions in Malta that are relatively unchanging, possibly due to the general decline in political involvement.
practices” (Lahire, 2008, p. 4). 4. Socio-economic and cultural specificities of Malta The specific location under study needs to be understood within a wider framework of Malta, as a small island Mediterranean state. There are various socio-economic and cultural peculiarities that are worth outlining in order to frame audience development. This section focuses on two of them – the wider context of Malta as a small island state and its social class structure. Small states are characterised for sharing common identifiable features, including their openness, insularity or ‘enclaveness’, resilience, weakness and dependence (Sutton & Payne, 1993). A number of studies in Malta (Briguglio, 1995; Baldacchino, 1998, 2008) refer to the development challenges faced by small state due to their size – some of the challenges include their openness to international trade and high dependence on imports due to their small economic heft (Briguglio, 2014). As a small-island state, Malta is particularly vulnerable to external events referred in three distinct ways – “in the suddenness of impact, in the intensity of effect and in the rapid speed of penetration”. (Baldacchino, 1998, p. 225). While these considerations on economic vulnerabilities of small island states have their place in the contextualisation of this research location, this article focuses more on cultural specificities and its impact on the cultural infrastructure – in particular focusing on the social class structure influencing tastes in cultural practices. In spite of the small geographical size, the class system in Malta shares many of the characteristics with the GBCS (Baldacchino, 2013). These include, in some respects, the geographic concentration of classes in specific regions – a case in point is ‘the Three Towns’ (Attard, Balzan, Lija) and ‘the Three Cities’ (Cospicua, Senglea, Vittoriosa) at the opposite ends of this scale (Baldacchino, 1997). Nevertheless, there are some significant differences, partially due to the small size, patterns of sociability and mutual dependence. These also include the need to ‘cultivate connections’ and the question of status overlap (Baldacchino, 2013). The latter is evident amongst art practitioners in Malta who usually, as this research shows, are in full-time occupation and work in the arts on part-time basis. This tendency is slowly shifting with the current boost in the local creative industry and the increase funding opportunities for artists. Between 2001 and 2007, Malta's Cultural and Creative Industries accounted for 4% of GDP, with an annualised average growth of 9% (Creativity Works, 2012). In the analysis on social class and cultural consumption, it is important to account for the expansion of the middle-class in Malta, in the last few years. The so-called ‘new’ middle class, partly popularised by the present Prime Minister Joseph Muscat as a consequence of economic growth (Pace, 2016), fosters a shared vision of desirable life chances. Members of this middle-class, usually include, but not exclusively, individuals with post-compulsory education, who, according to Peterson (1992), Peterson and Simkus, (1992) and Peterson and Kern (1996), are considered to be multi-culturally tolerant and thus are presumed to have wide cultural tastes. Such omnivore tendencies in cultural consumption were observed in a recent study on a group of persons occupying middle-class and professional jobs in Malta, who are actively involved in the popular event of the village festa (Visanich, 2015). The festa is a traditional religious celebration that takes place weekly, in turn, across all towns and villages. Their experiences in such cultural engagement were explained in a number of reasons. First, meanings to this popular event are related to a sense of nostalgia and a manifestation of reconstructed memories of their lived experiences. Second, the sensory experience of the festa provides a space to ‘escape from it all’ and a good break from their ordinary working life in Malta and abroad. Third, participants feel that the festa produce a feeling of belonging to their community and a place of informal familiarity and sociability. Malta's small size has significant impact on patterns of cultural
5. Method Before turning to empirical observations, we will first consider the methodological principles that guided the fieldwork. This study investigated the perceptions of individuals on Malta's national Centre for Creativity through the use of a qualitative approach, extending over a period of five months, between May and October 2015. Furthermore, the Data Scientist in Residence researched into the Centre's systematic record keeping of the creative projects and its many other activities. There has been a long-standing effort in place to preserve event posters, retain some copies of catalogues and performance programmes. In effect, the research report, transcriptions, audio recordings of the interviews and video footage produced by the Data Scientist in Residence are now archived at the Centre for systematic record keeping. Methods for data collection included the use of fifty-four in-depth ethnographic interviews with individuals between the ages of 16 and 70 years, from different economic and family backgrounds. It also involved a number of group discussions with staff members. Twenty-three interviews were held with members of the general public who did not visit the centre, whereas thirty-one participants who considered themselves frequent visitors at the Centre were interviewed. Staff members at the Centre for Creativity provided a list of audience members who are frequent visitors at the Centre. The majority of these participants were artist themselves. This list was used as a sampling frame to choose participants for interviews. Snowballing sampling technique was employed for participants who feel out of place at the Centre for Creativity. The selection of participants also included taking into consideration variables like age and gender. There was also a balanced amount of males and females interviewees as well as participants of different ages. This was purposively done to present the interpretations on their level of engagement, or lack of it, of different members of the Maltese population – yet, the intention was not to generalise or to take a ratio of wider population. After contacting potential participants by phone and explaining the research, participants agreed to meet and were interviewed about their cultural participation. With their consent, interviews were recorded and later transcribed. The process of transcription was followed by a thematic analysis, which pinpointed, examined and recorded patterns in the data. Various valid themes emerged from the data analysis process, including on participants' cultural consumption, not necessarily related to the Centre for Creativity. Such analysis may be useful and dealt with in another article. Nevertheless, this article focuses on the meanings and feelings of participants on the Centre for Creativity. In an attempt to make sense of the way people exhibit openness or limitation in their cultural consumption at this cultural space, the chosen themes analysed in this 3
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article dealt with three questions: (a) on the formality and exclusiveness of the arts, (b) on its creative identity, and (c) on its continuity and change. The two categories of research participants are referred here, for simplification and clarify purposes, as the insiders referring to those participants who said that they were directly active in the Centre, such as artists, staff and regular audience members, and the outsiders, those who felt out of place at the Centre for Creativity. This study has endeavoured to present an epistemological understanding of the way these two types of individuals make sense of cultural participation in this creative space. 6. Individuals' interpretations: empirical evidence Fig. 1. Cultural participation and Educational Attainment.
Data resulting from research questions referred to actual cultural consumption rather than to cultural tastes. Participants voiced their opinions on various issues related to their cultural participation at the Centre, at times going off subject during our informal interviews. Here we focus on three aspects that were extracted from transcripts: (a) formality and exclusiveness, (b) the identity of the centre, and (c) its continuity and change.
graduate and a Heavy Metal musician. He felt quite sceptical about using this Centre for alternative music because it may popularise it and the genre would loose its own subcultural status. John, a 35 year-old electrician, does not consider the Centre as a place to go to during his free time. He admitted that he had no idea what happens at the Centre and had no desire to attend because he had the impression that events are of no interest to him. He would only attend if there were events related to carnival or Christmas. Nevertheless, irrespective of the lack of interest to attend events happening at the Centre for Creativity, most of the outsiders maintained that they regarded this place with high esteem. Mary, a 52 year-old homemaker, described it as a formal place yet a very prestigious one. Age was an important variable influencing attendance to cultural events. Ann, a 17 year-old student, felt that “it is a place for older people to watch mind-boggling films.” In a similar manner to Bourdieu's argument, the artworks at the Centre for Creativity could be understood if the artworks' semiotic system runs parallel to that of audiences. Most young participants maintained that they had only visited the Centre during school outings, and they have no desire to visit or attend events now. The reason that they gave was because they considered this place as being oriented for a much older and mature audience. This space lacked the ‘cool factor’ for them and they did not consider it as a possible meeting place whenever they are in the company of friends who are their own age. In line with the intensification of the consumer culture, especially its hypercommodification of popular cool forms, this Centre is not seen in tandem with such shifts.2 They perceived most events happening as a game of philosophical riddles that requires a high level of intellectuality and maturity to be able to grasp the meaning of works presented within its walls. However, some young participants who were comic enthusiasts said that they had participated in Comicon Malta, an annual event that promotes the comic culture that is held at the Centre for Creativity. They felt that this event was an opportunity to meet other comic enthusiasts like themselves (see Fig. 2). Drawing from observations and discussions with participants, it was clear that those individuals who felt ‘insiders’ were those who either had primary artistic socialisation or who were artists with institutional training in the arts. For instance, there was a clear distinction amongst young people who engaged in creative events and those who did not. Those young people who considered themselves familiar with this particular creative space had some kind of musical or artistic training as children. Hence, children growing up in households where adults had close and active relationships to cultural and creative events were potentially more likely to involve themselves.
6.1. Formality and exclusiveness “I consider myself artistic but St James is too formal for my tastes” (20 year-old, female, university student). It has been often argued that individuals with higher educational and occupational status are more likely to visit museums, theatres and classical concerts (De Graaf, De Graaf, & Kraaykamp, 2000; Di Maggio, 1987; Van Eijck, 2001; Veblen & Banta, 2007). All participants (31 in total) who said that they frequently visit the Centre have a postcompulsory level of education. Most participants, who were involved in the arts, were also full-time employees in another sector, most of the time as teachers. This tie in with what Baldacchino (2013) calls ‘status overlap’, referring to multiple paid jobs, that is predominant in Malta (see Fig. 1). This distinction in cultural consumption was a consistent issue made by research participants who defined the Centre for Creativity as synonymous with ‘aesthetic snobbery’. This was particularly the interpretation of the ‘outsiders’ who felt that they were out of place at the Centre. The twenty-three participants who felt out of place at the Centre made sense of their barriers for active participation by referring to the need to acquire a certain degree of knowledge, what Bourdieu (1973; 1984 [1979]) called the deployment of cultural capital. This was also emphasised by one artist, who considered himself an active contributor to the Centre. He felt that his art required cultural knowledge to be understood and appreciated. He maintained that it was the role of artists to facilitate this understanding to their audiences: My art is linked to my personal history and deals with real life situations; political, sociological, context is used to deliver a message. It has a certain profoundness and depth in its message. Contemporary art needs a kind of explanation so people can relate to it. (35 year-old, male, installation artist). Nevertheless, not all participants with post-compulsory and tertiary level of education felt that they had the necessary artistic knowledge to comprehend the artistic productions held at the Centre. Francis,1 a retired accountant, maintained that; “normally people who attend have a higher level of education or are intellectuals”. It is not only the case of ‘aesthetic snobbery’ that limited participants from attending events held at the Centre for Creativity. The question of institutionalising art was the concern of Henry, a doctorate 1
2
All participants' names mentioned have been changed to preserve anonymity.
4
See the Conquest of Cool by Frank (1997).
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more interactive workshop sessions doing hands-on experiences to different audiences. One academic referred to the need to engage individuals in critical thinking by having events that stimulate cultural criticism. 6.3. Continuity and change Empirical evidence showed that both categories of respondents knew that the Centre for Creativity has been functional for the last fifteen years of its operation. Participants were questioned about their views on what changes they would like to see in the operation of the Centre. Most participants felt that there is a need to empower the public to participate in events through a more people-centre approach. This is thought to widen the number of people who feel a sense of belonging at the Centre. The perception of being an exclusive location is acting as a deterrent for people to identify themselves with the Centre for Creativity. Some art practitioners who started only very recently getting involved in creative events at the Centre maintained that they are now experiencing a sense of belonging to the place and want to enhance this experience; “You identify yourself with the Centre, you feel welcome and you belong” (35 year-old, male, installation artist).
Fig. 2. Cultural participation and age.
6.2. Identity: between workshop and showcase “It's a showcase not a centre for creativity” (25 year-old, male artist). Well, to me it means having a generally good time indulging my penchant for artistic work …. I won't say ‘experimental’ for that particular word usually gives me the shits and St James doesn't really risk that much anyway (39 year-old, male, Folk/Rock Musician).
I think we need to have this feeling in the branding that sense of belonging. Anyone can give something. We can't be exclusive and focus only on one type of people. People need to feel that they can give to the centre (25 year-old, male, staff member).
Research participants, especially those who frequently participated at the Centre for Creativity argued that this place did not have a clear identity. The ambiguity of its identity lies in the fact that staff members, artists and the general public have divergent ideas of the Centre's raison d’être. Staff members also highlighted that one of the main problems in the implementation of the mission statement is the fragmentation of work being done, with no clear vision and no coherent repertoire of events; “Right now, I think there is no one direction …, we are working on it, but it is still very much fragmented” (27 year-old, staff member). This results in an identity crisis in which not only staff members but also artists and the general public lost sight of the main scope of this Centre. Without a clear strategic vision and plan, employees admitted that they found it difficult to work towards one shared goal. Staff members emphasised that creative projects need to be repeated annually in order to gain their importance and be included in the national cultural events calendar. Most participants who were frequent-visitors maintained that events like Żigużajg, an international arts festival for children and young people, gained its recognition because it was an event that returned annually and gathering momentum year after year. Participants felt that the vision of the place is not particularly defined and they thought that the set events are more focused on being a showcase for artists rather than a place where creativity is stimulated or observed as it develops. It is not regarded as a workshop for creativity but more of a showcase for completed works of art and creative productions. Jane, a 35 year-old homemaker who considers herself a creative person, said that “St James is not a creative place where you do things but a cultural one where exhibitions are held.” The identity of this particular place is centred on the historical fortress building, often referred to by the public as ‘St James’, with very little reference to it being the working base for Fondazzjoni Ċentru għallKreattività. Nearly all participants referred to this place exclusively as ‘St James’ with reference to the historic structure that is St James Cavalier. Emphasis was also put on the coherent rigidness of the function of this premise as a place where artists showcased their work with very little interaction with the general public. Philip, a 34 year-old designer who considered himself actively involved in the Centre maintained that “there is very little interaction between the artist and the audience though the artworks.” Nearly all responses of the ‘insiders’ and ‘outsiders’ pointed out the need for the Centre for Creativity to open up to different ideas and offer
Participants who were directly involved with the place and those who had direct contact with its operation were more willing to give their feedback on the new strategic vision and plan. The applicability of empirical findings can be categorised into five: Identity, accessibility, visibility, cool factor, and collaboration. First, the Centre's identity is presently fragmented and ambiguous. Both insiders and outsiders were unaware that it is guided by a mission statement. More emphasis needs to be put on interactivity with the creative arts and develop a stronger engagement between the artists and the audiences though their works. The Centre must therefore establish a clear identity as a workshop for creativity that acts as a catalyst for creative member of the public to express themselves freely as they engage actively with the work presented to them. Second, the question of accessibility was central for participants and the need to empower them as active agents. Artists and persons who considered themselves culturally savvy, maintained that they wanted to feel a sense of belonging at the Centre. They felt that it could be a place where artists meet, discuss ideas and work together on projects. The operations of the Centre for Creativity therefore have to be focused more on accessibility by further democratising access to its activities in an attempt to attract more individuals with interests in different forms of creative expression. The Comicon event can be used as an exemplary case of a successful alternative event that attracts new audiences, especially young age cohorts, year after year, but there are others, of course. Third, most participants maintained that there is hardly any visibility of the events happening at the Centre outside the obvious places and that the website at www.sjcav.org is not user friendly. An effective marketing campaign needed to raise visibility of the Centre's activities and promote its new identity, strategic vision and plan. Fourth, participants felt that the Centre needs to move away from its elitist and classist identity to a cooler one that attempts to attract younger adults to engage in events happening at the Centre. This cool factor can be transmitted through an intensive marketing campaign that aims at attracting different audiences through popular and alternative kinds of creative art forms. Fifth, it was suggested, especially by art practitioners that the Centre for Creativity needs to extend beyond the structural space of St James Cavalier and collaborate with various creative groups in Malta 5
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cally evident that after a functional period of fifteen years, this Centre needs to build on its own legacy and go beyond that to continue to evolve.
and Gozo. Such collaboration with different organizations in and outside Valletta will encourage more active participation in the Centre. Carnival enthusiasts were a particular group of people who felt excluded. They found no connection with the carnival celebrations that demonstrate vividly their creative work and the Centre for Creativity. They felt out of place even though carnival celebrations take place within the same city and major activities take place literally outside St James Cavalier's doors. A way forward could be to organise carnivalrelated events at the Centre during the carnival time. This could take place by allocating space for an annual exhibition of preliminary sketches of carnival floats and costumes, along with public discussions or seminars involving those directly active in the creative work involved in the carnival celebrations. There is also a need for clearer and systematic collaboration with the various departments at the University of Malta and the Malta College of Art, Science, and Technology. This would ensure that further and higher education students have the opportunity to engage in creative thinking as well as creative workshops to put the theoretical process they learn about in their courses into practice on projects outside the academic environment. This could also give students the opportunity to exercise the critical thinking skills they acquire through their course work on public projects.
References Alexander, J. (2003). The meaning of social life. A cultural sociology. New York: Oxford University Press. Arts Council Malta (2016). Annual Report. Retrieved on 16 April 2017, from http://www. maltaculture.com/news/arts-council-maltas-annual-report-for-2016-is-published. Baldacchino, G. (1997). The graduating workforce: A tracer Survey of graduates in the Malta labour market. Tarxien: Gutenberg Press. Baldacchino, G. (1998). Far better to serve in heaven than to reign in hell: Malta's logic of relating to the European union. In G. Baldacchino, & R. Greenwood (Eds.), Competing strategies of economic development from small islands (pp. 213–238). Charlottetown, Canada: Institute of Island Studies, University of Prince Edward Island. Baldacchino, G. (2008). Studying islands: On whose terms? Some epistemological and methodological challenges to the pursuit of island studies. Island Studies Journal, 3(1), 37–56. Baldacchino, G. (2013). Social class in Malta: Still our daily bread. Centre for Labour Studies, Biennial Report 2011-2013, University of Malta. Retrieved on 29 October, 2016, from https://www.um.edu.mt/__data/assets/pdf_file/0010/191197/biennial_ doc_2012.pdf. Bennett, T. (2007). Making culture, changing society. Cultural Studies, 21(4–5), 610–629. Bourdieu, P. (1973). Cultural reproduction and social reproduction. In R. Brown (Ed.), Knowledge,education and cultural change (pp. 72–112). London: Travistock. Bourdieu, P. (1984 [1979]). Distinction: A social critique of the judgement of taste, (trans.). R. Nice, London: Routledge. Bourdieu, P. (1996). The rules of Art: Genesis and structure of the literary field. Oxford: Polity Press. Briguglio, L. (1995). Small island developing states and their economic vulnerabilities. World Development, 23, 1615–1632. Briguglio, L. (2014). A revised vulnerability and resilience framework. Report commissioned by the Commonwealth Secretariat. Creativity Works (2012). National strategy for the cultural and creative industries. Retrieved September 2 2015, from http://www.maltaculture.com/pages/guidance-advice/ resources/research-sources/creative-economy-strategy-2012. Cremona, V. A. (2008). Politics and identity in Maltese theatre: Adaptation or innovation? The Drama Review, 52(4), 118–144. De Graaf, N. D., De Graaf, P., & Kraaykamp, G. (2000). Parental cultural capital and educational attainment in The Netherlands: A refinement of the cultural capital perspective. Sociology of Education, 73(2), 92–111. Debono, S. (2014). MUŻA rethinking national art museums and the values of community curation. Malta Review of Educational Research, 8(2), 312–320. Di Maggio, P. (1987). Classification in art. American Sociological Review, 52(4), 440–455. Eurobarometer (2013). Survey shows fall in cultural participation in Europe. Retrieved on 4 September, 2015, from http://europa.eu/rapid/press-release_IP-13–1023_en.htm. Frank, T. (1997). The conquest of cool. Chicago: University of Chicago Press. Lahire, B. (2008). The individual and the mixing of genres: Cultural dissonance and self distinction. Poetics, 36(2), 166–188. Pace, F. (2016). PM: Economic growth has created in the new middle class. Retrieved on 11 November, 2016, from. Peterson, R. A. (1992). Understanding audience segmentation; from elite and mass to omnivore and univore. Poetics, 21(4), 243–258. Peterson, R. A., & Kern, R. (1996). Changing highbrow taste from snob to omnivore. American Sociological Review, 61, 900–909. Peterson, R. A., & Simkus, A. (1992). How musical tastes mark occupational status groups. In M. Lamont, & M. Fournier (Eds.), Cultivating Differences: Symbolic boundaries and the making of inequality (pp. 152–186). Chicago: University of Chicago Press. Savage, M., Devine, F., Cunningham, N., Taylor, M., Li, Y., Hjellbrekke, J., et al. (2013). A new model of social class? Findings from the BBC's Great British Class Survey experiment. LSE Research Online. Retrieved on 29 October, 2015, from http://eprints.lse.ac.uk/ 49654/1/Savage_New_model_social_class_2014.pdf. Sutton, P., & Payne, A. (1993). Lilliput under threat: The security problems of small island and enclave developing states. Political Studies, 41, 579–593. Van Eijck, K. (2001). Social differentation in musical taste patterns. Social Forces, 79(3), 1163–1184. Veblen, T., & Banta, M. (2007). The theory of the leisure class. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Visanich, V. (2015). Festa fandom, individualised youth and cultural consumption. In A. Azzopardi (Ed.), Young people and the festa in Malta (pp. 89–108). Malta: Best Print.
7. Discussions While Bourdieu's Distinction (1984 [1979]) remains fundamental to the debate about cultural tastes and its correlation to social class, more recent studies emphasize audiences' reflexivity. This article is based on the premise that the rebranding of a creative space cannot happen without an in-depth understanding of the meanings and feelings of audiences towards cultural consumption. The agency of the public, who tacitly make sense of cultural events, was analysed in relation to the contextual structural factors such as the classist approach to such creative spaces. We have argued that empirical research is a prerequisite in the process of rebranding because it draws attention to the various facets of audience development and engagement, including an absence of a systematic consideration for such things. The framework set out here for understanding cultural participation can be broadened and applied to explore other instances where persons' choices are continuously influenced by other contextual factors. It would also be useful to study the way persons exhibit openness or limitations to cultural consumption in other cultural centres and museums. 8. Conclusions In conclusion, the significance of this article is that it analyses qualitatively the modes of agency of persons on their cultural participation, or lack of it, at the national Centre for Creativity in Malta. A number of implications can be drawn from the foregoing discussion. Empirical evidence in the research conducted for the national Centre for Creativity points out to three strands of arguments. Firstly, such creative space is considered as exclusive and a mechanism of classbased attendance. Secondly, this particular Centre has been acting more of a showcase of the arts rather than a space for developing creative projects that encourages active participation. Thirdly, despite the need for a rebranding strategy to establish a creative identity, it is empiri-
6
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City, Culture and Society journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/ccs
Establishing a creative identity: Rebranding a creative space Dr Valerie Visanich Lecturer, Data Scientist in Residencea,∗, Dr Toni Sant Reader, Artistic Directorb a b
University of Malta, Spazju Kreattiv, Centre for Creativity at St James Cavalier, Valletta, Malta University of Hull, Spazju Kreattiv, Centre for Creativity at St James Cavalier, Valletta, Malta
A R T I C L E I N F O
A B S T R A C T
Keywords: St James Cavalier Centre for Creativity Audience Cultural participation Omnivore Valletta Malta
Strategies on audience development have become central to cultural debates in Malta. Such interest stems partly from Malta's current low rate of participation in cultural events. While there has been a rising interest in analysing cultural consumption and audiences quantitatively, the modes of agency of cultural participants, who reflexively make sense of events differently, have received inadequate attention. This article tackles this gap by presenting empirical results of a recent qualitative study on audiences' reflexivity for the National Centre for Creativity in Valletta, Malta. The contribution of this article lies in the fact that it provides an epistemological understanding of the meanings and feelings of audiences for engagement, or lack of it, in cultural participation at the National Centre for Creativity in Malta. Results presented in this article were used as guiding frame in the process of rebranding this national Centre as a creative space in the capital city of Malta.
1. Introduction The aim of this article is to present the meaning and ontological experiences for engagement, or lack of it, in cultural participation at the National Centre for Creativity in Malta. Malta's cultural infrastructure is growing in importance by way of strategic investments on various artistic projects especially within the context of Malta's preparation to host the European Capital of Culture in 2018. Such strategies aim to increase Malta's cultural participation rate, which registers second lowest in Europe, at a meagre 18%. (Eurobarometer, 2013). The attendance to public performances is also low, with 49% saying that they did not attend concerts and 54% do not go to the theatre due to lack of interest (Eurobarometer, 2013). Despite the fact that there has been growing interest in obtaining statistical data on cultural audiences in Malta, there is missing work on understanding sociologically the meanings of different publics towards cultural participation. This article tackles this gap. By drawing on from a qualitative research, this article provides an understanding for participation at the National Centre for Creativity in Malta. The empirical results presented here are part of research commissioned in the process of rebranding. This article emphasises the interconnection of structure-agency and seeks to contribute to the debate about audiences, grounded on the principle that cultural audiences are the outcome of continuous interactions between dispositions and reflexivity. Here, cultural audiences are treated not simply as epiphenomena of political and economic
∗
structures. Instead, similar to Jeffrey Alexander's (2003) argument when speaking on cultural forms, weight is placed on the autonomy of such audiences and how they have the capacity to alter existing structures. The explanations of individual perception were mediated by an understanding of meaning and feelings of audiences and the person's internal and external symbolic structures. Developing a brand identity as a creative centre for an organisation such as Malta's National Centre for Creativity – i.e. one that has operated for more than a decade without systematic analysis of its audiences – necessitates a long-term qualitative study of its audiences. This is what led Fondazzjoni Ċentru għall-Kreattività – the legal entity that runs the Centre for Creativity - to appoint a Data Scientist in Residence in 2015. Working hand in hand with the organisation's Artistic Director and Marketing Manager, the Data Scientist in Residence was able to provide scientific insight into matters that may seem obvious to those inside a cultural organisation but have no concrete means to show that things are the way they know them to be. Such empirical evidence was used as a guiding frame for rebranding this centre as a creative space rather than as a showcase for artistic works. This is thoroughly explained in the next section. 2. Malta's National Centre for creativity St James Cavalier Centre for Creativity was established in 2000 when the old fortification of St James Cavalier in Valletta was
Corresponding author. E-mail addresses: [email protected] (V. Visanich), [email protected] (T. Sant).
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.ccs.2017.04.001 Received 19 February 2016; Received in revised form 10 April 2017; Accepted 11 April 2017 1877-9166/ © 2017 Published by Elsevier Ltd.
Please cite this article as: Visanich, V., City, Culture and Society (2017), http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.ccs.2017.04.001
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and strengthening artistic practice and cultural development. Moreover, MUŻA, the new national museum of Art in Malta, administered by Heritage Malta, is working on the process of community empowerment, both through educational programmes as well as in a non-formal manner and recognising the needs of each individual to access arts and culture (Debono, 2014).
designated by the Government of Malta, as millennium project to redesign the building as a Centre for Creativity. Architect Richard England was faced with the task of re-engineering this building, originally meant to keep people out, as one open to all and inviting anyone to come inside. The Centre for Creativity has functioned primarily as an arts centre, particularly because there is no such entity in Malta. However, the organisation has frequently encouraged engagement from other aspects of the creative industries outside the art world, primarily from creative endeavours that are not immediately associated with the arts, such as creative thinking and the sciences. The original branding of the Centre was directly tied in with the historic building that is St James Cavalier, a part of the city of Valletta's 17th century fortifications. So much so that the centre was named St James Cavalier Centre for Creativity. The original logo featured a prominent outline of the building and the name emphasised St James Cavalier over the Centre for Creativity descriptor. The effects of this connection resulted in having the general public and frequent visitors referring to this Centre in terms of the structure of St James Cavalier. This was also emphasised by research participants during qualitative interviews and their meanings are aptly presented in the empirical evidence section of this article. This led the Foundation to emphasize the Centre for Creativity aspect over St James Cavalier as a building by renaming the centre from St James Cavalier Centre for Creativity to Spazju Kreattiv (Creative Space). The precise wording on the Foundation's mission statement with regards to audience development and engagement is as follows: “to act as a catalyst for all forms of expression, by providing space and extending experience to reach all people and involve them in interactive participation” (www.kreattivita.org). The appropriate enactment of this primary aim, leads back to the concept of audience development and particularly audience engagement by ensuring alternatives to top down models of communication. This led to the need for a sociological research exercise in which for the first time, knowledge on the perceptions of persons who visit the Centre as well as those who do not, was acquired. Primarily, it is significant to give an overview of the creative and cultural events taking place at the Centre for Creativity, some of which are often perceived as ‘highbrow’ by the general public. An example of this is the cinema programme. The programme of live cinema screenings comes from the National Theatre in London, the Metropolitan Opera in New York, and the Bolshoi Ballet in Moscow. The cinema rarely shows Hollywood or other mainstream films which appeal to a broader audience. The Centre is a member of the Europa Cinemas network, and therefore shows several European and other world cinema productions, which are frequently deemed as not having mass appeal, particularly because they are screened with subtitles. However, this is not necessarily the case with live theatre and music presented at the Centre, as in this case a broad range of activities are presented, appealing to a wider public. It seems that people who are not familiar with the details of the events programme at the Centre may get the impression that the rest of the programme is the same as that offered in the cinema, which has for some time received the most coverage in newspaper advertising, along with productions of play performed in English – the language itself can act as a barrier for large segments of the Maltese-speaking public. This language barrier is not only an issue of distinction here but other theatre organizations in Malta that choose produce performances only in English, or at least predominantly so. Thus, it is worth noting that the national Centre for Creativity does not hold a monopoly over the cultural industries in Malta. There are other institutions working within the arts that work in parallel and in collaboration with the Centre. The Arts Council Malta (ACM) (ACM, 2016) works on a number of artistic projects to increase the accessibility of the Maltese public to the arts, partly by funding public cultural events. The ACM is the cultural advisor to the Government and works on the Cultural Policy and strategies for the arts. Through administering the Malta Arts Funds, ACM contributes towards investing in local artists
3. Theoretical framework According to the critical stream of sociology of art that exposes the power relations in the art world, audiences are treated as passive consumers of art and their capacities to decode art are dependent on their cultural capital. It is argued that there is a strong homology between taste, class and power and the appropriation of the arts as status markers, in which dispositions, cultural knowledge and skills, mode of thoughts and linguistic competences are acquired through the process of socialisation (Bourdieu (1973, 1984 [1979]) – an undemocratic effect of ‘high’ art in which “art and cultural consumption are predisposed … to fulfil a social function of legitimating social difference” (1984[1979],p.7). Focus is placed here on issues of prestige as a distinguishing feature in the high arts that serve to reinforce social boundaries. Audiences are studied as requiring an innate skill, which is inherited or acquired through the education system, to decode and make sense of artworks. This becomes “an illusion collectively shared and approved” (Bourdieu, 1996, p. 334). Following this argument, social actors cannot be considered away from their contextual conditions and their own biographical standpoints (Lahire, 2008). This includes an analysis of individual's educational level and social class. The Great British Class Survey (GBCS) by Savage et al. (2013) uses a Weberian approach to social class and draws from Bourdieu's concern of capital, as a form of power resource. The seven class model by Savage et al. rests on different access to economic, cultural or social resources in its ranking. The ‘established middle class’, for example, refers to individuals who obtained tertiary education, who are in well-paid jobs, who like ‘highbrow’ culture but are also have “emerging cultural capital” that include enjoying rock music and maintaining a Facebook page. Such class could also be similar in lifestyle to what Richard Peterson (1992) refers to as “cultural omnivores”. The omnivore theory rejects Bourdieu's high cultural tastes of the highly educated individuals in society. Instead it argues that individuals with tertiary education are more like “cultural omnivores”, embracing different cultural tastes associated with the high, middle and low brow tastes. People from higher status groups are considered to appreciate a wider array of musical genres, compared to lower status groups (Peterson & Simkus, 1992). Thus, the turn of the twenty-first century has brought with it a post-Bourdieu meta-critical approach, focusing more on the notion of reflexivity. Taking a cue from Tony Bennett's (2007) ontological understanding of culture, the Centre for creativity is not a static or passive inert entity but one that has its own autonomy. Since 2000, the Centre has been constantly made and remade and altered by individuals who were involved in its strategic planning and those who participated in its events. This, in return, influenced the modes of reception of both the insiders (persons who are directly involved) and the outsiders (the general public). Such understanding is required to devise strategies for audience development and engagement. In an attempt to explicitly examine audiences and make sense of ways people exhibit openness or limitations to cultural consumption, the use of quantitative methods are not sufficient in this case. Following this premise, our research was purposely built around a qualitative study. In line with Lahire (2008), an understanding of cultural practices of individuals requires a contextualised approach that takes into consideration the individual cultural profiles and their ‘intra-individual portraits’. This is the only way, according to Lahire that “leads to describing how cultural practices and preferences vary in relation to the domains, sub-domains, contexts or circumstances of cultural activity or 2
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consumption. An example of this is in the way cultural audiences are dominated by operators from within the creative industries. Cultural creators attend each other's projects resulting in having the same crowd of art practitioners visiting cultural events. Such events become a field for sociability and a way to strengthen one's network, what Baldacchino (2013) calls ‘cultivate connections’. This relative isolation is not unique to Malta but is certainly rather common in remote towns and small cities elsewhere where a thriving creative sector is many miles away for a major capital of cultural activity. The history of Malta as a colonial and post-colonial country influenced art practices and cultural consumption in Malta. Vicki Ann Cremona (2008) offers an analysis of the political change in Malta during the pre and post-colonial years as reflected in theatre productions that started to express a new national identity. She highlights the relationship between theatre and political protests during the postcolonial period and how this contrasts with recent theatre productions in Malta that are relatively unchanging, possibly due to the general decline in political involvement.
practices” (Lahire, 2008, p. 4). 4. Socio-economic and cultural specificities of Malta The specific location under study needs to be understood within a wider framework of Malta, as a small island Mediterranean state. There are various socio-economic and cultural peculiarities that are worth outlining in order to frame audience development. This section focuses on two of them – the wider context of Malta as a small island state and its social class structure. Small states are characterised for sharing common identifiable features, including their openness, insularity or ‘enclaveness’, resilience, weakness and dependence (Sutton & Payne, 1993). A number of studies in Malta (Briguglio, 1995; Baldacchino, 1998, 2008) refer to the development challenges faced by small state due to their size – some of the challenges include their openness to international trade and high dependence on imports due to their small economic heft (Briguglio, 2014). As a small-island state, Malta is particularly vulnerable to external events referred in three distinct ways – “in the suddenness of impact, in the intensity of effect and in the rapid speed of penetration”. (Baldacchino, 1998, p. 225). While these considerations on economic vulnerabilities of small island states have their place in the contextualisation of this research location, this article focuses more on cultural specificities and its impact on the cultural infrastructure – in particular focusing on the social class structure influencing tastes in cultural practices. In spite of the small geographical size, the class system in Malta shares many of the characteristics with the GBCS (Baldacchino, 2013). These include, in some respects, the geographic concentration of classes in specific regions – a case in point is ‘the Three Towns’ (Attard, Balzan, Lija) and ‘the Three Cities’ (Cospicua, Senglea, Vittoriosa) at the opposite ends of this scale (Baldacchino, 1997). Nevertheless, there are some significant differences, partially due to the small size, patterns of sociability and mutual dependence. These also include the need to ‘cultivate connections’ and the question of status overlap (Baldacchino, 2013). The latter is evident amongst art practitioners in Malta who usually, as this research shows, are in full-time occupation and work in the arts on part-time basis. This tendency is slowly shifting with the current boost in the local creative industry and the increase funding opportunities for artists. Between 2001 and 2007, Malta's Cultural and Creative Industries accounted for 4% of GDP, with an annualised average growth of 9% (Creativity Works, 2012). In the analysis on social class and cultural consumption, it is important to account for the expansion of the middle-class in Malta, in the last few years. The so-called ‘new’ middle class, partly popularised by the present Prime Minister Joseph Muscat as a consequence of economic growth (Pace, 2016), fosters a shared vision of desirable life chances. Members of this middle-class, usually include, but not exclusively, individuals with post-compulsory education, who, according to Peterson (1992), Peterson and Simkus, (1992) and Peterson and Kern (1996), are considered to be multi-culturally tolerant and thus are presumed to have wide cultural tastes. Such omnivore tendencies in cultural consumption were observed in a recent study on a group of persons occupying middle-class and professional jobs in Malta, who are actively involved in the popular event of the village festa (Visanich, 2015). The festa is a traditional religious celebration that takes place weekly, in turn, across all towns and villages. Their experiences in such cultural engagement were explained in a number of reasons. First, meanings to this popular event are related to a sense of nostalgia and a manifestation of reconstructed memories of their lived experiences. Second, the sensory experience of the festa provides a space to ‘escape from it all’ and a good break from their ordinary working life in Malta and abroad. Third, participants feel that the festa produce a feeling of belonging to their community and a place of informal familiarity and sociability. Malta's small size has significant impact on patterns of cultural
5. Method Before turning to empirical observations, we will first consider the methodological principles that guided the fieldwork. This study investigated the perceptions of individuals on Malta's national Centre for Creativity through the use of a qualitative approach, extending over a period of five months, between May and October 2015. Furthermore, the Data Scientist in Residence researched into the Centre's systematic record keeping of the creative projects and its many other activities. There has been a long-standing effort in place to preserve event posters, retain some copies of catalogues and performance programmes. In effect, the research report, transcriptions, audio recordings of the interviews and video footage produced by the Data Scientist in Residence are now archived at the Centre for systematic record keeping. Methods for data collection included the use of fifty-four in-depth ethnographic interviews with individuals between the ages of 16 and 70 years, from different economic and family backgrounds. It also involved a number of group discussions with staff members. Twenty-three interviews were held with members of the general public who did not visit the centre, whereas thirty-one participants who considered themselves frequent visitors at the Centre were interviewed. Staff members at the Centre for Creativity provided a list of audience members who are frequent visitors at the Centre. The majority of these participants were artist themselves. This list was used as a sampling frame to choose participants for interviews. Snowballing sampling technique was employed for participants who feel out of place at the Centre for Creativity. The selection of participants also included taking into consideration variables like age and gender. There was also a balanced amount of males and females interviewees as well as participants of different ages. This was purposively done to present the interpretations on their level of engagement, or lack of it, of different members of the Maltese population – yet, the intention was not to generalise or to take a ratio of wider population. After contacting potential participants by phone and explaining the research, participants agreed to meet and were interviewed about their cultural participation. With their consent, interviews were recorded and later transcribed. The process of transcription was followed by a thematic analysis, which pinpointed, examined and recorded patterns in the data. Various valid themes emerged from the data analysis process, including on participants' cultural consumption, not necessarily related to the Centre for Creativity. Such analysis may be useful and dealt with in another article. Nevertheless, this article focuses on the meanings and feelings of participants on the Centre for Creativity. In an attempt to make sense of the way people exhibit openness or limitation in their cultural consumption at this cultural space, the chosen themes analysed in this 3
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article dealt with three questions: (a) on the formality and exclusiveness of the arts, (b) on its creative identity, and (c) on its continuity and change. The two categories of research participants are referred here, for simplification and clarify purposes, as the insiders referring to those participants who said that they were directly active in the Centre, such as artists, staff and regular audience members, and the outsiders, those who felt out of place at the Centre for Creativity. This study has endeavoured to present an epistemological understanding of the way these two types of individuals make sense of cultural participation in this creative space. 6. Individuals' interpretations: empirical evidence Fig. 1. Cultural participation and Educational Attainment.
Data resulting from research questions referred to actual cultural consumption rather than to cultural tastes. Participants voiced their opinions on various issues related to their cultural participation at the Centre, at times going off subject during our informal interviews. Here we focus on three aspects that were extracted from transcripts: (a) formality and exclusiveness, (b) the identity of the centre, and (c) its continuity and change.
graduate and a Heavy Metal musician. He felt quite sceptical about using this Centre for alternative music because it may popularise it and the genre would loose its own subcultural status. John, a 35 year-old electrician, does not consider the Centre as a place to go to during his free time. He admitted that he had no idea what happens at the Centre and had no desire to attend because he had the impression that events are of no interest to him. He would only attend if there were events related to carnival or Christmas. Nevertheless, irrespective of the lack of interest to attend events happening at the Centre for Creativity, most of the outsiders maintained that they regarded this place with high esteem. Mary, a 52 year-old homemaker, described it as a formal place yet a very prestigious one. Age was an important variable influencing attendance to cultural events. Ann, a 17 year-old student, felt that “it is a place for older people to watch mind-boggling films.” In a similar manner to Bourdieu's argument, the artworks at the Centre for Creativity could be understood if the artworks' semiotic system runs parallel to that of audiences. Most young participants maintained that they had only visited the Centre during school outings, and they have no desire to visit or attend events now. The reason that they gave was because they considered this place as being oriented for a much older and mature audience. This space lacked the ‘cool factor’ for them and they did not consider it as a possible meeting place whenever they are in the company of friends who are their own age. In line with the intensification of the consumer culture, especially its hypercommodification of popular cool forms, this Centre is not seen in tandem with such shifts.2 They perceived most events happening as a game of philosophical riddles that requires a high level of intellectuality and maturity to be able to grasp the meaning of works presented within its walls. However, some young participants who were comic enthusiasts said that they had participated in Comicon Malta, an annual event that promotes the comic culture that is held at the Centre for Creativity. They felt that this event was an opportunity to meet other comic enthusiasts like themselves (see Fig. 2). Drawing from observations and discussions with participants, it was clear that those individuals who felt ‘insiders’ were those who either had primary artistic socialisation or who were artists with institutional training in the arts. For instance, there was a clear distinction amongst young people who engaged in creative events and those who did not. Those young people who considered themselves familiar with this particular creative space had some kind of musical or artistic training as children. Hence, children growing up in households where adults had close and active relationships to cultural and creative events were potentially more likely to involve themselves.
6.1. Formality and exclusiveness “I consider myself artistic but St James is too formal for my tastes” (20 year-old, female, university student). It has been often argued that individuals with higher educational and occupational status are more likely to visit museums, theatres and classical concerts (De Graaf, De Graaf, & Kraaykamp, 2000; Di Maggio, 1987; Van Eijck, 2001; Veblen & Banta, 2007). All participants (31 in total) who said that they frequently visit the Centre have a postcompulsory level of education. Most participants, who were involved in the arts, were also full-time employees in another sector, most of the time as teachers. This tie in with what Baldacchino (2013) calls ‘status overlap’, referring to multiple paid jobs, that is predominant in Malta (see Fig. 1). This distinction in cultural consumption was a consistent issue made by research participants who defined the Centre for Creativity as synonymous with ‘aesthetic snobbery’. This was particularly the interpretation of the ‘outsiders’ who felt that they were out of place at the Centre. The twenty-three participants who felt out of place at the Centre made sense of their barriers for active participation by referring to the need to acquire a certain degree of knowledge, what Bourdieu (1973; 1984 [1979]) called the deployment of cultural capital. This was also emphasised by one artist, who considered himself an active contributor to the Centre. He felt that his art required cultural knowledge to be understood and appreciated. He maintained that it was the role of artists to facilitate this understanding to their audiences: My art is linked to my personal history and deals with real life situations; political, sociological, context is used to deliver a message. It has a certain profoundness and depth in its message. Contemporary art needs a kind of explanation so people can relate to it. (35 year-old, male, installation artist). Nevertheless, not all participants with post-compulsory and tertiary level of education felt that they had the necessary artistic knowledge to comprehend the artistic productions held at the Centre. Francis,1 a retired accountant, maintained that; “normally people who attend have a higher level of education or are intellectuals”. It is not only the case of ‘aesthetic snobbery’ that limited participants from attending events held at the Centre for Creativity. The question of institutionalising art was the concern of Henry, a doctorate 1
2
All participants' names mentioned have been changed to preserve anonymity.
4
See the Conquest of Cool by Frank (1997).
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more interactive workshop sessions doing hands-on experiences to different audiences. One academic referred to the need to engage individuals in critical thinking by having events that stimulate cultural criticism. 6.3. Continuity and change Empirical evidence showed that both categories of respondents knew that the Centre for Creativity has been functional for the last fifteen years of its operation. Participants were questioned about their views on what changes they would like to see in the operation of the Centre. Most participants felt that there is a need to empower the public to participate in events through a more people-centre approach. This is thought to widen the number of people who feel a sense of belonging at the Centre. The perception of being an exclusive location is acting as a deterrent for people to identify themselves with the Centre for Creativity. Some art practitioners who started only very recently getting involved in creative events at the Centre maintained that they are now experiencing a sense of belonging to the place and want to enhance this experience; “You identify yourself with the Centre, you feel welcome and you belong” (35 year-old, male, installation artist).
Fig. 2. Cultural participation and age.
6.2. Identity: between workshop and showcase “It's a showcase not a centre for creativity” (25 year-old, male artist). Well, to me it means having a generally good time indulging my penchant for artistic work …. I won't say ‘experimental’ for that particular word usually gives me the shits and St James doesn't really risk that much anyway (39 year-old, male, Folk/Rock Musician).
I think we need to have this feeling in the branding that sense of belonging. Anyone can give something. We can't be exclusive and focus only on one type of people. People need to feel that they can give to the centre (25 year-old, male, staff member).
Research participants, especially those who frequently participated at the Centre for Creativity argued that this place did not have a clear identity. The ambiguity of its identity lies in the fact that staff members, artists and the general public have divergent ideas of the Centre's raison d’être. Staff members also highlighted that one of the main problems in the implementation of the mission statement is the fragmentation of work being done, with no clear vision and no coherent repertoire of events; “Right now, I think there is no one direction …, we are working on it, but it is still very much fragmented” (27 year-old, staff member). This results in an identity crisis in which not only staff members but also artists and the general public lost sight of the main scope of this Centre. Without a clear strategic vision and plan, employees admitted that they found it difficult to work towards one shared goal. Staff members emphasised that creative projects need to be repeated annually in order to gain their importance and be included in the national cultural events calendar. Most participants who were frequent-visitors maintained that events like Żigużajg, an international arts festival for children and young people, gained its recognition because it was an event that returned annually and gathering momentum year after year. Participants felt that the vision of the place is not particularly defined and they thought that the set events are more focused on being a showcase for artists rather than a place where creativity is stimulated or observed as it develops. It is not regarded as a workshop for creativity but more of a showcase for completed works of art and creative productions. Jane, a 35 year-old homemaker who considers herself a creative person, said that “St James is not a creative place where you do things but a cultural one where exhibitions are held.” The identity of this particular place is centred on the historical fortress building, often referred to by the public as ‘St James’, with very little reference to it being the working base for Fondazzjoni Ċentru għallKreattività. Nearly all participants referred to this place exclusively as ‘St James’ with reference to the historic structure that is St James Cavalier. Emphasis was also put on the coherent rigidness of the function of this premise as a place where artists showcased their work with very little interaction with the general public. Philip, a 34 year-old designer who considered himself actively involved in the Centre maintained that “there is very little interaction between the artist and the audience though the artworks.” Nearly all responses of the ‘insiders’ and ‘outsiders’ pointed out the need for the Centre for Creativity to open up to different ideas and offer
Participants who were directly involved with the place and those who had direct contact with its operation were more willing to give their feedback on the new strategic vision and plan. The applicability of empirical findings can be categorised into five: Identity, accessibility, visibility, cool factor, and collaboration. First, the Centre's identity is presently fragmented and ambiguous. Both insiders and outsiders were unaware that it is guided by a mission statement. More emphasis needs to be put on interactivity with the creative arts and develop a stronger engagement between the artists and the audiences though their works. The Centre must therefore establish a clear identity as a workshop for creativity that acts as a catalyst for creative member of the public to express themselves freely as they engage actively with the work presented to them. Second, the question of accessibility was central for participants and the need to empower them as active agents. Artists and persons who considered themselves culturally savvy, maintained that they wanted to feel a sense of belonging at the Centre. They felt that it could be a place where artists meet, discuss ideas and work together on projects. The operations of the Centre for Creativity therefore have to be focused more on accessibility by further democratising access to its activities in an attempt to attract more individuals with interests in different forms of creative expression. The Comicon event can be used as an exemplary case of a successful alternative event that attracts new audiences, especially young age cohorts, year after year, but there are others, of course. Third, most participants maintained that there is hardly any visibility of the events happening at the Centre outside the obvious places and that the website at www.sjcav.org is not user friendly. An effective marketing campaign needed to raise visibility of the Centre's activities and promote its new identity, strategic vision and plan. Fourth, participants felt that the Centre needs to move away from its elitist and classist identity to a cooler one that attempts to attract younger adults to engage in events happening at the Centre. This cool factor can be transmitted through an intensive marketing campaign that aims at attracting different audiences through popular and alternative kinds of creative art forms. Fifth, it was suggested, especially by art practitioners that the Centre for Creativity needs to extend beyond the structural space of St James Cavalier and collaborate with various creative groups in Malta 5
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cally evident that after a functional period of fifteen years, this Centre needs to build on its own legacy and go beyond that to continue to evolve.
and Gozo. Such collaboration with different organizations in and outside Valletta will encourage more active participation in the Centre. Carnival enthusiasts were a particular group of people who felt excluded. They found no connection with the carnival celebrations that demonstrate vividly their creative work and the Centre for Creativity. They felt out of place even though carnival celebrations take place within the same city and major activities take place literally outside St James Cavalier's doors. A way forward could be to organise carnivalrelated events at the Centre during the carnival time. This could take place by allocating space for an annual exhibition of preliminary sketches of carnival floats and costumes, along with public discussions or seminars involving those directly active in the creative work involved in the carnival celebrations. There is also a need for clearer and systematic collaboration with the various departments at the University of Malta and the Malta College of Art, Science, and Technology. This would ensure that further and higher education students have the opportunity to engage in creative thinking as well as creative workshops to put the theoretical process they learn about in their courses into practice on projects outside the academic environment. This could also give students the opportunity to exercise the critical thinking skills they acquire through their course work on public projects.
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7. Discussions While Bourdieu's Distinction (1984 [1979]) remains fundamental to the debate about cultural tastes and its correlation to social class, more recent studies emphasize audiences' reflexivity. This article is based on the premise that the rebranding of a creative space cannot happen without an in-depth understanding of the meanings and feelings of audiences towards cultural consumption. The agency of the public, who tacitly make sense of cultural events, was analysed in relation to the contextual structural factors such as the classist approach to such creative spaces. We have argued that empirical research is a prerequisite in the process of rebranding because it draws attention to the various facets of audience development and engagement, including an absence of a systematic consideration for such things. The framework set out here for understanding cultural participation can be broadened and applied to explore other instances where persons' choices are continuously influenced by other contextual factors. It would also be useful to study the way persons exhibit openness or limitations to cultural consumption in other cultural centres and museums. 8. Conclusions In conclusion, the significance of this article is that it analyses qualitatively the modes of agency of persons on their cultural participation, or lack of it, at the national Centre for Creativity in Malta. A number of implications can be drawn from the foregoing discussion. Empirical evidence in the research conducted for the national Centre for Creativity points out to three strands of arguments. Firstly, such creative space is considered as exclusive and a mechanism of classbased attendance. Secondly, this particular Centre has been acting more of a showcase of the arts rather than a space for developing creative projects that encourages active participation. Thirdly, despite the need for a rebranding strategy to establish a creative identity, it is empiri-
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