An arts industry association that called for improved transparency and governance in the organisation of The Malta Biennale was accused on Tuesday of being cut off from reality.
The Malta Entertainment Industry and Arts Association (MEIA) on Sunday listed several grievances from participants, including poor organisation, last-minute decisions leading to works being removed, intellectual property rights not being respected and outstanding fees.
In a reaction, Heritage Malta and the Malta Biennale said on Tuesday that they are always open to constructive criticism intended to improve this international contemporary art platform.
“However, the organising bodies refuse to engage in controversies that are far removed from constructive criticism.”
They pointed out that two years ago, during the first edition of the Malta Biennale, MEIA officials publicly criticised the Biennale “without fact checking.”
“The same MEIA officials from two years ago have again publicly disparaged the Malta Biennale without verifying the facts. They criticised it to the point that they even spoke out against the Biennale’s official opening, which was an entirely Maltese production and in which a substantial number of Maltese artists participated – artists whom the MEIA claims to represent.”
The Malta Biennale said that while preparations for the Malta Biennale were underway the MEIA did not raise complaints or concerns and did not request any clarification of any undertakings.
It was pointed out that two years ago, MEIA criticised the Malta Biennale while it was still in its inaugural edition and predicted that it would not succeed, describing it as a “missed opportunity”. However, according to a comprehensive survey, 80% of the Maltese public viewed the Malta Biennale as very good.
Not only did MEIA’s prediction of failure prove wrong, but for the second edition of the Malta Biennale currently taking place there were 3200 artistic proposals were submitted for participation, a 30% increase over the first edition.Applications for national pavilions increased from 14 in the first edition to 52 in this edition, of which 27 were selected to participate.
For the first time, satellite activities linked to the Malta Biennale were introduced, although they are not an integral part of it. Of these, 12 were selected out of the 70 that applied.
“Contrary to what MEIA officials wrote in their statement, the response from participants in this second edition of the Biennale has been extremely positive and highly encouraging. Nevertheless, as it did two years ago, the Malta Biennale has already begun analysing and reviewing the overall performance of this international contemporary art platform in order to continue improving on what has been achieved.”
Malta Biennale said it is ready to work with established oversight institutions so that both the administration of resources and all procedures used during the Biennale may be thoroughly scrutinised.