On saving writers, the arts, and ourselves

The recent news of esteemed writer Walid Nabhan’s planned departure from our home island of Malta, citing ‘dwindling work opportunities and lack of support,” struck a chord. It prompted me to revisit a piece I wrote in 2021 about safeguarding the status of arts professionals in the midst of the Covid-19 pandemic and the economic crisis that came along with it.

While I haven’t personally crossed paths with Walid Nabhan, his name holds significant weight within Malta’s literary circles (and beyond). An online search quickly explains why there have been widespread calls for support and solidarity towards his situation, with his contributions spanning between his translations of Maltese texts to Arabic, his commitment towards intercultural relations, and his receipt of the European Prize for Literature in 2017.

Nabhan’s reality — surprising as it might seem to some who are detached from the realities faced by artists and arts professionals — unfolds against the backdrop of a broader political dialogue on the status of artists and cultural professionals, both in Malta and across Europe at large. Most notably, the EU Report on the Status and Working Conditions of Artists and Cultural Professionals released in 2023 underscores the urgency of addressing these issues on a systemic level.

When news like this surfaces in the public sphere, I find myself drawn (and to some extent, equally taken aback) to visit the comments boards, to gauge the general sentiment of the public towards such situations. I am struck, although not surprised, by comments questioning what this ‘mere writer’ expects from the country, and why he cannot simply earn a living like everyone else. One may be tempted to entertain such claims, but I like to think that would stem only from a lack of awareness and understanding of the intrinsic value that culture brings to a nation, a continent, and the world at large.

However, when one acknowledges the value and power that culture can hold in our fragmented societies — through forms such as literature, theatre, music, or other more subtle ones, as the simple sharing of a meal together (as I was aptly reminded during a recent conversation with an artist) — then this status quo becomes not only alarming but also deeply saddening for the future of our societies.

In my article back in 2021, I wrote that the socio-economic benefits of the arts in society were undisputed. Perhaps I was naive to write this, but perhaps it was also a different time — a time when wars felt more distant and perhaps easier to overlook. It was a period when the arts were providing solace, joy, and inspiration to people reading books, watching films, drawing and engaging in creativity during lockdowns.

Much has changed since then, and even more change is anticipated. In 2021, I emphasised the need to safeguard the economic status of the artist. While this remains an urgent priority, the need to protect the arts and the values of freedom of expression which they represent, becomes more pressing in the context of the ideological landscape towards which the world continues to move rapidly.

In 2024, more than half of the world’s population is heading to the polls. Specifically on the continent where I am situated, some polls are predicting sizeable gains for “rightwing, Eurosceptic parties” in the EU Parliament Elections. North America is looking set to head into an election contested by the same guy who tried to eliminate funding for federal arts agencies back in 2020. Meanwhile, news about cuts to arts funding and the detrimental effects on local communities and economies, reaches us daily from colleagues in England, once hailed as a champion of arts investment. In the Netherlands, where I am now based, the country grapples with the reality of a potential coalition government led by a party whose manifesto pledged to “scrap all of the nonsensical subsidies for art, culture, public broadcasting”.

To those of us who have read our history books, such news is ominously reminiscent of the circumstances which preceded darker times on the European continent and worldwide.

Despite these challenges, the arts — and the artists behind them — persevere, actively fighting these currents with a resilient sense of hope borne from their art.

I recently had the honour of joining a cohort of young artists and cultural workers from across Europe as a changemaker in Culture Action Europe’s ‘Pop the Vote! Culture on the Ballot’ training on artivism. Initially, the term ‘changemaker’ felt somewhat grandiose, but on hearing the stories of these young artists and witnessing the resilience and soft power with which they approach their engagement with communities, the term felt almost inadequate to truly capture their commitment to action. Here was a room full of young artists (dancers, photographers, theatre directors, writers, designers, choreographers, film artists, textile artists, cultural researchers), willing to invest their time, effort, energy, passion, and skill, towards mobilising people to exercise their democratic duty and right to vote in the upcoming European Parliament elections.

(Here is where I subtly plug this URL, and encourage you to sign up to get informed about these upcoming elections. A changemaker’s gotta do what a changemaker’s gotta do…)

Like the rest of us, these artists need a stable income, to sustain themselves, to pay rent at the end of the month. Despite their often precarious working conditions, they generously contribute their skills, ideas, and art towards safeguarding our democracies.

Italian choreographer Manuela V. Colacicco, one of these artists, eloquently captured the essence of this reality in an Instagram post. Her words resonated deeply with those of us who recognise the value that the arts can bring to times of war and conflict, of fear of the other, and of complexity. To those of us who are alert to the growing calls by politicians to decrease support for the arts and artists. In addressing Italian politician Matteo Salvini, she declared (transl.):

“We who create ask ourselves questions, we admit multiple answers because reality is complex. You repress because you don’t know how to respond, because perhaps you can’t admit the emptiness of your intentions, your complete disinterest in society”, going on to finish with the words: “I want to be revolutionary, I want to get my hands dirty to concretely build a different life.”

Author and climate activist Rebecca Solnit posits that “the revolution that counts is the one that takes place in the imagination”.

It is through the arts that we dare to dream, to imagine, and to build a world that is more just and more hopeful for generations to come. Our collective future depends on it.

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If you resonate with the arguments in this piece, consider endorsing the Cultural Deal for Europe and, if you’re a European citizen, send this open letter to your MEP candidates ahead of this year’s EP Elections. The campaign #CulturalDealEU was launched in November 2020 by Culture Action Europe, the European Cultural Foundation and Europa Nostra.

Stephanie Bonnici’s work resides at the intersection of policy, dialogue, the arts, and communities. Hailing from Malta and residing in the Netherlands, she is a Changemaker for Culture Action Europe’s Pop the Vote! Culture on the Ballot.