Artistic Community Slam Culture Minister After Describing Role As Traumatic

A recording by Culture Minister Malcolm Paul Agius Galea has come under fire by the local artistic community, after the minister described his four months in the role as ‘traumatic.’

In the recording, Galea said that his medical background has inclined him to view creativity as ‘presumptuous and dangerous’, describing some artists as believing they are ‘God’s gift to the world.’

‘Creatives are the mirror a society needs when it is too afraid to look at itself’, said presenter and actor Gordon Bonello. ‘We hold the grief, celebrate the beauty, and ask the uncomfortable questions that keep a culture alive and honest.’

PN MP and Vice President of the Malta Entertainment Industry and Arts Association (MEIA) Marilena Gauci described the discourse as ‘disappointing.’

‘Artists and creatives are God's gift to the world, Minister’, she added. ‘Through their work, artists and creatives allow us to see the world through a different lens. They make us reflect, stir our emotions, make us laugh and cry, and above all hold up a large, clear mirror to us and to our society so that we truly think about everything happening around us. This is nothing new, Minister. It is something fundamentally basic.’

#MaltaDaily