Civic Identity: Valletta 2018
As the lead writer for the successful Bid Book, I acted as a cultural architect ensuring the document was a coherent whole, answering the stringent demands of an EU Capital of Culture application. The year-long strategy and content project required indepth appreciation and adjudication of projects submitted by numerous voices across society and from across The Maltese Islands; this was, after all, not just a city’s bid, but that of a nation. And its people needed to be listened to and gain from the V.18 project, rather than be railroaded into some high-culture programme created by elites.
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To synthesise the multi-layered, 7,000-year history of the Maltese archipelago into a singular, forward-facing, contemporary narrative for the European Capital of Culture bid. The task required moving beyond the "sun and sea" tourism trope to uncover a sophisticated, and venacular contemporary cultural pulse that would resonate with the European Commission, and above all with Malta’s audiences as well as attract visitors. We needed to move the dial on the cliche’ of Malta as an open-air museum to that of a vibrant cultural scene, anchored in its history, but able to give rise to new cultural forms and provide a legacy for ithe islanders.
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As the lead writer for the Bid Book, I acted as a cultural architect. I translated the island’s heritage from a collection of historical facts into a vibrant, living ecosystem of "stories yet to be told”.
By structuring the narrative around four key themes - Cities, Islands, Generations, and Routes, we shifted the narrative from history to Valletta, and Malta, as a place of dynamic movement across time and space. The concept moved the conversation from a small island geography to a pivotal cultural crossroads. -
The bid was successful, resulting in Valletta being named the European Capital of Culture 2018. This project remains a benchmark for how the "Linguistic Blueprint" of a city can catalyse an entire nation’s creative rebirth.
