Advancing the arts in 2026

A lot has been done for the cultural and performing arts scene over the past decade and yet it is still not enough to ensure the sector is a mainstay of the economy.

A 2024 Central Bank of Malta study on the creative, arts and entertainment activities, libraries, museums and cultural activities, gambling and betting activities and sports, amusement and recreational activities (in economic jargon known as Sector R), showed that by 2022, the sector employed 13,525 full-timers and 3,811 part-timers of which almost half considered their part-time job as their primary job.

But a desegregated approach showed that gambling and betting activities accounted for 10,449 full-time employees, around 77% of jobs in the sector in 2022.

The figures for gross value added told a similar story with gambling and betting activities being the largest contributors in Sector R. The CBM study showed that the share of real GVA in Sector R for the creative, arts and entertainment activities sub-sector increased significantly between 2010 and 2022 but it only slightly exceeded 4% of Sector R.

These figures suggest that a more thorough analysis of available statistical data is needed to truly understand the economic activity generated by the creative, arts, cultural and entertainment industry, including the jobs it creates. There is little sense in quoting the headline figure when this includes gambling and betting activities, which have little to do with culture, performing arts, music, dance, theatre and art.

To address the present, and project a future for Malta’s creative sectors, policy has to be evidence-based and that should start with having desegregated economic statistics that paint a better picture of the industry.

But policymakers also have to promote the sector’s professionalisation. Dance, music, art, creative endeavours, theatre and cultural activities must be able to sustain full-time jobs of quality.

It is true that in in 2024 the Arts Council disbursed €5.4 million through funding programmes and initiatives to support the sector. The budget may seem big but it pales into insignificance when one compares the millions in direct funding and tax rebates given to companies that attracted franchise reality TV shows to Malta, or the millions paid out to save band clubs from being evicted from rented premises.

If the government is serious about investing in the arts scene it needs to put its money where its mouth is and increase funding support.

But this is not just about financial support from the state. More can be done to promote professionalism at least in state-sponsored events or within state entities. It makes no sense for a heavily-subsidised reality TV show being broadcast on the national broadcaster to expect dancers engaged as supporting acts to singers to work for free because “it is good exposure”.

It makes even less sense to see Malta’s Eurovision representative have Maltese backing vocals and dancers for the Malta festival only to have these replaced by foreign performers for the Eurovision Song Contest in May.

It is ridiculous that the national New Year’s Eve celebrations in St George’s Square Valletta regaled audiences with poor sound despite the hefty sums spent on the event—incidentally, the sound at the event organised by the Cottonera Foundation in Bormla was significantly better.

And in 2025, eight years after the government opened a secondary school specifically dedicated to advancing the performing arts—the Malta Visual and Performing Arts School—the institute remains without a theatre where students can learn and perform. The sorry excuse for a theatre at MVPA is an abandoned building where works were started before the 2022 election and stopped immediately afterwards. Students who are dedicating a minimum of eight lessons a week to their chosen art form at the school—many dedicate many more hours to training outside the school—deserve much better support and resources from the central authorities.

But there are also national entities like Żfin Malta, the national dance company, that seems to prefer foreign talent over Maltese dancers. There is nothing wrong in bringing over foreign talent; it helps break insularity and encourages creativity and innovation. But a national entity should never forget its primary aim of providing opportunities for Maltese talent to flourish.

There is much that still needs to be done to realise the Arts Council’s vision of “placing the arts and creativity at the heart of Malta’s future”. Culture and the arts are the beating heart of a nation’s identity. But they can also be a thriving economic sector that provides quality jobs and puts food on artists’ tables.

We hope 2026 can be the launchpad for this vision through a concerted government-wide effort to professionalise the sector across the board through concrete, tangible steps that start addressing the lacunae that exist.