The student and the emperor

And the child spoke, calling out the truth: ‘The emperor is naked.’

This is what a simple question put to the prime minister by a student, who attends the Malta Visual and Performing Arts School, felt like. During a discussion with the prime minister, the boy asked: “Why is my performing arts school without a hall?”

He received no reply. The discussion quickly moved on to another topic. It was an inconvenient question; one that may have been too uncomfortable to answer. And yet, that single question remains pertinent.

Since opening its doors in 2018, the MVPA has been left without a theatre, where students can perform. The MVPA is a specialised middle and secondary school where in addition to the ordinary academic curriculum, students also specialise in their chosen art form—music, dance, theatre, art and media.

For these students, a theatre is an essential component of their studies and not simply a hall where the Christmas concert for parents is held, or where the school assembly takes place. For these students, a theatre represents the space where they get to perform in a professional setting what they would have studied and trained for; it is the stage where they are assessed. For these students, a theatre is not an added attraction to the school facilities but a space necessary for their artistic growth as future professionals.

The absence of a theatre at MVPA is akin to having a specialised sports school without a football ground and gym.

Indeed, the student’s question ‘why is my performing arts school without a hall?’ requires an honest answer from the authorities. More importantly, it demands from the authorities a commitment to invest in today’s young talent so that they can become tomorrow’s creative professionals.

After all, Goal 5 of the guiding principles in the 2025 draft strategy for the creative sectors, released for public consultation by Arts Council Malta, states: “We will dedicate investment, advocacy, and facilitation efforts towards the development of knowledge and skills competences needed by cultural and creative practitioners, to flourish in their sectors.”

The MVPA sits at the core of this goal since it provides a specialised stepping stone for students, who dedicate many hours of training in and out of school to their respective art forms. It is the place where knowledge and skills are being developed; guided and improved.

The school staff and management do wonders within the limitations but having dedicated teachers and committed students is not enough. Would we be happy having very dedicated coaches and good players in football nurseries, while children play on gravel pitches? In 2026, this is unthinkable.

The Arts Council strategy makes it clear that investment in infrastructure is necessary to improve educational provision in the creative sectors. Goal 10 of the guiding principles states: “We consider infrastructure as a prerequisite in improving the educational provision and further professionalisation of the sectors.”

Once again, the MVPA sits at the core of this goal, which is why it makes no sense for such a school to be left without an adequate theatre.

If government truly believes its own strategy for the artistic sector, it should stop ignoring the core needs of the performing arts school. The Education Ministry should adopt a more equitable approach when providing the necessary financial resources to the state’s two specialised schools—the National Sports School in Pembroke and MVPA in Hamrun.

But this is not just about the MVPA and the lack of a professional performing space for its students. Writing recently in solidarity with the student who questioned the prime minister, artistic director and creative producer Sean Buhagiar made a pertinent point when he emphasised the lack of a contemporary, professional, purpose-built national performing arts space.

Buhagiar said Malta needs a “professional performing arts venue designed from the ground up for contemporary creation, rehearsal, production and international exchange”. Such a space can also act as a home for our national companies.

He also noted that smaller cities, with fewer resources and smaller populations than Malta’s, have invested deliberately in contemporary performing arts spaces.

Malta needs to have a space where human endeavour meets technology, where creativity becomes a hybrid experience of different disciplines, where audiences can be wooed in immersive performances. The theatres we have today, good as they may be, do not fit this bill. So much more can be accomplished with a modern performing space that meets contemporary artistic demands.

But for this dream to become a reality it requires the authorities to have a vision that is backed up by meaningful and sustained investment in the performing arts sector.

It is in this context that the student’s question to the prime minister gains even more relevance since it exposes a flaw in the foundations.

The authorities need to make two commitments: Equip the state’s performing arts school with a functional theatre where students can have a fulfilling educational experience; and develop a national performing arts venue, where those students can eventually flourish into professional artists and perform in front of paying audiences.