Kurt Buttigieg: 'What you’re working hard for will probably happen, just much later than you expect it to'
Artistic director of the Malta Society of Arts’ Performing Arts Programme Kurt Buttigieg tells all in our Q&A
Kurt Buttigieg is the artistic director of the Malta Society of Arts’ Performing Arts Programme ‘Sustain-Delay’. He is currently busy preparing for the last two events in the Sustain-Delay series taking place in the coming months. More information about the events on www.artsmalta.org/events.
What’s the first thing you do when you wake up in the morning?
I check the time on my phone.
What is the best advice you’ve ever received?
‘You’re not that important.’ It’s crushing and liberating, in equal measure.
What do you never leave the house without?
Keys, phone, wallet. The usual. If I have a bag, I will also have a power bank, headphones and cat food for hungry cats or dogs I encounter.
Pick three words that describe yourself
Organised but spontaneous overthinker.
What do you consider to be your greatest achievement?
Learning where I start, and others end.
What is your guiltiest pleasure?
I find Italian trash TV from the 80s and 90s very comforting.
What is the most important lesson life has taught you?
What you’re working hard for will probably happen, just much later than you expect it to.
Property and cars aside what’s the most expensive thing you’ve ever bought?
Laptop(s) and electronic music equipment.
What is one thing you wish you knew when you were younger?
That it’ll all work out in the end… and if not, you can try again.
Who’s your inspiration?
Not one person. I’m inspired daily by a friendly gesture, a different perspective, kindness and competence.
What has been your biggest challenge?
Dealing with loss and grief, in its multiple forms.
If you weren’t an artistic director, what would you be doing?
Something related, anyway.
Do you believe in God?
No.
If you could have dinner with any person, dead or alive, who would it be?
Ancestors I (obviously) never met from centuries ago. Anthony Bourdain would also be a great.
What’s your worst habit?
Ruminating.
What are you like when you’re drunk?
Giggly and flirty, like a teenage schoolgirl.
Who would you have play you in a film?
Mark Ruffalo, or so I’ve been told when I asked.
What is the trait you most deplore in others?
Indolence, probably. (Although appreciating parts of it now)
What music would you have played at your funeral?
A slowed-down Yakety Sax (Benny Hill theme tune), in D minor.
What is your most treasured material possession?
Not a possession, but kind of. My cat, Mimmi.
What is your earliest memory?
The deep orange of the kitchen in the family home.
When did you last cry, and why?
For emotional reasons, fairly recently.
Who would you most like to meet?
I get to meet a lot of the people I admire.
What’s your favourite food?
It was linguine with local sea urchin. No longer legal now, but anything with seafood gets my vote.
Who’s your favourite person on social media right now?
Dust-to-Digital (@dusttodigital). It’s a collection of DIYS, unusual or ‘accidental’ musicians from around the world.
If you could travel in time, where would you go?
Just before the Euromillions draw to buy a ticket.
What book are you reading right now?
Underland: A Deep Time Journey by Robert Macfarlane. It’s about what goes on under our feet, literally.
If you could have any superpower, what would it be?
Time travel. I’m obsessed with time and memory.
What’s one thing you want to do before you die?
Have peace of mind.
What music are you listening to at the moment?
My playlists are insane; a patchwork of disparate genres and subgenres. But I am currently really interested in the underground scene in Jakarta, they’re doing really interesting things with gamelan and other Indonesian traditions.
In the shower or when you’re working out, what do you sing/listen to?
Generally, me singing (in the shower) or grunting (when exercising). I oddly listen to ambient rather than high-octane stuff when exercising.
This article is supported by Arts Council Malta.