Maltese Artists Living Abroad Open Up About Questioning Their Identity In Newly-Published Research

Malta’s identity is a jumble of stuff made up of our culture, upbringing, experiences and lifestyle. It’s a fluid monster hiding in our sense of self, often shaped by the country we live in.

Some of us question our identity when no longer residing in the same country we were born in. Being away from family and friends, we face a mini identity crisis which makes us question our very own foundation.

Moira Scicluna Zahra, a Maltese illustrator who currently resides in Edinburgh, has conducted a study on Maltese artists residing abroad.

The artist herself questions her own identity at times, something which at first made its way through her art, but later on developed into an intriguing research question about the Maltese identity.

“Maltese people are typically loud, annoying and patriotic… but only when it suits them.”

The study’s aim was to find out how Maltese people adapt when living abroad and how immigration effects local artists living outside of Malta.

In order to conduct this research, Scicluna Zahra spoke to Maltese people living abroad. Among these artists were Lisa Gwen Baldacchino, Head of Creative Europe Desk Malta and founder of MaltaDoors, Marco Scerri, a graphic designer based in Glasgow and Dr. Daniela Debono, lecturer in International Migration and Ethnic Relations at the University of Malmö.

“An inescapable part of being Maltese is our history and the fact that our whole identity is built on bits and pieces of other cultures and identities, and merged into this new special thing”

‘Hardworking’, ‘loud’, ‘social’, ‘angry’, ‘generous’ and ‘island mentality’ were among the terms which frequently popped up when she asked these artists what Maltese identity means to them.

Michael Quinton, an Edinburgh-based sound design academic and musician describes Malta as a “Melting pot of cultures that have come together”. He goes on to say that Maltese identity tends to go from one extreme to another. He states that this can be seen in our support of village feasts, football and politics.

“I feel pretty Maltese now that I’ve left the country. When I was living in Malta, I would always be stereotyped as ‘not Maltese’ since I am half-Norwegian.”

Nicole Sciberras Debono, a Maltese student based in Ferrara, said that Maltese people are “typically loud, annoying and patriotic… but only when it suits them”. She gos on to say that Maltese people are egocentric, racist and generous… but selfish.

“There’s no investment in arts or culture. When something is done for the public, it’s very loud and tacky,” Alexandra Aquilina, a Berlin-based artist and screen-printer added.

“An inescapable part of being Maltese is our history and the fact that our whole identity is built on bits and pieces of other cultures and identities, and merged into this new special thing,” Aquilina continued.

Moira found that a number of the participants living abroad for a long time, have a foreign parent or were born abroad feel more Maltese than others.

“Yes, I feel pretty Maltese now that I’ve left the country,” Inez Baldacchino, an Animation Student based in Denmark said. “When I was living in Malta I would always be stereotyped as ‘not Maltese’ since I am half-Norwegian. I constantly felt that need to respond to people in Maltese to kind of validate the fact I guess.”

A staggering 67% of the participants stated that there are not enough opportunities for the Maltese creatives residing on our island

“Money and opportunities make people want to move abroad,” said Christopher Aquilina, a Malta-based graphic design lecturer who spent four years living in the UK said.

Others felt like art in Malta never really existed due to the lack of opportunities and restricting limitations.

Others, like Claudia Baldacchino, argued that Maltese artists do not need to move for opportunities. There is a growing interest in Maltese culture for artists who are based in Malta, and projects like Te fit-Tazza and Maltatype were brought up as examples. “The Maltese need to learn how to create opportunities for themselves instead,” Baldacchino said.

“We already have the knowledge and resources to achieve this,” she continued. “Once this starts to happen, the art sector can see a proper growth.”

52% of the participants feel like the Maltese lifestyle does not facilitate professional creative work

“Once you hit that ceiling, you can’t really develop beyond. Locally you don’t have enough ideas spinning around in the air to influence your work,” Michael Quinton said.

“Somehow when you go abroad, you can experience a much more diverse palette of different things and you meet different people with newer knowledge to expand your knowledge.”

Dr. Debono explains that when one moves, their identity changes due to their being exposed to different cultures and social landscapes.

Even economics plays a part in this change in identity.

These changes force people to alter their behaviour and attitude. “Rather than a loss of identity, it’s remaking of an identity, it’s adding new layers to an identity,” she said.

56% of the participants feel like they have more Maltese characteristics when they’re in Malta

On the other hand, participants like Inez felt that living abroad made her embrace her Maltese identity more.

Other participants, like Nicole, feel like living abroad has given them an opportunity to express themselves without any prejudice.

“Being exposed to different cultures and people instilled in me a respect for diversity”

92% of the artists in this study stated that living outside of Malta has affected their work

Changing one’s environment often affects the art one produces. It is argued that De Chirco’s works were influenced by his childhood in Greece. Nowadays ,creatives can easily experiment with styles borrowed from other cultures due to our access to these styles online.

One of the artists said that since moving abroad ,she has become more disciplined in her work, while Alexandra Aquilina said that moving to Berlin has inspired her to change her work’s presentation.

“My present work references pop culture and reflects my identity as a girl rather than my identity as a Maltese person,” she says.

“Integration or adapting to a culture doesn’t mean removing your past experiences, it means tapping into different parts of yourself in order to fit in with different groups”

Designer Louise Aquilina said that being abroad really helped her opportunity-wise. “I was marketed as part of a Brits Abroad scheme after my MA which got me into the Berlin fashion scene,” she said.

“The Berlin fashion scene contacts got me sponsored to take my work to Patti in Florence, which got me some good press and contacts of great value. Being exposed to different cultures and people instilled in me a respect for diversity.”

Most of the participants in this survey said that living abroad has added multiple layers to their identity

Marco Scerri explained that these added dimensions to his identity have been extremely useful.

When travelling, however, he needs to adapt his way of thinking and behaving. Stephanie Scicluna on the other hand informed Moira that living abroad has forced her to step outside of her comfort zone, helping her grow artistically in a way which would’ve been impossible if she never left the island.

Not every participant felt like they related to this, as Inez Baldacchino felt like due to her Norwegian-Maltese identity, she always had a duality in her and never really felt like she fit into what a typical Maltese person is supposed to be like.

“Integration or adapting to a culture doesn’t mean removing your past experiences,” Dr. Debono explained. “It means tapping into different parts of yourself in order to fit in with different groups.”

“You leave because of structure, and yet the charm, the colour, the people ad the the general warmth is what keeps you there and what keeps you coming back and what keeps you missing it,” Lisa Gwen Baldacchino confessed.

Lisa states that despite the fact that some creatives tend to be critical of their motherland, they still tend to reference in in their works due to a sense of nostalgia. She puts down this frustration down to the way the country is run.

Marco feels like local artists need to travel in order to develop. He thinks that due to our history and geographical position, Maltese people should be more able to appreciate multiculturalism and accept external influences more easily.

It was agreed during this study that Maltese people have a very unique identity which we seem to be unaware of. We tend to not fully appreciate our multicultural history and diverse genetic makeup/

One of the hardest questions these artists found hard to answer was whether or not they would eventually return to Malta.

Some of them stated that they feel like they cannot ever come back due to the artistic diversity they have accustomed themselves to abroad.

Scicluna Zahra has concluded that when going abroad Maltese creatives understand their identity better, helping them interlace this identity with their work more easily.

What do you make of these findings? Let us know in the comments below

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