Watch: Young Maltese Royalist Calls Out ‘Anti-British Clowns’ Who Blocked Queen Victoria Monument
Young Maltese royalist Jerome Farrugia warned that the installation of a temporary statue to block the Queen Victoria monument in Valletta is the work of “anti-British clowns”.
Farrugia visited Valletta this afternoon to hand out fliers with an image of the famous monument and the words “respect yourself by respecting her”.
“This new monument isn’t only in front of Queen Victoria, it’s literally blocking her to show this new society [we live in], that we’re no longer colonial. But why?” Farrugia told Lovin Malta.
The temporary monument, called Siġġu, is the work of artist Austin Camilleri, who installed it in Republic Square as part of the Malta Biennale art festival.
It is a replica of the Queen Victoria marble monument but carved out of globigerina limestone that was quarried before 1974, the year Malta became a republic. Camilleri worked on a block of stone that was left unused by his grandfather, and in an act of artistic didacticism, worked on Siġġu in his grandfather’s studio.
However, Farrugia questioned why the artist chose to focus on the British legacy, when Malta was colonised by other major powers over the years.
“I apologise for saying this, but these self-proclaimed artists are anti-British clowns because they’re focusing on an era but they’re disregarding the French, the Knights. Why the British?”
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The monument, crafted by Sicilian sculptor Giuseppe Valenti, was installed in Valletta, in 1891 as part of Queen Victoria’s golden jubilee that was celebrated throughout the British Empire.
Although Queen Victoria never visited Malta herself, Farrugia insisted that she did a lot for the island.
“As a queen, she was the sort of pavement or establishment of education, democracy, infrastructure – basically all the big ideas that we now not only take for granted but that we use practically everyday. And it’s all credit, not just to her, but to the British in general.”
What do you think of this new monument?
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