This brief paper, addressing the twin challenges of democracy and culture in today’s Mediterranean, was presented at the 2016 annual international festival of art and youth in the north-eastern Tunisian city of Siliana organised by the Institut Supérieur des Arts et Métiers de Siliana in collaboration with the Institut Français. Tunisia_essay_160616
Promoting cultural diversity in the Mediterranean
The challenges in implementing the UNESCO Convention on the Protection and Promotion of the Diversity of Cultural Expressions (2005) in the Mediterranean are discussed in my chapter in Cultural Diversity in International Law, edited by Dr Lilian Richieri Hanania for Routledge in 2014. https://books.google.com.mt/books/about/Cultural_Diversity_in_International_Law.html?id=_g5xAwAAQBAJ&redir_esc=y
People and their cultural places
This brief article looks at some important issues related to the way people inhabit and interact with spaces that are new, old or regenerated in the cultural context. http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1877916616300443
Building a nation brand through cultural diplomacy
This paper reflects on recent efforts at combining culture with nation branding with reference to the island state of Malta. https://link.springer.com/article/10.1057/pb.2016.7
City-labs for culture
The discussion on how cities may act as living labs for culture is vibrant in exchanges between Asia and Europe. The Asia-Europe Foundation (ASEF) Public Forum on creative cities held in Gwangju, Korea, in 2015 and the accompanying publication that includes my contribution, provide engaging case studies through the exchange of critical best practice. http://culture360.asef.org/asef-news/asef-public-forum-i-cities-living-labs-for-culture/… Continue reading City-labs for culture
Place branding in practice
You may enjoy this light yet insightful read featuring an interview by National Geographic with various cultural operators in Malta including myself. http://www.nationalgeographic.com/travel/destinations/europe/malta/best-trips-2017-malta/
European capital investment
Projects aiming at culture-led regeneration hold a great deal of promise while being very challenging. This article gives a comparative overview. http://interartive.org/2017/06/valletta-2018-karsten-xuereb/
Urban re/de-generation?
Is urban regeneration a double-edged sword? This brief article featured in The Times of Malta shines a light on the European capital of culture project in Malta. https://www.timesofmalta.com/articles/view/20150930/life-features/Make-space-for-urban-regeneration.586432
Arab world/s, Arab culture/s?
Just as there is no single European culture, there is no one Arab culture which unifies in a distinct manner…or is there? This brief reflection from an article featured in THINK magazine, published by the University of Malta, poses some questions on the matter. Europe culture and the southern Mediterranean http://www.um.edu.mt/think/
After Said, cultural imperialism?
The cultural relationship between both shores of the Mediterranean can be complex, enriching and even frustrating. This long piece of research, capturing my doctoral studies at the Universitat Rovira i Virgili in Tarragona, raises a number of issues for discussion. http://www.tdx.cat/handle/10803/97209 The_Impact_of_European_Influence_on_Cult
Cultural Policy 