Annual Report 2006-2007
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4mm Spine Annual Report 2006-2007 AnnuAl RepoRt 2006-2007 Annual Report 2006-2007 AnnuAl RepoRt 2006-2007 Table of Contents HM Mission Statement 5 the Chairperson’s Statement 6 the Ceo’s Statement 8 Board of Directors and Management team 9 Bringing World Culture Closer to the people Safeguarding Óa©ar Qim and Mnajdra 7 the large Bronze ordnance in the national Collections 9 Capital, Rehabilitation and Maintenance Works 33 Interpretation, events and exhibitions 45 Research, Conservation and Collections 59 HM Conservation Division 79 the Institute for Conservation and Management of Cultural Heritage 93 eu and other International Initiatives 0 HM Services limited Activities 05 Appendices I List of Acquisitions 09 I a Arts Collection 09 I b Ethnographic Collection 0 I c Maritime Collection 5 I d Natural History Collection 2 I e Palace Armoury Collection 26 I f List of artefacts transferred from the nMA 28 I g List of artefacts from the Joseph Sammut Collection 38 II HM Diary of events 2006-07 4 III Visitor Statistics 53 IV Audited Financial Statements 65 2 AnnuAl RepoRt 2006-2007 List of Abbreviations AFM Armed Forces of Malta AMMM Association of Mediterranean Maritime Museums CHIMS Cultural Heritage Information Management System CRpMo Conservation and Restoration projects Management office EU European union HM Heritage Malta ICMCH Institute of Conservation and Management of Cultural Heritage, Bighi MCASt Malta College of Arts, Science and technology MCCA Malta Council for Culture and the Arts MepA Malta environment and planning Authority MMM Malta Maritime Museum, Vittoriosa MtA Malta tourism Authority MtAC Ministry for tourism and Culture, Malta nMA National Museum of Archaeology, Valletta nMFA National Museum of Fine Arts, Valletta nMnH National Museum of natural History, Mdina nWM National War Museum, Valletta ppCD Planning and priorities Coordination Division SCH Superintendence for Cultural Heritage, Malta uoM University of Malta WHS World Heritage Sites unless otherwise stated, all dates refer to the period under review: october 2006 - 30 September 2007. 3 AnnuAl RepoRt 2006-2007 4 AnnuAl RepoRt 2006-2007 Mission Statement “The mission of Heritage Malta is to ensure that those elements of the cultural heritage entrusted to it are protected and made accessible to the public. The agency also operates a conservation division for the training of conservators and conservation scientists. Cultural Heritage Act (Malta) 2002 HM is the national agency of the Government of Malta set up in 2002 under the provisions of the Cultural Heritage Act and entrusted with the management of national museums and heritage sites and their related collections in Malta and Gozo, including seven uneSCo World Heritage Sites. Following the recognition of four key aspect of national cultural heritage, namely management, conservation, interpretation and marketing, HM bases all its activities bearing in mind that all our national museums and sites have an important role to play in education, learning, access and the generation of revenue to be reinvested into the heritage sector. HM therefore seeks to act as a leader for education and outreach programmes not only by supporting school based learning, but also by encouraging people of all ages and backgrounds to broaden their horizons through the museums’ collections. this is carried out, among others, by developing a programme of events to develop museums as active and inclusive cultural centres. Most importantly, HM is committed to provide physical and intellectual access to a wider audience in all its sites and museums by enhancing access to its various publics and by facilitating the interpretation of its sites and collections. HM is also aware that heritage can act as a catalyst for Malta’s tourism potential and consequently contribute significantly to the economy. It therefore seeks to improve both the service and the experience of all visitors in order to foster a more favourable image on a national and international level. As from 2005, following an amendment to the Cultural Heritage Act, all activities previously carried out by the former Malta Centre for Restoration have been taken over by HM. the building at Bighi now houses the conservation unit of HM as well as the ICMCH, which is entrusted with the organisation of academic courses at various levels. It is to this effect that HM’s Mission Statement was amended accordingly. 5 AnnuAl RepoRt 2006-2007 The Chairperson’s Statement As can be seen by leafing through this annual report, this year has also been jam-packed with activities and initiatives, impossible to review in an introduction. this unrelenting pace is possible because of the professionalism and commitment of the staff of HM. the corporate spirit which animates this entity allows it to meet its remit and objectives across a very wide front. So I would like to salute and thank all my colleagues at HM for their selfless dedication and unremitting work. the philosophy of HM can be expressed in few words: the cultural heritage invests the people with identity, dignity and credibility; it is one of the greatest resources of the country; it belongs to all and is the essential glue of the unity of a people. Hence the cultural heritage needs to be conserved, studied, protected and presented in the best possible way. Where the cultural heritage is concerned, there should be no compromise; our generation is only a custodian, guarding our past to pass it on to future generations. that is the task, as we see it, of HM. the activity of HM, though frenetic, was not haphazard; it followed a logical plan according to its mission and remit. the structure was further consolidated to enhance operational efficiency and flexibility.t his year saw the appointment of a new Ceo, Dr luciano Mulè Stagno, who comes to HM with singular academic qualifications and managerial experience. I would like to take this opportunity to wish him hard work but also satisfaction. new curators, executives and managers have been appointed and a re-shuffle of some curators has been effected in the interest of rationalisation and efficiency. How strenuous were the efforts of HM can be glimpsed from the different areas in which it was wholeheartedly involved: capital projects, EU projects, education, conservation, research, cultural diplomacy, acquisitions, public awareness and incessant curatorial work. Four years ago, then only at the starting line, HM declared that it intended to intensify public awareness of the inestimable worth of the cultural heritage. And it initiated a blitz of initiatives and activities to reach the wider public through the media, exhibitions, publications (both for adults and for children), heritage trails, high-level historical interpretations, international meetings, seminars, lectures and school programmes. It is worth pointing out that HM has, at least, one temporary exhibition going every day of the year, booked till 2009. HM managed to mount two major international exhibitions, back-to-back, in one year, the Chinese terracotta Army and the one about Caravaggio. our small country was normally cut off from major international exhibitions because of the expense, logistics and complexity of loaning major works of art. So this was no mean feat. the terracotta Soldiers exhibition was a huge success, drawing around 75,000 visitors. the Caravaggio exhibition was a landmark, in more senses than one. Apart from the splendid paintings, never was an exhibition mounted with such a wide access to the public: audio-visual presentations, a didactic section, documentation and artefacts when Caravaggio was in Malta, the Caravaggisti at the nMFA, education programmes, source-book and work- books for children, Caravaggio trails and a play by Joe Friggieri to deepen one’s sense of the great artist. 6 AnnuAl RepoRt 2006-2007 With regard to projects, HM’s objective is to upgrade all its sites to the highest international levels. As one can imagine, this is a gargantuan task. the palace Armoury has been upgraded in two phases; it’s now indubitably the best one in the Mediterranean. the Óa©ar Qim/Mnajdra project is on schedule; a vast amount of technical, scientific, archaeological and administrative work has been carried out; the shelters should go up by the start of the rainy season 2008 to be followed by the Visitors’ Centre which is expected to be finished in early 2009. A temporary Visitors’ Centre has been constructed at Ìgantija and the Museum of Archaeology in Gozo refurbished; the nMA is undergoing works and structural up-grading and intensive conservation and curatorial activity is preparing the way for the opening of new permanent exhibition halls. other capital projects involve tarxien temples, the MMM, the nMFA, the nMnH, the Inquisitor’s palace, Verdala palace, and others. In this respect, the Conservation Division of HM at Bighi has done and is doing enviable works e.g. at Verdala palace and in preparing artefacts for the new halls at the nMA. Bighi also runs vocational courses with MCASt as well as under-graduate and post graduate courses with the uoM. HM has also been proactive in what we call cultural diplomacy: highlighting our cultural visibility abroad, a process which underscores our national credibility. Apart from bilateral agreements with institutions of cultural heritage, HM has sent items of our cultural heritage abroad to the uK, Italy, Austria, Russia, the united States, Belgium and Spain. In fact, early next year, we will have two exhibitions going to Alicante and Valencia. this year, we also organised a symposium on tas-Sil© in collaboration with the Istituto Culturale Italiano. HM is running simultaneously a number of actions (conservation, education, research, presentation, public awareness, international contacts, management techniques, outreach policies) structured to converge on its primary objective: the conservation and valorisation of the unique cultural heritage of this country. Dr Mario tabone 7 AnnuAl RepoRt 2006-2007 The CEO’s Statement the year in review can only be described as remarkable.