Xuereb, K. (2019).Research into the practice of intercultural managers in international micro- environments addressing and participation. DOI: 10.24981/M2019.8

Research into the practice of intercultural managers in international micro-environments addressing cultural policy and participation

Karsten Xuereb, University of Malta

Abstract

This piece of ongoing research explores the way cultural managers operate within small environments that are made up of culturally different people. These places may be described as international micro-environments. The density of diversity brought about by the cultural difference present in people is a key aspect of the field addressed by this research. This is so because the diversity within a group of people, or groups of people, that come together for economic or social reasons to form a larger group with varying degrees of cohesion, recreates an international environment within a local, or micro one. This is interesting because the phenomenon of diversity, that has become part of the contemporary globalised age, is played out in small, local settings. This research aims to contribute further towards the exploration and understanding of how the two plains of reality are connected and interact through diversity.

Keywords: , cultural management, Europe, Malta, migration, postcolonialism

Introduction

It has been observed that dynamics, relations and tensions existing on an international level, hence between different, mixed populations of different nation states or political regions, may

1 Xuereb, K. (2019).Research into the practice of intercultural managers in international micro- environments addressing cultural policy and participation. DOI: 10.24981/M2019.8 be reproduced, recreated, reacted against and distorted on smaller geographical spreads and levels (Mignolo 2012: 126). This may be so because representation and perception on the basis of various demographic characteristics, including gender, ethnicity, age, social background, class, employment and education, may be common to international and local group dynamics.

Definitions of what is constituted by “micro” vary. With reference to micro social orders, Lawler (2002:4) defines this human space as a pattern of relations that recur, leading to participants in this process to identify as a unit or a group. Studying the emotional constructs surrounding this environment, Lawler (2002:5) notes how feelings develop in the individuals towards the group, forming a third element, lying outside themselves yet bringing them together through affiliation, cohesion or solidarity.

However, this research will acknowledge the assumption that cultural groups identified on the basis of ethnicity and other cultural aspects are somewhat monolithic, many times for the purpose of policy making, and challenge it (Kaasila-Pakanen 2015: 179). In the first of the two reports on diversity in Europe published by the Council of Europe, Tony Bennett argues that all are in fact diverse and policies that encourage unitary and homogenous cultures, particularly related to the safeguarding of nationalism, are a negation of this reality (Robins, 2006: 15).i

One main way of distinguishing and dividing people is a nationalistic approach towards . Stuart Hall points out that ‘[i]nstead of thinking of national cultures as unified, we should think of them as a discursive device which represents difference as unity or identity. They are cross-cut by deep internal divisions and differences, and ‘unified’ only through the exercise of different forms of cultural power’ (Barker: 253).

Cultural diversity, mutuality,

The renewal of processes seeking the establishment of common and acceptable definitions related to cultural diversity is constant. This is so because people migrate repeatedly and societies change accordingly.ii The impact of contemporary cultural changes offers

2 Xuereb, K. (2019).Research into the practice of intercultural managers in international micro- environments addressing cultural policy and participation. DOI: 10.24981/M2019.8 significant challenges to people, policy makers and researchers in trying to develop structures that work and are beneficial to those concerned. A solid starting point exists in the assertion that there exists on the one hand a close tie between human activity that is related to culture, and migration on the other. This is particularly significant in relation to aspects of cultural expression. For instance, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) acknowledges that ‘[c]ross-border population flows, such as migration, lead to increased diversity within societies. This diversity often refers to the co- existence of a difference in behaviour, traditions and customs - in short, a diversity of cultures.’iii

Areas of policy design and any subsequent strategies and actions that may be generated thereof have increasingly looked at addressing the relationship between culture and migration. This is especially so in terms of efforts at integration.iv The twentieth-century Western model of integration has been criticised for assuming a unidirectional approach whereby minorities are absorbed by majorities with efforts made to minimise or even efface cultural differences that may contribute to social conflict. In response to this approach, one endorsing a mutual process has been advocated. In a recent study, Garcés-Mascareñas and Penninx (2016) expand this concept further to acknowledge the role of countries of origin in any integration process based on mutuality.

The importance of cultural action in addressing the relationship between society, culture and diversity in people has emerged in practice, as well as in research. While acknowledging the limitations of multicultural perspectives exposed by various critiques developed in recent years, Meer and Modood (2013) identify other approaches, like , as complementary rather than oppositional, since it also encourages communication, recognises dynamic identities, promotes unity and critiques illiberal cultural practices.

The paper will now focus on the challenging role cultural operators have in addressing the different, and at times, conflicting, elements in societies they become part of, for the duration of particular initiatives, actions and programmes.

Intercultural management

3 Xuereb, K. (2019).Research into the practice of intercultural managers in international micro- environments addressing cultural policy and participation. DOI: 10.24981/M2019.8

Georgescu (2016: 1) posits the development of intercultural management (IM) as a discipline of practice in relation to the dynamics between culture and . A critical approach towards the activity of IM is a keystone of cultural activity, although not an end in itself. This is so if one prioritises the actual action and any possible outcomes before self-referential analysis. Indeed, the aims one sets oneself are fundamental to any cultural activity. The factors that have contributed to the emergence of IM consist of internationalization and globalization; competition between major international corporations; the free movement of specialists and liberal professions; communication and information technologies; the practice of small and medium enterprises; and the planetary migration of people. There is also the phenomenon described as the ‘flattening’ of culture, consisting of intercultural nodal spaces where languages and cultural origin are multiple and mixed (Georgescu 2016: 2).

Looking at the neoliberal context of our globalised world allows us to position the work of intercultural managers in a particular time-frame. This space in time is what may be termed our condition of postmodernity, bringing together economic, financial and social conditions that, roughly over the past half-a-century, have ironically brought people closer together from a transactional perspective involving the making and spending of money, but separating and isolating them further in terms of equality and social solidarity (Harvey 1992). Bauman (2000) had employed another physical image, that of ‘liquidity’ in relation to modernity, to describe the condition of constant mobility and change in relationships, identities, and global economics within environments of contemporary society. That is not to say that this condition was not observed before; it may suffice to refer to Alexis de Tocqueville’s observations, two hundred years ago, on the degeneration of the social spirit in what he observed as early capitalist America. However, humanity has arguably reached a more dense, synergetic and dynamic rate of interactive activity in the last few decades. For instance, one may recall the entrepreneurial spirit that transpired from the Protestant cultural work ethic as observed by Max Weber with regard to pre-war Europe, as well as the business-oriented cultural differences commented upon by Edward and Mildred Hall from a post-war US perspective towards Europe and Asia, to note the heightened level experienced today (Micklethwait and Wooldridge 2014).

4 Xuereb, K. (2019).Research into the practice of intercultural managers in international micro- environments addressing cultural policy and participation. DOI: 10.24981/M2019.8

In relation to the complexity embedded in the activity of IM, Bauman (2004: 64) also highlights the unresolvable tension between culture and management in historical context. Theodor Adorno had recognised the ‘inevitability of the conflict’ between culture and administration, while admitting their reciprocal necessity. One suffered because of the other, yet needed the relationship more than doing without: ‘culture suffers damage when it is planned and administered; if it is left to itself, however, everything cultural threatens not only to lose the possibility of effect, but its very existence as well’ (Adorno 1991: 94). One may not fail to recall Oscar Wilde’s provocation that ‘culture is useless’, and will resist efforts by institutions at absorbing it within its organisational structures for instrumental purposes. However, when this is done, the ‘clash of the two narratives is inevitable’.

Field Analysis

The observations by Bauman above have highlighted the opposition between cultural practitioners on the one hand and administrators on the other, with the relationship deftly described in terms of ‘sibling rivalry’ (Bauman 2004: 66). The field analysis carried out with a number of individuals who have been identified as intercultural managers does nothing to resolve this tension. However, it intensifies it by positing this dual aspect of within the same person.v

This ongoing research is engaging with a number of active cultural actors that wear many hats. This is a common practice in Malta in the cultural field, as it is in many other parts of the world. This is particularly true of places where making a practice out of culture, in terms of professionalisation, is very hard, for a number of reasons including market size, the development of the field and economic and social priorities that tend to focus elsewhere other than culture. It is not the intention of this research to develop a critique of this aspect. This is so because the field of cultural practice one finds in Malta, that is generally speaking mixed with areas of social and professional life like education, academia, social work and a part- time interest or career in the arts as artist or creator, allows for a great deal of amateurism in the positive sense of the word, and a cross-cultural exchange on the basis of interests, influences, exposures and practice.vi

5 Xuereb, K. (2019).Research into the practice of intercultural managers in international micro- environments addressing cultural policy and participation. DOI: 10.24981/M2019.8

Malta has a total surface area of 316 km². It lies less than a hundred kilometres south of Sicily and less than 500 kilometres south-east of Tunis. Like other small, peripheral territories, it enjoys a ‘cross-roads’ position due to geographical reasons as well as political ones (Vella 2008). This has been so historically, but since European Union (EU) membership in 2004 it has experienced a large number of different ethnic and cultural communities from its direct neighbourhood as well as from around the world.vii The booming construction, i-gaming and financial services industries have attracted international investment and tens of thousands of European, African and Asian people seeking work and better economic conditions. In terms of numbers, as has been widely reported in local news, the population of Malta increased by 15,700 in 2017, over fifteen times the rate in the EU when adjusted for the size of the population, to 475,700. The largest relative increase was observed in Malta (+32.9 per 1,000 residents), well ahead of, for instance, Luxembourg (+19) and Sweden (+12.4).viii

Of particular recent interest are communities from the Western Balkans and South-East Europe, Syria and East Africa. Some of the people within these communities are migrants seeking refuge. Their experience is particular, and also differs from group to group. African and Middle Eastern migrants arrive bearing deep traumatic scars, particularly when the crossing of the Mediterranean Sea has been attempted - in their case, successfully, many times crossing from hostile conditions, to say the least, in Libya, undergoing its own social crisis. The Asian community is reported to travel less alone, individually speaking, and face less trauma since travel is more standard and organised (UNHCR Malta 2018).

This influx of people, in a way invited and expected, as well as un-invited and resented, with a difference in approach that corresponds to skin colour, ethnicity and religion, has challenged the small country to manage the great increase in the use of space, transportation, services ranging from health and schools to general infrastructure like drains and sanitation. These pressures, among others, have, as elsewhere in Europe, led to resentment against the large “hordes” of people that tend to be branded as “invaders” that do not share the residents’ culture and pose a threat to it and traditional ways of life. Clearly, the hypocritical tension

6 Xuereb, K. (2019).Research into the practice of intercultural managers in international micro- environments addressing cultural policy and participation. DOI: 10.24981/M2019.8 between accepting and exploiting one’s foreign business, ranging from Africans working in precarious conditions both economically and safety-wise in the construction industry, to Sicilian restaurants ownerships or leases mushrooming around the Island, and wanting to believe that ultimately these latter-day “guest workers” should “go home”, is significant.

Within this rich and diverse, as well as challenging and tense, environment, a number of cultural operators engage regularly, though not wholly, with issues of cultural diversity and dialogue through their skills-sets as intercultural managers. Tellingly, these people are indicative of our current globalised age, in terms of their travel, academic and research pursuits, and a curiosity to explore human nature that is both innate as well as developed through cultural means. Each in their own way, the interviewees, through this research, provide a rich, and relatively novel, because still untapped, contribution of new data to the Maltese environment, as well as the international one.

The interviews

The interviews were conducted in person, in a qualitative fashion, taking about an hour each. They loosely followed a fairly simple and short set of questions, which were these: i. why do you practice intercultural management? ii. what are the main challenges? iii. what do you consider are the benefits? iv. what do you think your future actions will be, and why?

The personal and informal nature of the interviews will be reflected in the analysis below. All quotes refer to the interviews.

Interview i: Elise Pisani Billiard

The first person I interviewed was Dr Elise Pisani Billard. She is a French anthropologist who at the time lectured at the University of Malta and had been in Malta for about ten years. I

7 Xuereb, K. (2019).Research into the practice of intercultural managers in international micro- environments addressing cultural policy and participation. DOI: 10.24981/M2019.8 have worked with Elise on a number of projects that she ran with and for migrants, seeking cultural and artistic collaboration with local and international artists, and has done a relatively very good job at it. She immediately admitted that the ‘management’ part is her least favourite. As an anthropologist by formation and passion it is people that ‘make her tick.’ The more varied and diverse the cultural context that brings people together, the better. As an anthropologist, who has researched and written academically on the subject, as well as engaged in projects first-hand, she feels she enjoys a good angle on human interaction across, and through, cultures.

Her methodology towards work is very much a project-based approach, which is true of many other cultural operators I know. This is particularly true in this field, that of interculturality, which differs from, for instance, the practice of managers of regular festivals. The starting point is often the idea, in turn often stemming from particular exchanges enjoyed with others within the intercultural environments she operates in as a lecturer, researcher, manager as well as mother of two young children and the partner of a photographer.ix

She adamantly puts people first even when devising projects. She tries to address the dilemma of sourcing projects through, for example, public funds, by trying to extend what excites her, and what seems relevant to her inner group, to as many people as possible. She is aware that she needs to justify her funds to the funder - in the case of many cultural projects in Malta, this is the taxpayer through Arts Council Malta (ACM). Since her preferred subject matters deal with migration and integration, she is aware that the general public not only needs a great deal of encouragement to care to identify relevance in her projects, but also not to be hostile towards them. Therefore, the teams she coordinates spend a great deal of time in meeting and speaking with people, be they potential participants, audiences or future stakeholders or funders.

Overall, she admits that projects she has worked on and delivered have not been easy. One aspect that struck me was the actual cultural differences, including linguistic ones, that seemed to disrupt her early efforts at encouraging African male refugees to participate in a

8 Xuereb, K. (2019).Research into the practice of intercultural managers in international micro- environments addressing cultural policy and participation. DOI: 10.24981/M2019.8 series of workshops in the first part of her projects. In a case of cultural and linguistic ambiguity she realised, with time, that what she understood as a structure aimed at bringing people together to workshop ideas based on the exchange of experience, was interpreted as the opportunity to find a job in a ‘shop’ that sought workers to ‘work’: hence ‘workshop’ (Bührig and ten Thije 2006).

Other challenges included finding locations migrants not only identified with but actually knew the existence of. What to the initiated like Elise may have seemed a common enough place to workshop, such as the building hosting the national centre for creativity in the capital Valletta, was completely unknown by most potential participants. However, she did highlight the greater communicative ease enjoyed with Asians, particularly Philippine women working in the cleaning and care services, when compared, for example, to Sub-Saharan African males. The Filipinas seemed to manage to interact with or simply navigate around the core Maltese society, as well as enjoy a relatively high degree of community networking. Their ability at weaving transnational connections, between themselves as members of a diaspora, while keeping in touch with their homeland and families there, suggests the development of the ‘network sociality’ described by Wittel (Aksoy: 196).

One aim Elise sets herself is that of identifying potential in participants in order to develop their own intercultural managerial skills. She knows this will benefit her own work, her own perspective of her work, allow her to operate within a network or community, simply be less alone, and have more time and resources to focus on the content, and the people, of her projects.

Elise admits that she regularly questions her motives and motivation in engaging in intercultural management. She asks herself about the usefulness, the impact on society at large, the impact on participants themselves whose priority is finding a job, keeping it down and supporting themselves and their family in the long-term. Interestingly, she is also aware of a growing number of opportunities, located in particular venues, especially bars, clubs and restaurants operated by or with migrant communities in mind, that on the one hand challenge

9 Xuereb, K. (2019).Research into the practice of intercultural managers in international micro- environments addressing cultural policy and participation. DOI: 10.24981/M2019.8 the relevance of her more formal methods and institutionally-backed projects, and on the other re-think her models also by reaching out to the changing topography of international interaction in Malta. This same changing environment, which reflects the dynamic nature of the social interaction that is taking place, urges Elise to also consider other areas of her work, including the communication aspect. While funders may insist on particular formats to be respected, particularly if they are state institutions, formal approaches to engage with people do not work with Elise’s target groups.

To conclude with Elise, the ‘buzz’, or ‘rush’, she experiences at identifying the needs or spaces for projects, fleshing them out on her own and with others, and getting activity in motion is the key driver for what she does. She is aware that her work as intercultural manager means sacrificing the detachment and reflection she needs to step up her academically-oriented research and writing. However, she is confident that one feeds the other in a mutual loop, and that she will make more time in the future, possibly when a bit older, to engage, as she had done before, with academia in more, sustained, detail.

Interview ii: Adrian Grima

Dr Adrian Grima is a writer, poet, activist and academic.x He has been one of the leading lights of the literature and cultural scene in Malta for many long years, and enjoys participating in personal and organisational networks around the world, with a special disposition for the Mediterranean. Up till recently he directed a Maltese cultural organisation called Inizjamed, which runs the annual Malta Mediterranean Literature Festival towards the end of summer.xi

Adrian does not identify himself as an intercultural manager. He claims he does not set out to engage or promote intercultural exchange. Leaving his career as a writer and an academic aside, he sees his main role as a cultural operator as that of supporting Maltese literature worldwide, particularly through translation. He strongly identifies with the figure described by Gramsci (1971) as an organic intellectual. His self-identification with what he is, and what

10 Xuereb, K. (2019).Research into the practice of intercultural managers in international micro- environments addressing cultural policy and participation. DOI: 10.24981/M2019.8 he is not, is interesting. I found it so because while clearly saying he does not set out to be an intercultural manager, everything else he says, and especially has been doing for more than thirty years in the field of cultural practice, is that of a very well connected, experienced and intelligent intercultural manager. He acknowledges this irony when I point it out to him, and while seeing my point, is clear about where his heart lies in the division between culture and management discussed above.

He is also aware that as a full-time and established academic, he can be selective regarding which cultural projects and collaboration he engages with in his own person or through other associations. His role as an intercultural manager, if he has one, he describes as a bit of a luxury he can afford - time-wise, as well as financially. At this point, a curious thought came to my mind: is the lack of pressure to deliver as a professional, full-time intercultural manager ease tensions and allow for project envisioning and engagement that is richer, riskier and more honest?

An anecdote I was familiar with was brought up again. This relates to a regular conversation he is asked to have with ACM who would like to see their annual contribution to the literature festival materialise in a bigger and more ambitious event, attracting more people locally as well as internationally. Adrian reviews his reluctance to do so every year, and ends up confirming his priority for a small, high-quality product that is accessible but not necessarily popular. Definitely not populist. The festival has, in fact, grown slightly, attracting people beyond the literati and academics who enjoy the live reading of literature from all over the Mediterranean and beyond by the writers themselves and actors. The festival offers the opportunity for anyone to enjoy a late summer night out under the stars while listening to literature read out in foreign languages and the occasional musical interlude or film - while indulging in local and ethnic food. However, contrary to market rules established by what have become standard neoliberal strictures, Adrian is happy to maintain an authentic and personal feeling in and around the festival. Interestingly, this makes regular audiences return, and newer ones on the fringe, especially non-Maltese residents, and young people, join in. As analysed by Black (2016) the of such small-scale festivals also lies

11 Xuereb, K. (2019).Research into the practice of intercultural managers in international micro- environments addressing cultural policy and participation. DOI: 10.24981/M2019.8 in the close relation and nurturing aspect of this type of activity to their communities in the framework of environmental and social sustainability.

The Maltese language is something that Adrian spends a great deal of time working with as well as considering. He is aware that, as with many less-spoken languages, lack of its knowledge effectively shuts people out, and creates a possible comfort zone that risks ghettoising writers, readers and other users alike. This is an aspect of the Maltese language, Europe’s only Semitic language written in the Latin script, that is regularly addressed by the Representation of the European Commission in Malta, particularly keen on not only preserving, but also developing the richness of what is the least-spoken official EU language. Languages and translations are acknowledged as key elements in the hands of cultural operators in furthering intercultural communication and collaboration.

Interview iii: Sarah Mallia

I enjoyed a long exchange with Sarah - possibly because she was the least well I knew, but maybe also because she spoke with a great deal of enthusiasm for intercultural practice that is in part related to her relatively young age and recent return from living for a few years in Kenya. Her interest, to develop into a passion, in intercultural activity, started at an early age. The arts and the realities surrounding the lives of refugees caught her attention from early on, and with time she has found that both aspects can intertwine, and project management is one way of going deeper in this inter-relation.

She was already active at the University of Malta in projects related to the arts and human rights. She realised that within fun, challenging and exciting environments, people from different walks of life, and different cultural backgrounds, may want to work together, and get to know more about each other. Her early formation coincided with the EU membership process Malta underwent at the beginning of the twenty-first century. As with other countries, the debate was polarised between that part of society that feared and resisted joining the EU bloc on mainly nationalistic and protectionist agendas, and others, including many academics,

12 Xuereb, K. (2019).Research into the practice of intercultural managers in international micro- environments addressing cultural policy and participation. DOI: 10.24981/M2019.8 writers and society movers-and-shakers that believed, sometimes idealistically, that the EU was the natural home and the next step for Malta to move on with the times and further away from insular, postcolonial contexts.

Sarah was young at the time, but draws parallels with more recent conversations had within the EU context, particularly regarding the great demographic changes Malta is undergoing, and which were outlined earlier. For instance, she recalls the repercussions on non- governmental organisations (NGOs) supporting migrants when in 2013, the newly elected Prime Minister threatened to push migrant boats back to Libya, were Brussels-bureaucrats and Council of the European Union peers not ready to provide further help with managing the refugee crisis in the Mediterranean. Sarah remembers how such NGOs became the main interlocutors for the EU and media worldwide in deciphering the situation and mapping a way forward. In her experience, culture, the arts, social reality, politics and international relations can be closely related.

Sarah also refers to the much-vaunted Valletta Migration held at the end of 2015 which, ironically, led to a more polarised public debate, rather than a source of dialogue and collective action aiming at finding sustainable and durable solutions. She notes how a similar taking of extreme positions happened at the time of the referendum on spring hunting in Malta a few months earlier, and is happening now with regard to the abortion debate, which to date is very contentious. After more than a decade of EU membership, one can safely say that, like in many others states that joined the bloc in 2004, the honeymoon is truly over, and the common market and the possibility of exploiting Union funds far outweigh commitments to solidarity and improved citizenship in a European public space (Hodun 2017).

Reverting to her identification with the role of an intercultural manager, Sarah fully sees herself as such, and proudly so. She is adamant that policies that enable the movement of goods should not limit the movement of people in the hypocritical way they do today, to the benefit of some, but to the detriment of many others. With reference to the two periods in her life when she spent a few years living and working as well as volunteering in Kenya, she

13 Xuereb, K. (2019).Research into the practice of intercultural managers in international micro- environments addressing cultural policy and participation. DOI: 10.24981/M2019.8 explains how people are global citizens, even without realising it. She notes how she now has friends in Kenya as well as Malta who know each other and develop cultural projects together - she has actively contributed to visits by Kenyan and Nigerian artists to Malta as part of a project led by Elise Pisani Billiard.xii

One of the main challenges of striding continents, so to speak, particularly in the context of the Mediterranean political and cultural divide, in Malta, is the constant feeling of being marginalised and operating in networks that orbit far from the main concerns of society. Echoing comments made by Elise, as well as Christine Xuereb Seidu, a former gallerist in Malta who left the Island to escape constant racism experienced by her and her Ghanian husband and children, Sarah is aware of the parochial approach public debates like interculturality can attract in large parts of our insular society (Sierra 2018).

On the other hand, Sarah was quick to point out the similarities between Kenyan and Maltese experience and expression of postcoloniality. She did note similarities, as I have recently when reading novelist Teju Cole’s reflections on Nigeria, but noted that Kenyans seem less troubled about self-criticism and engaging in postcolonial debate and taking to task their own imperialistically-stamped collective memory.xiii In this context, it is telling that the Maltese flag still carries a British Royal insignia, the George Cross, more than half a century after independence (Xuereb 2014).

To conclude, Sarah stresses the life-changing experience her travels abroad and intercultural exchanges have brought about. She would like more people to have such experiences, travelling as citizens of the world rather than tourists. She recalled a moment when during the official opening of the European Capital of Culture in Malta in January 2018, the Prime Minister encouraged the audience to celebrate who they are, rather than other people’s ways of doing things. Sarah finds this very limiting in the way it forecloses the possibilities of who we can be, evoking the fluid development of identities discussed earlier in this paper with reference to Bhabha (1996), Hall (in Barker 2003) and Maalouf (2000).

14 Xuereb, K. (2019).Research into the practice of intercultural managers in international micro- environments addressing cultural policy and participation. DOI: 10.24981/M2019.8

As a final note, Sarah referred to a particular photographic work encapsulating, through artistic form, much of what she feels she, as an intercultural manager, stands for. The project Wiċċna, the Maltese word signifying ‘our face’ or ‘faces’, wherein Zvezdan Reljic, a Serb photographer who moved to Malta with his children in the early 1990s, captured the likeness of more than a 200 ‘new Maltese’ people, like him, exhibited late in 2018.xiv

Conclusion

The new agenda for culture and the Council conclusions approved by the EU in May 2018 are some of the latest instruments aiming ‘to bring common European heritage to the fore’ (European Commission 2018, Council of the European Union 2018). In light of the discussion above regarding the role of intercultural managers in Malta, and Europe, today, it is pertinent to ask whether the EU, in the context of its important role in relation to the Mediterranean, the phenomenon of migration from Africa and the Middle East, and in relation to the criticised practice of its normative power in terms of human rights and value (Nicolaïdis and Fisher Onar 2013), is paying enough attention to all those people who contribute to its diversity, celebrated in its ubiquitous slogan, in order to take interculturality forward?xv If room for improvement is acknowledged, categorical divisions, typecasting and formulaic approaches to culturally diverse people need to be revisited.xvi

One may also wish to ask whether European heritage, in its diversity, and cutting through that brand of heritage that is officially approved and promoted by nationalistic or Brussels- stamped authorities, has any relevance to the many different people that keep making up Europe today. The next question would be as to how one may, or should, develop moments and places of exchange along which people may enter into meaningful communication with one another and find echoes of oneself and each other, giving rise to new common narratives with time.

One example of an ambitious programme stems from the ongoing efforts by the Jesuit Refugee Service (JRS) grouped under the EU part-funded activity ‘I Get You Europe’. This

15 Xuereb, K. (2019).Research into the practice of intercultural managers in international micro- environments addressing cultural policy and participation. DOI: 10.24981/M2019.8 campaign aims at addressing interculturalism and migration including the exploration of heritage through archaeological excavation and education initiatives by European partners working together with ‘new Europeans’ such as migrants and refugees (JRS 2017).xvii

The following reflection by Aksoy (2006: 181) on the challenge Europe is facing, but not acknowledging or addressing enough, in taking on its new population, is insightful with regard to the complex role of intercultural managers today:

In current debates on EU enlargement and the criteria for membership, exclusionary sentiments are surfacing with great resonance and power. It is now commonplace to hear key political figures declaring that Europe’s borders must be based on shared values, culture and history. This same sentiment informs both national and EU-wide policies towards migrants and asylum-seekers. In this context, the migrant comes to be positioned as a contaminating figure, disturbing the shared culture and identity of the European collectivity (and collectivities). It is now a commonplace phenomenon that migrants are presented as the threat challenging the unity of Europe.

It is interesting to note that Aksoy had these words published soon after the 2004 enlargement process of the EU, but still resonate with relevance and feel like they have just been written.

To conclude, it is worth returning to the research by Kisić (2013) on discordant heritage. This is so since it throws light on some of the difficulties faced by managers in trying to pursue integrated approaches towards heritage, while institutions including the EU and UNESCO structure their policies and funding programmes with an aim at resolving conflict without opening up discussions that acknowledge perspectives that may be conflictual.xviii This paper has tried to argue that intercultural managers are at the heart of different and conflicting narratives. They also face the challenge of opening these up while adhering to the priorities of their employers, funders or commissioning authorities. This tension often leads to putting reconciliation and neoliberal results, including quantifiable jobs, economic benefits and

16 Xuereb, K. (2019).Research into the practice of intercultural managers in international micro- environments addressing cultural policy and participation. DOI: 10.24981/M2019.8 measures of social cohesion before a proper investigation into matters that are not easily reconcilable.

With culturally diverse populations, as in Europe, people from socially diverse contexts including migrant backgrounds and formerly colonised environments have a great deal to tell, and a great deal they do not agree on. The role of intercultural managers in addressing these narratives and shaping environments for exchange is crucial for the development of the European narrative. While encouraging further study into the environments in which they operate, the efforts made, and the significant human impact achieved, the practice of intercultural managers may also be taken into greater consideration by policy makers and funders in order to influence future generations of those that have the power, and financial means, to inform policy addressing human relations through culture and the arts.

This research has been presented, at different stages of its development, at the Brokering Intercultural Exchange seminar in Belfast in February 2018, the Cultures of Participation conference at Aarhus University in April 2018 and the Works in Progress Seminar Series at the University of Malta in November 2018. The author would like to thank Dr Herman Baschiron Mendolicchio, Dr Michael Briguglio, the late Prof Paul Clough, Prof Adrian Grima, Prof Paul Sant Cassia, Dr Raphaela Henze and Dr Aldo Zammit Borda for their support in exploring and presenting this research in various contexts.

References

Adorno, T.W. (1991). ‘Culture and Administration’, trans. Blomster, W. in J.M. Bernstein ed., The Culture Industry: Selected essays on Mass Culture by Adorno T.W., London: Routledge

Aksoy, A (2006). ‘Challenge of Migrants for a New Take on Europe’. In: Meinhof, U. H. and Triandafyllidou, A. eds., Transcultural Europe: Cultural Policy in a Changing Europe, 181- 199

Barker, C. (2003). : Theory and Practice, London: SAGE

Bauman, Z. (2004). ‘Culture and Management’, parallax, 10(2): 63-72

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20 Xuereb, K. (2019).Research into the practice of intercultural managers in international micro- environments addressing cultural policy and participation. DOI: 10.24981/M2019.8

Dr Karsten Xuereb, University of Malta

Karsten Xuereb read for a PhD in cultural relations in the Mediterranean at the Universitat Rovira i Virgili in Tarragona (2012) and an M.A. in European Cultural Policy and Management at the University of Warwick (2005) as a Chevening Scholar. He is a member of the scientific committee of the Transatlantic Dialogue conference series held every three years by the University of Luxembourg (https://transatlanticdialogue.uni.lu/), a member of the scientific committee of The Phoenicians' Cultural Route of the Council of Europe on behalf of the Maltese cultural association Inizjamed (http://fenici.net/en/), and a member of the coordinating team of the Brokering Intercultural Exchange Network, a research network exploring the role of arts and cultural management (https://managingculture.net/). He led preparations for the European Capital of Culture in Malta (2011-2017) and addressed cultural matters at the Permanent Representation of Malta to the EU in Brussels as cultural attaché (2006-2011). He is currently projects coordinator at the Institute for Tourism, Travel & Culture at the University of Malta. His research is available on his website (https://culturalpolicy.blog/).

21 iThe report by Kevin Robins concludes the Cultural Policy and Cultural Diversity project by the Council of Europe which includes Differing diversities (2001) by Tony Bennett and Differing diversities: Eastern European perspectives (2005) by Andrea Ellmeier and Béla Rásky. These follow earlier texts by the Council of Europe, particularly In from the margins (1997) and its Declaration on Cultural Diversity (2001). iiThe European Commission acknowledges that ‘[i]nternational migration and globalisation have influenced the public policy agenda across Europe over recent decades. According to the 2016 Eurostat statistics, 20.7 million people with non-EU citizenship are residing in the European Union. Additionally, 16 million EU citizens live outside their country of origin in a different Member State https://ec.europa.eu/epale/en/content/promoting- migrant-integration-powerful-diverse-and-multicultural-europe [accessed 1 August 2019]. iii http://www.unesco.org/new/en/social-and-human-sciences/themes/international-migration/glossary/cultural-diversity/ [accessed 1 August 2019]. ivExamples of research abound, including Migration, Free Movement and Regional Integration published by UNESCO in 2017 and available at http://unesdoc.unesco.org/images/0026/002606/260669E.pdf [accessed 1 August 2019]. vBetween February and May 2018 interviews for the purpose of this research were carried out with the six individuals reported in this paper. Another three individuals and their experiences had not been interviewed yet, but had contributed to this research and were referred to at the Cultures of Participation conference at Aarhus University in April 2018 in their different capacity as academics engagés, researchers and cultural producers. Further research on the matter is intended to continue. vi https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/amateurism [accessed 1 August 2019]. viiCarmel Cassar has researched the historical dimension to this contemporary reality, noting the increase and growing diversity of the Grand Harbour population in the seventeenth century was already significant. See in particular Malta’s Role in Mediterranean Affairs: 1530-1699, written with Dominic Cutajar (1986) and ‘Popular Perceptions and Values in Hospitaller Malta’ in Hospitaller Malta 1530-1798: Studies in Early Modern Malta and the Order of St John of Jerusalem edited Victor Mallia-Milanes and published be Mireva Publications (1993), pages 429-473. viii https://www.timesofmalta.com/articles/view/20180710/local/increase-in-malta-population-more-than-15-times-that-of-the-eu.684039 [accessed 27 November 2018]. UNHCR notes how between June and October 2018 Malta received 981 boat arrivals. While many of those seeking refuge remain in Malta, a number of those arriving on boats are relocated to other EU countries following ad hoc agreements between EU Member States https://www.unhcr.org/mt/figures-at-a-glance [accessed 27 November 2018]. ix http://www.davidpisani.com/ [accessed 1 August 2019]. x https://adriangrima.wordpress.com/english/ [accessed 1 August 2019]. xi https://www.inizjamed.org/ [accessed 1 August 2019]. xiiRima is described by ‘an anthropological and artistic project born in 2014 aiming at exploring the multifaceted aspects of migration and exile through a series of creative and multidisciplinary initiatives, in collaboration with Maltese and foreign artists and scholars, and the migrants themselves.’ http://www.rimaproject.org/9/About [accessed 1 August 2019]. xiiiThe novels by Teju Cole Open City (2011) and Every Day is for the Thief (2007) are worth highlighting in this context. xiv http://wiccna.com/about/ [accessed 1 August 2019]. xvThe slogan is ‘unity in diversity’; https://europa.eu/european-union/about-eu/symbols/motto_en [accessed 1 August 2019]. xviSuch a critique and ensuing suggestions for an improved approach featured prominently during Voices of Culture, the name of the Structured Dialogue between the European Commission and the cultural sector providing a framework for discussions between EU civil society stakeholders and the European Commission with regard to culture. The author represented the Malta-based cultural organisation Inizjamed during one particular process and the production of this report: https://www.voicesofculture.eu/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/FINAL- Brainstorming-report-SD7-Social-inclusion.pdf [accessed 1 August 2019]. xviiThe reflections provided by participating migrants at the archaeological excavations on the Sicilian island of Motya are insightful: http://www.igetyou-jrs.org/italy/#fb0=20 [accessed 1 August 2019]. xviiiThe report recommends several actions based on an integrative approach develop by Kisić.