Malta Taghna Lkoll update: Jose Herrera fires Davinia Galea from Culture and Arts Council. Obviously, he has found a friend of the Evil Click to replace her with.
While distributors of moisturiser are appointed to head task forces for the organisation of inter-government meetings, and Super One veterans and owners of menswear shops in Canberra are made high commissioners and ambassadors, the competent and accomplished are being fired to make way for friends of the Evil Click and backers, financial or otherwise, of the Labour Party.
Now Jose Herrera has fired Davinia Galea, executive director of the Malta Council for Culture and the Arts. I wonder what all the artists, musicians, actors, self-described aesthetes and theatre directors who voted Labour in and who are still defending Labour’s every last decision on Facebook, think about this latest decision.
Davinia Galea had been doing the job for six years with good results. She had an indefinite contract. She had completely overhauled the Council, worked wonders with the Malta Arts Festival and led the process for drafting Malta’s culture policy.
She is also an accomplished and gifted pianist. I say that to illustrate that she understands the situation from the inside and is not just ‘a manager’.
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Daphne, I have been informed that she will be replaced by Ms Jackie Mercieca, the Mintoffian midget, who presents Saturday Xpress on One TV with Mrs Norman Hamilton’s brother, Ivan Grech of Winter Moods.
Oh give me a break, her idea of culture stops at roti ta’ karettun and 80s nostalgia.
Just for clarity and fairness. I don’t know who this John Bencini is who sent the above comment but it is not me John Bencini ID 717943M
[Daphne – Thank you. I didn’t think it was, but thanks for pointing it out.]
Thanks, Mrs Caruana Galizia. It is appreciated.
Time for Kitten from Malta to step in, perhaps?
Another sad day for Malta. Having worked with Davinia Galea I can vouch for her professional approach and genuine commitment to the sector against all odds.
Culture and the arts in Malta have lost an exemplary person in the field; they are certainly impoverished by this decision. What a pity.
To be replaced by someone from Billboards’ Co. Ltd., probably.
What a pity :-( Ms. Galea was doing a fine job. Let us wait and see who has been waiting in the wings, with bated breath for an iced-bun.
Bearing in mind that all government posts are given on meritocracy, then maybe Renato, the bewigged wonder of Gensna musical fame, could fit the post perfectly.
Or maybe Ivan Grech of Winter Moods, brother to Mrs London High Commission Josette Hamilton Grech and now currently taking over her Saturday night slot on Super One TV, could fill the post. Perfect stepping stone for a Malta Taghna lkoll post.
“Tista’ ma taqbilx maghna imma xorta tista’ tahdem maghna”.
Correction: Tista ma taqbilx maghna imma xorta mhux se tahdem maghna.
Understood to mean, “Tista ma taqbilx maghna imma zummara tahdem maghna.”
“Tista’ ma taqbilx maghna imma ZIGGI’ tahdem maghna”.
he said…. keeping his fingers crossed behind his back.
What was that word? Lanzit?
It looks like they’re really bothered by the DNA of real meritocracy.
Does any one of the people newly instated truly deserve the position?
Does any one of the people fired or replaced by this abhorrent Labour Regime deserve this shoddy treatment after a lifetime of career choices and sacrifices?
I think it’s time for Kenneth Zammit Tabona to receive his iced bun.
[Daphne – I think it’s time for Kenneth Zammit Tabona to salvage a bit of his self-respect and object.]
As he’d say, “As if!” He’s too much of a coward to admit he’s wrong, and what about the Valletta flat? Me me me – that’s KZT.
As if people like him will object. Their prime concern is their own skin and nothing else.
It takes a courageous mature person to admit that he was wrong. You’re expecting too much from somebody who goes by the moniker of ‘kitten.’
Daphne, it’s funny how you still expect Kenneth Zammit Tabona to come clean. Anybody, from any background, can be bought and sold, only fool yourself if it gives you inner peace, otherwise it’s not worth lying to yourself.
self respect . . please
Kenneth, cometh the hour, cometh the man: this is your one and only chance.
Stand up and object, otherwise, the history of culture and the arts in Malta will rightly condemn you. Is this how you want to be remembered?
Or are you happy with – at best – mediocrity? So much for your never-ending whinging up to just nine months ago.
Cometh the bun, cometh the bum, more likely .
“She is also an accomplished and gifted pianist. I say that to illustrate that she understands the situation from the inside and is not just ‘a manager’. ”
Spot on, Daphne although that should be considered common sense. I am not particularly keen on Davina as from what I’ve seen her choices are conservative, but that is debatable.
Dimwits have now taken over the Malta arts scene and every aspect of Maltese life. Malta has a culture minister who’d be unable to tell Bach from Mozart, Bosch from Turner – so how much worse can the situation be?
But let us rewind a bit.
In the 70s (if my memory serves me right), a music school was set up in collaboration with the Austrian government – undoubtedly a brilliant start for something that could have given the country a vibrant musical scene. Alas, Duminku Stalin, who couldn’t help not putting his finger in the pie, rapidly got the Austrians out and replaced them with amateurs.
This is a very sad story of a country rapidly in decline. Someone needs to intervene to save it.
“Someone needs to intervene” is the problem here. Everyone expects someone else to do things.
I’m aware you don’t live here, but the artist-switcher cohort does and they’ve been ominously silent so far.
La Redoute
The Maltese unfortunately are “complainers for unworthy-causes”…
There’s nothing much to do except wait the whole five long years. What’s the alternative? A bloody revolution?
How ridiculously defeatist and melodramatic.
Question things. Write about them. Speak about them. Contact your MP and ask him/her to raise matters in parliament.
Write to a minister to tell him/her what you think. If you have evidence of wrongdoing, report it to the police and send the information to the media.
But, please, no more bloody whingeing about helplessness.
The understanding and appreciation of art is reserved to the finest minds. A government full of ‘wannabes’ will never be able value art. It will show fake appreciation to fool the masses but I think the highest art-form that this government comprehends is pole-dancing.
They think that a Maltese song festival is essential (‘song’ being part of the adjective here). The rest of the arts can go to hell.
[Daphne – Actually, SONK festivULL.]
Sorry Daphne, have to butt in here. For our TV and radio presenters its FESTIVIL. I cringe every time I hear it.
Like “Castle GreyskULL”. God help us all.
I was reading this earlier today: http://www.independent.com.mt/articles/2013-11-29/news/herrera-rubbishes-reports-culture-and-arts-ceo-was-asked-to-resign-3332407296/
And I’m sure our Daphne will be thrilled by this, as I understand the late lamented Anton Buttigieg is her favourite poet: “.. 3D architectural projections on the palace’s façade, which will also include a narrative background based on the late president Anton Buttigieg’s poem Il-kebbies tal-fanali.”
So precise Sapiens, so precise.
Let them eat pie.
Hu go fik, Lawrence Gonzi,ghax pruvajt ir-rikonciljazjoni.
This is the way business is done in MALTA.
MAF is Malta Arts Fund not Festival, which is practically the only possibility for artists to get funding for their projects. Also, and more importantly, according to her Facebook page, apart from a degree in Music Davinia has an MA in Arts and Cultural Management, making her qualified for this job.
I don’t think that Kenneth Zammit Tabona will utter a single word of protest. That man is still stuck in the Freudian stage of infancy, where he cannot see beyond his own immediate and pressing needs.
This lot can’t appreciate culture. They promote only carnivals, ghana and brigata-type bands.
Ser jipprotestaw issa l-artisti, il-musicisti, il-kantanti? Jew ser jibqaw siekta ghax jibzaw li ma jkollomx izjed xoghol?
Or my favorite, SONK FESTIVAAAAAAAAL.
Jose Herrera is claiming that she was on a three year definite contract, but she insists it was indefinite. http://www.timesofmalta.com/articles/view/20131129/local/culture-council-ceos-contract-expired-parliamentary-secretary.496795#.UpiiyMTGomk
[Daphne – http://daphnecaruanagalizia.com/2013/11/clodhopping-dangerous-amateurs-and-jose-herrera-is-supposed-to-be-a-lawyer-wasnt-the-permanent-secretary-consulted-or-are-they-all-lying/ ]
Soon the ministers will be phoning all their connected business men to employ their unemployed. Who says history does not repeat itself. It always does when the same mistakes are made.
Having dealt with Davinia Galea in her executive role on the Council for Culture and the Arts I can vouch for her professionalism.
This is another sad day for Malta under this utterly shameless Labour administration.
Pity those switchers, and there are many, who succumbed to the charm and spell of these frauds and confidence tricksters, because salesmen is nearly complimentary and definitely not the correct description. Pity the rest of us who suffer all this with them but through no doing of our own.
Well let’s face it when graced with the company of culture gurus like , Jason Micallef, William ‘Garage” Mangion, Frederick Testa et al, Davinia Galea must have felt seriously ‘out’ of her depth.
TOM
Friday, November 29, 2013, 13:52 by
Ivan Martin
Culture Council CEO’s contract expired – Parliamentary Secretary
Asked who was earmarked to take over Ms Galea’s position, Dr Herrera explained that the role of executive director would no longer exist as the council was due to be split into two separate entities.
Smelling more then one iced bun
That’s exactly what I thought on reading this. I suppose they could argue they are creating jobs but it is more like baking an extra batch of iced buns. Still a lot of hungry lemmings waiting for their bun.
According to The Malta Independent, Jose Herrera said “her three-year contract had been extended for another three years in the past and now was nearing its expiration date.” This proves that she had been employed for nearly six years.
According to Article 7 (1)(a) of Legal Notice 51/2007 (Contracts of Service for a Fixed Term Regulations, 2007) :
“a contract of service for a fixed-term shall be transformed into a contract of service for an indefinite period if the employee has been continuously employed under such a contract for a fixed term, or under that contract taken in conjunction with a previous contract or contracts of service for a fixed term in excess of a period of continuous employment of four
years”.
So, according to the Legal Notice, Davinia Galea appears to be correct to claim that she was on an indefinite contract.
Further to my above comment, Article 7 (2) of the said Legal Notice states that : “The effective date when an employee shall be considered to have been employed on an indefinite basis is the date following that when the four-year period has expired, but the period in continuous employment on one or more fixed-term contract or contracts of service shall be taken into account for all other purposes, including seniority and redundancy.”
So, in my opinion, according to this Article, her indefinite status started almost two years ago.
We will be back to Gensa era once again. Soon PBS will be airing socialists-themed-musicals during the day, labelling them as “cultural events”.
Back to the old, golden, Remig Sacco days on TVM.
Dr. Herrera is claiming that Ms. Galea was on a second three year definite contract and that this was not being renewed because of a restructuring.
The rules are that if you have a definite contract for 4 or more years it automatically becomes an indefinite contract.
Maybe he should consult a lawyer to have it explained it to him.
https://www.eures.com.mt/EuresMalta/Main/Page.aspx?pageid=WorkingConditions
“It is possible for an employer to offer several fixed term contracts in succession but there has to be an acceptable explanation for this. In the absence of such justification, a fixed term employment contract automatically becomes an indefinite employment contract after four years in continuous employment on one or more fixed term contracts and therefore the employee would be engaged on a permanent basis.”
But of course he knows this, or at any rate his adviser does. If you wanted to replace someone with a buddy, the way to circumvent this law would be to rename this role, create a new one at inferior conditions which you offer to the person you want to get rid of and offer the renamed role to the buddy. As usual, Labour uses the letter of the law to circumvent the spirit of the law, as they did in 1981 with the election result.
Nothing has changed since then, with the possible exception of the physical violence, but the question is, when they have finished replacing anyone near competent with useless fools, and the country goes completely to the dogs, will the violence come back too? Don’t exclude it. Labour are, after all, mostly the same people they were then.
Oh you switchers, what a bunch of fucking idiots…..
New definition of culture and art. If you are artistic you see red. If you are learned you are uncultured. An artistic cultured person will become CEO of the Malta Council of Culture and Arts. This is the type of inverse logic adopted by most government decisions.
With regards to this vile dismissal you wonder what all the artists, musicians, actors, self-described aesthetes and theatre directors who voted Labour in think about this latest decision…
I’d say that they are not capable of proper thought.
27 years ago KMB declared that we cannot enter Zejtun.
This time is worse! The areas we, who do not kowtow to Muscat and Labour, are not allowed to enter, are much more.
Nenu l-Pastizzar would be a suitable replacement. Maltese tradition and all that. Inhallukhom tahdmu.
That was before or after “saving” the cinemas in Malta? What a cheek. Out of 4 cinema complexes in Malta, 3 have already invested heavily in digital (incl Tal-Lira). Only one complex applied to change most of the theatres to other use – for which permits were refused. Case of scheme intended to scratch somebody’s back?
Some iced buns take the shape of subsidies to the garden of Eden.
Meritocracy at its very best – here we have a professional person who did a very good job and was respected by many yet this Government decides to remove her.
This country is too small to afford throwing away such talent. People like Davinia Galea do not grow on trees.
You must read this.
http://www.lettera43.it/politica/decadenza-berlusconi-alle-europee-candidabile-solo-a-malta_43675114744.htm
http://www.lettera43.it/politica/decadenza-berlusconi-alle-europee-candidabile-solo-a-malta_43675114744.htm
Isn’t it Black Friday today? What a shameful lot, nothing new, the island has had a daily dose of these appointments since March.
The forced resignations of key people who have in these last years achieved positive results for Malta will cause a brain drain to the government resources.
People who are truly talented on this island should be promoted and supported to transform their ideas into reality, not replaced simply because they were appointed by a previous government and didn’t vote for this one.
Is this the meritocracy we have been promised? I genuinely hope that all this comes to an end because one day it will backfire, leaving us all worse off.
They are E V I L . I always believed that.
http://www.lettera43.it/politica/decadenza-berlusconi-alle-europee-candidabile-solo-a-malta_43675114744.htm
Jackie Mercieca/Scott: She may think she shines but is definitely unpolished. Another of the “land me tan sants to buy a Papsi” wannabes.
Dear Daphne
Just to put my post into some perspective. I vote PN because I have always believed, now more than ever, that it is the logical choice. I do not need to elaborate on this logic as you have been doing this splendidly.
Unfortunately for Malta, logic is simply beyond the grasp of a substantial chunk of the electorate. I am a certified public accountant and an artist; an oxymoron on two legs if there ever was one.
In my life outside the office I am surrounded by artists. I am neither talking about the pretentious prats that take pride in their beggar cum gypsy chic, who believe that everyone owes them a living, and neither about the KZTs of the world, painting pretty watercolour pictures only fit to grace run of the mill postcards.
Nor and I talking about those pompous Che Guevara-loving theatre directors still stuck in the 1960s, nor movie directors whose Canadian and Hollywood CV reeks of failure and are now back in Malta vomiting Labour propaganda on everyone.
I am here talking about artists that lead a “normal life” but expose all the fire in their belly in their art, the ones who put in their time, took the academic risks and paid their dues. I am also well acquainted with a number of people who are qualified, well versed and with ample experience when it comes to the management of such. I can vouch that not many of these will miss Ms Galea.
In my opinion the title of this post should have been “Hopefully this will not be a case of jumping out of the frying pan into the fire”. My gut feeling tells me that this will be the case but hopefully I am wrong. But please let us not portray Ms Galea’s dismissal as a devastating blow to the arts especially after all the blows that have been dealt since March 2013.
She may be worth a hundred Jason Micallefs, but still her bearing on the MCCA, MAF and the drafting of the Cultural Policy was not one that anyone should apply any plaudits to. A lot of positive stuff that can be attributed to these can be traced to the involvement of others and in certain instances the successes and breakthroughs were in spite of her management.
The allocation of funds left a lot to be desired and a lot of “artistic” projects that were given the green light were not so “artistic” to put it politely and did not even fit in with the set application guidelines.
I myself in my professional competence together with others who are fully qualified to evaluate artistic work had vetted a number of applications; some were successful and some were not.
When provided with the non-acceptance letters for the non-successful projects I just could not believe what I read. Non-successful applicants were being provided with a letter skirting with child-like excuses where each sentence contradicts the previous one. For a laugh I forwarded these letters to couple of friends who are qualified to and work as a proof-readers. The look on their face was priceless.
In posting the dismissal of Ms Galea, as an item with gravitas, on the same blog that provides such valuable information as the “Henley & Partners/Maltese Citizenship” and “Dalli” sagas the latter are devalued.
For the record, for all those of you who are alien to the arts in Malta, please note once and for all that KZT aka Kitten from Malta was never and is not a respected artist. He is not valued by other artists, art critics, connoisseurs and (non-gullible) collectors.
He is a nuisance that the arts community had/has to put up with. His social background, connections, opportunistic character and outright bad manners have somehow afforded him a life as a music critic, newspaper columnist, festival organiser and painter/artist.
The guy reads like a character from Oscar Wilde’s pen wherein the character’s ridiculous bombast and misjudged self-importance we see the reflection of our rotting society.
I’m taking bets for the next Culture and Arts Council CEO.
12 to 1 for Toni Attard.
Er, that’s it. I’d nominate Ira Losco myself. She’d bring a certain devil-may-care glamour to the sclerotic ‘local’ culture scene. But then I’ve always thought that art is dead, long live celebrity.
How would they get their Friday evening white wine and stuffed olives fix then?
Do elaborate. I feel you’re struggling to hold in a juicy anecdote or two.
Her replacement (and chairman) Albert Marshall was (and still is) in Australia while all this was happening.