We are
Arts Council Malta
Arts Council Malta (ACM) is the national agency for development and investment in the cultural and creative sectors. Its principal task is to fund, support and promote Malta’s Cultural and Creative sectors.
The Council manages a funding portfolio for the cultural and creative sectors through its national funding programmes. In 2015, the Council published Strategy2020, its five-year national strategy for the arts based on five strategic focal points, which include international cultural relations and creative entrepneurship as well as research, education and training, diversity and communities. Arts Council Malta’s goals are: to nurture creative potential and support its development into professional activity; to invest in artistic excellence; to connect Malta to the international artistic community; to provide more opportunities for people to engage in creativity; and to build the capacity of Public Cultural Organisations under its remit, including the national theatres, the national dance company and the contemporary creative space.
Strategy2020 was created following a consultation process with a number of stakeholders from the cultural and creative sectors. More than 300 artists, creative practitioners and other stakeholders discussed their vision, ambitions and dreams for Malta’s cultural and creative sectors for the five years to come. This process fed directly into the strategy.
Following the launch of Arts Council Malta’s Strategy2020, Arts Council Malta is implementing the 70 deliverables outlined in the five-year programme for the cultural and creative sectors.
In the past few years, the Council has gone from a small entity to a restructured and much larger agency which is actively carving out its path as a cultural leader for the sector. The Council has also played a central role in events such as the Seventh World Summit on Arts and Culture held in Valletta in 2016, the Cultural Export Programme of the Maltese Presidency of the Council of the European Union held in 2017 and Malta’s capital city Valletta as the European Capital of Culture in 2018.
As part of its strategic developmental role, the Council has also partnered up with 11 artistic organisations and festivals to drive strategic three-year partnerships called Cultural Partnership Agreements; these include the Valletta Film Festival, The Mediterranean Literature Festival and Blitz, an artist-run contemporary art space.
Our vision
We want the arts to be at the heart of Malta’s future
Our mission for the next five years
Driven by our commitment to cultural rights, we invest in the arts to strengthen Malta’s creative and cultural ecology.
Guiding principles
Our plans and actions to deliver our vision and implement our mission are guided by 10 principles which aim to:
On 12 May 2015, the Maltese Parliament approved a new legal structure for ACM by means of Act 15 of 2015, which denotes ACM’s duty to develop and promote Malta’s cultural and creative sectors nationally and internationally via all forms of creative expression, as well as to increase public access to arts and culture.
Arts Council Malta’s objectives are to:
Read the Act here.
The Corporate Affairs directorate provides all the support services for the effective and efficient functioning of Arts Council Malta, the Public Cultural Organisations as well as Initiatives falling under ACM’s remit.
The Directorate guides all the procurement and HR matters to ensure that the Council’s work is in line with Government Policies and Procedures.
The Directorate works hand in hand with all the units of the Council to pursue the Council’s growth and the achievement of the country’s cultural strategy.
Our legal remit entrusts us with the responsibility to strengthen the organisations listed as Public Cultural Organisations (PCOs). We are also required to assess and monitor the strategies, financial estimates and financial records of PCOs. This, together with continuous improvement in methods of data gathering, will contribute towards the building of a knowledge base that will assist and inform PCOs in their decision-making.
While acknowledging increased public investment in Public Cultural Organisations over a number of years, we need to invest public funding responsibly and effectively. Malta’s flagship cultural entities require increased human and technical resources to address the demanding requirements of a fast-moving sector. We will be leading a network of all Public Cultural Organisations to increase inter-PCO collaboration and to share resources and expertise. We will also work with each PCO to develop a yearly plan and strategy that reflects the goals and targets set out in the 2020 strategy.
Albert Marshall (1947-) is a distinguished theatre and television director, playwright, poet, and TV presenter, with a career within the culture and creative sectors spanning over 50 years.
Albert earned a Master`s degree in Communication Studies at the Victoria University, Melbourne; worked for the ABC, amongst other Australian radio/ television stations, and for mainstream, community and multicultural theatre.
He has served as CEO of Malta`s Public Broadcasting Services; lecturer in Communication Studies at the University of Malta; Linguist at the European Commission`s Directorate for Languages in Luxembourg, and is currently the Executive Chairman at Arts Council Malta – the National Agency dealing with cultural policy, strategy, capacity building and investment in the cultural and creative sectors, including the 9 Public Cultural Organisations found on the Maltese islands.
Albert was awarded the Malta Republic National Order of Merit In 2018 and conferred Fellowship of the Royal Society of Arts in 2021.
Arts Council Malta
TG Complex Suite 1, Level 1
Triq il-Birrerija, zone 3
Central Business District,
Birkirkara, CBD 3040
