Aimed at assisting local artists and creatives in accessing Creative Europe funding, the Creative Europe Desk in Malta is bolstering its operations to serve as a focal point for further engagement with the local industry and to serve as a bridge between local artist and their European counterparts.
Addressing a press conference about the Desk’s upcoming events and initiatives, Minister for the National Heritage, the Arts and Local Government José Herrera stated that the upcoming Creative Europe 2021-2027 has increased its funding to €2.4 billion for the upcoming 7-year period. This augurs well for the creative and cultural sector which have become a vital force in accelerating human development and in the generation of considerable economic wealth.
“We need to make sure that local artists and creatives have all the necessary tools to produce high quality applications for such competitive funds and that the Desk serves as a point of reference for cooperation with other EU countries and for knowledge sharing”, said Minister Herrera. “Enhancing the Desk’s capabilities clearly shows this government’s commitment towards the sector, not only by providing local funds but also by investing in further attracting EU funds and new cooperation possibilities which will help grow our native creative and cultural sector”, reiterated Minister Herrera.
Present for the press conference was Dr Joseph Lia, Head of the Creative Europe Desk Malta, who presented the Desk’s upcoming initiatives. “Creative Europe is not only about funding, but also promotes initiatives like the European Prize for Literature, where Malta is one of the chosen 14 countries for this year’s edition, the Heritage Awards and the Young Audience Awards, where 12 to 14-year-olds are encouraged to vote for their favourite film from the 3 nominated films for the Young Audience Awards”, said Dr Lia about this initiative aimed at enhancing media literacy.
The Desk also serves as an instrument for partner search by organisations in the Creative Europe programme, mainly for the cooperation funds in culture and media. These funds fall within 3 strands: Culture, Media and Cross-Sectional. A new fund within this programme is being structured for independent journalism. Minister Herrera emphasised that, “This new programme is pivotal for the consolidation of the fourth pillar. Once this programme is officially launched, independent media will have a new source of opportunity to access EU funds”.
The fund that is currently open is Portunus, a mobility fund for individual artists.
The Creative Europe Desk Malta, is at 204, Old Bakery Street, Valletta. All those interested are encouraged to visit our website www.ewropakreattiva.mt and social media page www.facebook.com/creativeeuropemalta. The Desk organises periodical info sessions to explain the guidelines of the several funds within the program, and create awareness about the program itself. Apart from info sessions, which are currently being held online, the Desk organises also capacity building sessions for the sector.
