Council
of Europe notes political satire in Nadur
A
recent Council of Europe report says the Nadur Carnival is the
only Carnival celebration in the Maltese Islands featuring political
satire. The report prepared by the Council of Europe’s Steering
Committee for Culture was discussed and approved a few weeks ago in
Strasbourg and forms part of the European Program of National Cultural
Policy.
june29th.com's Pierre J. Mejlak comments
There
was a year, back in the early nineties, when Saddam Hussein and some 35
Iraqi armed soldiers stormed the Nadur Carnival. Hitler has been walking
up and down December 13th Street with a black mysterious suit-case
during Carnival week for as long as I can remember. Al Qaeda’s Osama
Bin Laden seems to have liked it last year and promises to be back in a
few weeks time, hiding in the Tora Bora Caves with his right-hand man
Ayman al-Zawahri trying to avoid meeting US President Bush. The iron
lady pays a visit every now and then and President Reagan and watergated-Nixon
have also been noticed.
One
cannot forget the local top-men with Eddie Fenech Adami, Alfred Sant and
Tony Zarb joining the revelers in the past years.
All this has been noticed by a Council of Europe's Steering Committee, while defining culture in the Maltese Islands.
The
report,
led by expert
Anthony
Everitt, states
there are two kinds of
carnival in Malta, those which are large, carefully planned and
structured, and strictly regulated – as in Valletta (Malta) and Rabat
(Gozo); and a few more spontaneous village celebrations – for example,
in Ghaxaq (Malta) and Nadur (Gozo).
The
Steering Committee said it has received evidence that these annual
celebrations are facing difficulties. “In the first category, Carnival
floats have become larger, more elaborate and ambitiously constructed,
with the result that the role of improvising participants has declined.
Also, it is alleged that
One
of the traditional features of Maltese Carnival used to be political
satire and the lampooning of public figures. This has now largely
disappeared under the weight of official disapproval and from fear of
controversy in an island where a
The
Nadur Carnival has undoubtedly become an event of interest to local and
foreign anthropologists as well as to researchers interested in street
theatre. Care should be taken, however, to ensure that such
‘intrusions’ do not compromise the spontaneous character of such
revelry.
These
trends have been accompanied by an alleged decline in popular
involvement, although it is estimated that about 50% of the population
still takes part and many enthusiasts design and make costumes, masks
and decorations.
The
Government is aware of the need to re-invigorate
Carnival and wishes to
revive the traditional format of Carnival during the 18th
and 19th
centuries. It is possible
that the ban on political satire will be rescinded. The Carnival
Committee, responsible for the organization of the festivities, was
reconstituted in 2001 as the National Commission for Folklore, with
terms of reference that empower it to revive the traditional features of
Carnival and to work towards the creation of a research-based Institute
of Maltese Folklore.
Coming
Soon: What Maltese Folklore experts
think about the Nadur Carnival
