IL-WIEĦED: A FITTING MONUMENT TO THE TWO POLITICAL PARTIES

by a Blog Reader

How do you begin to distinguish between the two political parties? They may not think the same way since conservative voters dominate a big part of the Nationalist Party, but the Nationalist leadership has been infiltrated lock, stock, and barrel by liberals. As a result, the two parties act the same way. It may be hard to visualize how this could be possible. We owe it to Austin Camilleri for capturing the reality of it all in his equine sculpture, aptly named Il-Wieħed (i.e., the One). The two parties are indeed Wieħed, one political movement in practice.

Wieħed

One can only distinguish between the two horses by virtue of their standing. The Nationalist Party is represented by the horse in the air, living in the clouds of fantasy and fairytale wishes, wagged by the lower horse, the Malta Labour Party grounded to terra firma. Any attempts to improve public governance, such as the attempt to prevent government ministers from emptying the public purse on personal ads, are blocked by Labour. If Labour says No, it’s No. The Nationalists can only shake their butt in disagreement.

Lacking principles, the horses have no head. The last time the pristine coastline in Xwejni made headlines, it was at the discovery of the affable Gigi Rizzu’s corpse, dumped in an empty well about 25 years ago. In a foreboding of things to come, his head was severed. Headless, our Siamese horses are inseparable, fused at the neck.

Maltese governments have dictatorial powers. If a minister wants to build a lavish swimming pool in a green area, he does so with impunity. If instead he wants to extend a swimming pool beyond its original confines, he does so too. Green areas are his to deface and ruin. It was appropriate within the context of Malta’s lawlessness that the sculpture competition judges allowed each artist to pick his plot of land, any public land, for his envisioned monument. Austin Camilleri selected a Natura 2000 site, a special conservation and protection area, and turned it into an open-air stable for his horses. 

A spokesperson for the Gozo Ministry said

“This project was one of four winning projects which were selected and are in the production phase, where in the call each artist selected the site for his installation. This project is not only about the work itself but also an exercise in place-making.”

That’s it. It’s an exercise in place-making. An exercise in place-making means you find a green area and you make it yours. And stick up the horse at the Superintendence of Cultural Heritage, BirdLife Malta, and the Environmental Resources Authority. Before the permits come in, the production phase of the monuments is already in full swing. Public money is fully committed, come what may. This is how they manage your tax payments. Getting a permit is a sure bet. There may be some delay but that’s a minor setback. “Bit-tuttu nfuttu,” the Gozitan ministry could have well declared.

I do see a major setback, however, when it comes to lighting. The spokesperson for the Ministry of Gozo said that “the sculpture is not to be lit at night.” The Ministry will come to rue this. Our country has a lot of horse lovers who will be heart broken to see mutilated horses displayed in a freak show. There may not be room for the head as the necks are tightly locked. But I can see well-wishers in the middle of the night crawling in to add some missing parts. A tail here, a tail there, there is always room for improvement. The artist’s intention for Wieħed, we were told, was for it to be a “coastal guardian.” He will not be disappointed. He said that the public will “take cue from the… Billinghurst Cave underneath the site itself.” With no plinth to lift the sculpture up, it’s what will go underneath the horse that worries me.