Malta’s first unconference for arts and culture begins today

Culture at Work, Malta’s the first unconference for culture and creativity in Malta begins today, addressing Malta’s creative ecosystem and how it can grow and thrive.

Led by the Malta Entertainment Industry and Arts Association (MEIA), the three-day event brings together over 45 speakers across 10 locations as well as artists, cultural workers, educators, policymakers, and creative entrepreneurs to reimagine how culture can shape fairer, more connected, and more imaginative futures.

Unlike a traditional conference, Culture at Work is built on openness and collaboration. It replaces formal panels with dialogue, competition with exchange, and static discussion with active participation. It is an experiment in how ideas can become frameworks, and how conversation can lead to tangible change.

Across its three days, the unconference unfolds through Malta’s creative spaces, from studios and theatres to galleries and community hubs, highlighting the ecosystem.

For Maria Galea, MEIA President, Culture at Work represents a new phase in how the creative sector speaks for itself.

“This unconference is a conversation that refuses to end,” Ms Galea explained. “It’s a space for us to reflect on how we work, how we connect, and how we value creativity in our daily lives. The goal isn’t to seek agreement, but alignment to find shared ground between artists and policymakers, vision and structure, imagination and sustainability.”

Culture at Work the MEIA explained, reflects its broader mission: to move culture from the sidelines to the centre of national development. It highlights that cultural work is not symbolic, it’s infrastructural. It sustains communities, supports jobs, and drives innovation.

Wednesday 19th November, opens at MICAS with a keynote and panel that set the tone for the days ahead,examining why creativity matters now more than ever and how Malta can strengthen its cultural foundations in a rapidly changing world.

Thursday 20th November moves across eight independent spaces across Malta, from studios and galleries to performance venues and cultural hubs. Through workshops, discussions, and collaborative sessions, participants engage directly with topics such as fair pay, professional practice, the creative economy, wellbeing, and media innovation. Each space becomes an active site of dialogue, experimentation, and exchange, showcasing the sector’s diversity and shared challenges.

The event culminates on 21st November at Teatru Salesjan, one of Malta’s oldest and most significant community theatres. This closing day gathers all participants under one roof for a full-day conference, a moment of collective reflection and vision-making. As one of Malta’s cultural landmarks, Teatru Salesjan embodies the spirit of Culture at Work: a space where heritage meets renewal, where art and community continue to shape one another.

The spirit of Culture at Work mirrors MEIA’s founding values: that collective progress comes through unity, not isolation. The unconference shows that real change happens when the sector works as a single, interlinked community, one that recognises the power of difference and the strength of a shared vision.

Culture at Work is supported by Arts Council Malta, VisitMalta, Equipp, and Invent 3D as main partners, with strategic collaboration from Culture Venture and ARC Research & Consultancy.

The initiative is also supported by HSBC Malta Foundation, Theatre Next Door, Udjenza, Casapinta, MICAS – Malta International Contemporary Art Space, Stilla, Creative Europe Desk Malta, Stargate Studios, Piscopo, Farsons Foundation, Brillace, Bolt, Ecabs, Fitch Hotel, together with media partners Vibe FM Newsbook Malta and RTK103 as media partners.