The performance will see artists Marie Claire Gatt, Noah Fabri AKA Karmaġenn and band Eyes to Argus take to the stage to raise funds in aid of the Manoel Island: Post Għalina (“a place for us”) a campaign seeking to turn Gżira’s Manoel Island into a public park.
Activists want to see MIDI consortium plans to develop the island into a luxury residential and commercial zone scrapped and the government turn the area into a public park instead.
And on Sunday, they plan to raise their voices, and instruments, in support of the cause at Ta’ Xbiex’s Storeroom music venue – just across the water from Manoel Island.
“We wanted to put on a fun, positive event to serve as a fundraiser for the campaign,” said Gatt, one of the co-organisers of the event.
Noting the campaign had been active at other musical performances, most recently Rock the South music festival, Gatt stressed music’s unique power to communicate messages to audiences.
“The energy that music lends, the power of expression through music and lyrics then the communal nature of sharing that… it empowers change,” she said.
And Gatt believes alternative music in particular can be a powerful vehicle for championing causes.
“Activism persists in [alternative] Maltese music, and the alternative scene goes one step beyond the market-glazed music industry,” she said.
One band that has not stayed quiet on what they see as issues facing Malta is alternative rock band Eyes to Argus, with the group’s bassist Samwel Mallia explaining that social issues regularly provided inspiration for the band’s output.
“How people interact with public spaces is very dear to us,” said Mallia, explaining that the band’s third album, for example, dealt with how such spaces occupied by the Maltese were “shifting constantly” in the face of development.
And he explained such development had affected him personally: “My childhood home – where the band started – is no longer there; it was torn down and now there’s a five-storey building there”.
Stressing the band felt “honoured” to perform in aid of a cause he described as “very important for the country,” Mallia also believes music can make a difference in pushing forward ideas, and in particular political discourse.
“Art might not change the world, but it can be a catalyst for keeping the conversation going… [and] it at least can keep those in power uncomfortable,” he said.
“Everything is political”.
Fabri agrees that music can play an important role, telling X2 that “both go together… The arts can make human experience tangible, ask questions and bring nuance and complexity into arguments on social issues”.
“Since I began writing lyrics, I always thought, since I have a space to say something, I might as well try to say something useful,” said Fabri.
“For me songwriting is a way to share thoughts and stories that dialogue with other discourses and works, and to stand up to power with a good groove.”
Stressing the importance of the campaign, Fabri said Malta “can’t afford to lose more space and have more land taken over by developers to be made accessible only for the rich”.
Asked about Sunday’s contribution to the campaign, Gatt emphasised that “one hundred per cent” of proceeds from ticket sales would go towards covering marketing costs such as flyers and online advertising, materials and logistics, adding that everyone working on the project was doing so voluntarily.
Does she believe mainstream artists should be championing causes more in their work too?
“If you’re someone with a platform, you can make a difference; voice your opinion and support campaigns,” said Gatt.
“People expressing their opinions should be done more generally… we’ve been taught to be quiet at the expense of our own morality.”