Graduation Ceremony 2
Graduand’s Address
Tuesday 19 November 2013 at 1630hrs
JESUITS’ CHURCH – VALLETTA
Stefan Aquilina
Ph.D. graduand and representative of the students
It is with great pleasure that I have accepted this opportunity to deliver the graduation speech
and to talk briefly about my own research, but also, and more importantly, to address what I
feel is the contribution of the performing arts, of theatre, dance, and music, to the research
portfolio of the University of Malta. I shall be focusing on the idea of ‘everyday life’ as an
essential dimension that is engaged with by each and every one of us present here, whether
we are artists using everyday realities as material for performance, or lawyers encountering in
the courts cases arising from everyday issues. It is also in the everyday that, following the
successful completion of our studies, our careers will now take shape or develop further, and
while I can only speak about everyday life from a theatre and performance point of view, I
hope that my speech will be of interest to a wider audience.
To start with, my thesis investigates the link between theatre practice and everyday life, with
post-revolutionary theatre in Soviet Russia serving as the main case-study. I can still picture
the raised eyebrow that this gave rise to while being questioned about my current research:
‘But why is this relevant to twenty-first century Malta?’ My answer has remained constant.
While post-revolutionary theatre in Russia was, of course, marked by a very particular sociopolitical context that was far removed from current national and international issues (though
the participants of the various African Revolutions and subsequent Arab Spring will beg to
differ), the ‘everyday life’ that underpins my study is marked by a sense of recurrence that
goes beyond contextual considerations. The everyday life that I speak of is not the daily
realm seen in those particular identity categories that differentiate one cultural practice from
the other, and which finds manifestation in the different ways in which people eat, sit, build
houses, dress, use tools, and so on. Nor is it that trivial or mundane everyday life synonymous
with repetition and which we seek to bypass and spice up. The everyday life that I speak of,
which is the focus of study by critical theorists such as Henri Lefebvre and Michel de
Certeau, is an everyday life that is rich with an inherent transformative energy which,
moreover, also radiates outwards with contemporary political and social relevance. It is an
everyday life that serves as a locus for change and, therefore, it is to be embraced and not
shunned because it acknowledges and, to use a theatre and performance term, embodies, the
depths of what makes us human. This is an everyday life that is pregnant with a certain
‘profoundness’, where desires are transformed into the most basic needs of human existence,
such as the need for relationships and purposeful behaviour.
In my opinion, any University has a fundamental role to play in the continuous regeneration
of the ‘everyday’. This is primarily achieved with the preparation of professionals who go
into the world ‘out there’ and are able to come up with creative and innovative solutions to
ever-shifting challenges. In the case of the University of Malta, I see the integration of tuition
and research as being an essential factor and contribution to society. This integration
celebrates the role which research has in the creation of new and contemporary knowledge,
and also differentiates the University of Malta from other pedagogical institutions on the
island. It is, after all, this research that feeds into the tuition to keep it up-to-date and
responsive to a very dynamic contemporary world. Actually, I would say that the role of
University is not only that of responding to changes occurring around it, but to serve as a
cultural pace and trend setter, and I speak of culture here in its broadest sense possible.
Cutting-edge research which impacts on everyday life is necessary for this.
The School of Performing Arts is very sensitive to the research dimension of its work. It is a
School of Performing Arts and, therefore, performance is central, but it is a performance that
is engaged with in a way that brings together history, theory, and practice. We promote the
study of theatre, dance, and music in an academic framework which, like all other research
carried out at University, is clearly rooted in developing key questions, pertinent
methodological structures, and the publication of concrete results that can take both a
performative as well as a written form. This is what we call Practice-as-Research which, I
would say, is first and foremost concerned with the dynamics of human action. It
characterises Performing Arts departments in most universities today. The University of
Malta has, in the past few years, visibly increased its support of the Performing Arts in
general and of the Practice-as-Research dimension adopted. For example, I still remember
when the Rector attended the first Board Meeting of the School and he spoke to us precisely
on the importance of this kind of research. His support has been unwavering, and for this I
would like to thank him. Similarly, Prof. Alex Torpiano, Dean of the Faculty for the Built
Environment, has described the proposed new building for the School as, first and foremost, a
‘centre of Research’. At the School we look forward to developments arising from these
encouraging signs, because a School of Performing Arts at the University of Malta with a
strong commitment to Practice-as-Research is undoubtedly a timely investment in the
country’s desire to increase the standards of professionalism and make them competitive with
those found in Europe and beyond, particularly when one keeps in mind that Valletta will
host the European Capital of Culture in 2018, i.e. only in 4 years time. The School’s
commitment to develop this aspect of its work will elevate it into a state-of-the-art institution
that draws local and international interest and thus contribute to the economies of both Malta
and the University, particularly if more is made of our country’s bridging role as a global
point of intersection.
We are committed to expanding our School, to bring in more local and foreign students. We
want to increase in size, visibility, and out reach programmes, and contribute to what I feel is
the University’s drive to develop its taught-Masters programmes. However, in order to do so,
resources are essential. They become everything, and though resources for the performing
arts have increased in the last few years, these are still far from enough. School staff are still
dispersed all over University, in various offices on campus, while the School uses studio
spaces that are scattered in San Ġwann and Valletta. This is, of course, detrimental to that
collective and interdisciplinary work which is so important to our disciplines. Even these
spaces are limited in terms of light, sound, storage space, workshop possibilities, and actual
usage time. A proposed space on campus for the School of Performing Arts will go a long
away in achieving our goals. It will help students engage in creativity, and to do so on a daily
basis in order to develop the creative minds necessary for Malta’s economic and social
development.
It is this idea of ‘creative minds’ that I would like to underline here. I am a very proud
‘product’ of Theatre Studies at the University of Malta, having pursued both my
undergraduate and postgraduate study within this department. Theatre Studies was never
presented to me as vocational course, as one that prepares you, but perhaps also limits you, to
one specific career. Theatre Studies did not mould me into a theatre person, far from it. It
actually nourished me into a person who is responsive to the way that his life has
significantly changed in the last ten years or so. It has equipped me with thinking, analytic,
and practical skills which I was able to apply to a variety of contexts, from the management
of an EU-funded project, to working in Education and, for the last 4 years or so, in Academia.
I finished my undergraduate studies ten years ago, and since then I have worked in three very
different positions, apart from my other more theatrical work as a performer and director of
physical theatre. This flexibility is a direct result of Theatre Studies and I work today with the
hope that undergraduates leave University with the same sense of flexibility that can be
generated by studying the Humanities. It is with great satisfaction that I see Theatre Studies
graduates working yes, of course, in the Arts and in Theatre, but also in Diplomacy,
Management, Journalism, Business, and so on. Hopefully, their ‘everyday life’ has been
enriched by their years of study.
It is also on this theme of everyday life that I would like to conclude my speech, and here
allow me to make a personal note. The ‘profoundness’ of everyday life is manifested in a
constant search for creative human relationships – here, I was blessed with the presence of
many people who have enriched my life. First and foremost, I would like to thank my two
tutors, Prof. Frank Camilleri and Prof Jonathan Pitches, for their academic example and
supervision. My gratitude also goes to the Scholarships and Bursaries Committee of the
University of Malta, who supported part of my research. Of the many other colleagues who
provided friendship and guidance at various stages, I would like to thank in particular Dr
Mario Frendo, former Head of Theatre Studies, Prof Vicki-Ann Cremona, School Chair, Prof
Jo Butterworth, School Director, Dr Marco Galea, Dr Simon Mercieca, and Dr Joseph
Buhagiar. This work, however, is dedicated to my family: my parents, Anthony and Irene; my
dear wife Yulia, with whom I have chosen to share my everyday life; and my son Matthew
who, let’s face it, has no idea what his father is talking about or doing. This work would not
have been possible without you and I would like to thank you all for your love and support.