{"id":3317,"date":"2020-01-29T20:43:19","date_gmt":"2020-01-29T19:43:19","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/weekly.uhm.org.mt\/?post_type=article&p=3317"},"modified":"2020-01-29T20:43:19","modified_gmt":"2020-01-29T19:43:19","slug":"is-satira-hija-tajba-sakemm-il-parametri-legali-jkunu-rispettati","status":"publish","type":"article","link":"http:\/\/weekly.uhm.org.mt\/en\/article\/is-satira-hija-tajba-sakemm-il-parametri-legali-jkunu-rispettati\/","title":{"rendered":"Satire is acceptable within the legal parameters"},"content":{"rendered":"

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The creation of a Carnival\u00a0<\/span>float showing Archbishop\u00a0<\/span>Charles J. Scicluna\u00a0<\/span>and\u00a0<\/span>Dar San \u0120u\u017cepp<\/span>\u00a0has given rise to controversy because it implies the abuse that occurred at this home some years ago.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

It appears that this float offended the directors of\u00a0<\/span>Dar San \u0120u\u017cepp\u00a0<\/span>in\u00a0<\/span>Santa Venera<\/span>, so much so that the St Paul Missionary Society is ready to take legal action of this float is part of the Carnival.\u00a0<\/span>Archbishop\u00a0<\/span>Charles Scicluna<\/span>\u00a0said that, while he is not offended by satire, this float is inappropriate for Carnival.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

A sp<\/span>okesperson\u00a0<\/span>for\u00a0<\/span>the Police Corps\u00a0<\/span>told\u00a0<\/span>Voice of the Workers<\/span><\/i>\u00a0<\/span><\/i>that owners of floats can create satirical figures of persons in authority, such as the faces of the Police Commissioner, the\u00a0<\/span>Commander<\/span>\u00a0of the Arm<\/span>ed Forces<\/span>\u00a0or the Archbis<\/span>h<\/span>op, as long as they are not ridiculed or do not imply<\/span>\u00a0that they are involved in criminal activity. If they do this they can be detained under Article 82 A of the Criminal Law and taken to court. With regard to the float that created the controversy, the Police cannot take criminal action but the Archbishop can take civil action against the owner of the float.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Professor\u00a0<\/span>Vicki Ann Cremona<\/span>, a Theatre Studies lecturer at the University of Malta and expert on the\u00a0<\/span>Nadur<\/span>\u00a0Carnival also reacted to this issue and told this portal that if the anti-censorship law were applied it would preclude the owner of the float from being arrested but he would be warned that such a float would not go down well with the public and may offend many people. \u201cOf all the things that are happening in this country that lend themselves to caricature we had to choose the Archbishop?<\/span>\u201d,<\/span>\u00a0asked\u00a0<\/span>Vicki Ann Cremona<\/span>.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Voice of the Workers\u00a0<\/span><\/i>also spoke to<\/span>\u00a0Mark Schembri,<\/span>\u00a0artist and caricaturist.\u00a0 He said that, as happens in each art sector and\u00a0<\/span>in anything that is subjective, interpretation is\u00a0<\/span>key<\/span>. Given that in the last few years the Carnival in Malta has been given a satirical twist, something he has been involved in from the beginning to make sure that this is done well, the float creators have taken on new responsibilities.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Theoretically, Mark\u00a0<\/span>Schembri<\/span>\u00a0opposes the censorship of satire as this kind of interference would nullify the very reason why satire exists. However, it is of vital importance that the creator of the float in this case is very careful about what symbols and metaphors he uses to relay his message. If he does not think through his use of a symbol he will be creating scope for misinterpretation. He may end up being misunderstood and any criticism of a particular position could be misinterpreted.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

With respect to the idea that at the carnival everything should be kept light and innocent, Mark\u00a0<\/span>Schembri<\/span>\u00a0asks what we have come to want from our carnival. He said that one needs to appreciate the fact that once the idea of satire has been introduced to the Maltese carnival a risky element has been added that does not go well with the notion of lighthearted\u00a0<\/span>innocence.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Mark\u00a0<\/span>Schembri<\/span>\u00a0explained that at the carnival of Viareggio in Italy, where there is a tradition of artistic satire, there was a float that featured the ugliness of domestic violence. This float did\u00a0<\/span>not<\/span>\u00a0spread joy but had a very important message to convey.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

He said that he does not condone the fact that the children of Dar San\u00a0<\/span>\u0120u\u017cepp<\/span>\u00a0are<\/span>\u00a0implicated as they are already victims of their life circumstances and this will be increasing the stigma they suffer.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Voice of the Workers<\/span><\/i>\u00a0contends that, while it supports satire there should be some control on artistic creations. Let us have fun during this reign of foolishness without making fun of anyone in a malicious way. Although artists today enjoy freedom of expression, legal parameters should always be observed and respected.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

  The creation of a Carnival\u00a0float showing Archbishop\u00a0Charles J. Scicluna\u00a0and\u00a0Dar San \u0120u\u017cepp\u00a0has given rise to controversy because it implies the abuse that occurred at this home some years ago.\u00a0 It […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":3312,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mi_skip_tracking":false,"spay_email":""},"issuem_issue":[150],"issuem_issue_categories":[9],"issuem_issue_tags":[],"translation":{"provider":"WPGlobus","version":"2.8.8","language":"en","enabled_languages":["mt","en"],"languages":{"mt":{"title":true,"content":true,"excerpt":false},"en":{"title":true,"content":true,"excerpt":false}}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/weekly.uhm.org.mt\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/article\/3317"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/weekly.uhm.org.mt\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/article"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/weekly.uhm.org.mt\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/article"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/weekly.uhm.org.mt\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/weekly.uhm.org.mt\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3317"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"http:\/\/weekly.uhm.org.mt\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/article\/3317\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3319,"href":"http:\/\/weekly.uhm.org.mt\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/article\/3317\/revisions\/3319"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/weekly.uhm.org.mt\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3312"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/weekly.uhm.org.mt\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3317"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"issuem_issue","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/weekly.uhm.org.mt\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/issuem_issue?post=3317"},{"taxonomy":"issuem_issue_categories","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/weekly.uhm.org.mt\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/issuem_issue_categories?post=3317"},{"taxonomy":"issuem_issue_tags","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/weekly.uhm.org.mt\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/issuem_issue_tags?post=3317"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}