Performing precarity in times of uncertainty : the Implications of Covid-19 on artists in Malta

Abstract

During the current unprecedented times of uncertainty, caused by the global emergency situation of the COVID-19 pandemic, workers with insecure income, including artists, are amongst the most prone to experience hardship. This paper tackles the shared concerns of artists during the pandemic, particularly on the disruption of their everyday life and their experienced financial loss. Their situation is more deep-seated than just a right to earn a living wage. Herein, this analysis is couched in an understanding of the precarious working conditions of artists in general and within the creative sector, which are more accentuated during such uncertain times. This paper draws data from an online survey addressed to artists, conducted in March 2020, during a period of increased restrictions on mass events, the normalisation of physical distances and imposed lockdown on various sectors of Maltese society. This survey is used here to inform the recommendations made in this paper – specifically to secure the right for equitable income. Based on these recommendations which were forwarded to Malta Enterprise, Malta’s economic development agency, this paper traces the state’s immediate response through the implementation of a series of governmental measures leading to a ‘Covid Wage Supplement’, as emergency support to assist artists to stay afloat and help the culture sector to withstand the crisis.