Art may be a means of escape for many of us and, for others, it might just be a hobby but, for hundreds, it is their lifeline. Hundreds – from musicians to painters to actors to dancers – have seen their jobs and their passion wither away because of the restrictions sparked by COVID-19. Like other sectors, they had to endure long months of being out of work and having to rely on government handouts. Many chose to take their art online but that generated little revenue or even left artists out of pocket. Too many artists have had no choice but to give it all up to be able to make a living. A country without culture is like a tree without roots. And that’s a risk we simply can’t afford to take! Malta has managed the last few months of the pandemic very well, with a partial lockdown complementing a superb vaccine roll-out strategy that has seen active COVID-19 numbers fizzle out to almost negligible. As measures are eased to reflect the declining virus numbers, many artists are now right to claim they feel discriminated against. Restaurants and bars have reopened, the mask rule in public is being rightly relaxed from July and tourists are being welcomed. The government announced...