A global leader in interior design, Francis Sultana knows only too well the edifying and nurturing value that museums have for people.

In London, where he has lived from the age of 19, his route into the design industry was punctuated by time spent at the Victoria & Albert Museum, whose advisory council he later became a member of, chairing the Design Fund that supported the acquisition of contemporary design objects at the V&A from 2011 to 2015.

So Sultana understands why the forthcoming year for MICAS will be crucial in creating a good foundation for what will undoubtedly become a global presence within the art world.

“MICAS will support established and emerging Maltese artists, but importantly, it will also bring world-class international artists to exhibit. This will be of huge value for both Maltese artists and general visitors to MICAS,” he says of what is set to become a key destination for cultural tourism.

“That’s a very positive development for Malta on many levels. But there is another side to this – an educational side. Museums educate all generations, but especially young people. MICAS will create an important legacy as young Maltese who wish to become artists or be involved in contemporary art world will get to see, at first hand, some of the most important artists visiting their island. It’s the key to the vision of MICAS.”

Invited to the board of MICAS at an early stage, the Maltese Ambassador for Culture is well known for his philanthropy in London supporting major cultural institutions such as the Design Museum and the Serpentine Galleries. “I was able to introduce major artists to both Malta and to MICAS together with many key people in the world of the arts at large from key press to major art collectors, people who are the international art world today,” Sultana says.

These relationships with the global contemporary art world have been key to the success of the annual MICAS art weekends, which have hosted celebrated artists Ugo Rondinone, Pierre Huyghe, Cristina Iglesias, Michele Oka Doner, and Conrad Shawcross over the last five years.

“When MICAS was launched internationally, Ugo Rondinone’s figure – which is of the same narrative to the ones he exhibited outside the Rockefeller Centre in New York – was selected because it felt so relatable to Malta’s first artworks, which were Neolithic stone sculptures of figures,” Sultana says.

“When Ugo was invited to Malta, he dedicated the sculpture to the children of Malta, which in his view was hugely symbolic for the island. When the international art world saw this, they immediately woke up to what a project of huge, global value Malta was building – it was a seminal moment for MICAS.”

“Museums engage people of all walks of life. But they are also part of a lifestyle: having lunch, taking your children there for an ‘art morning’, creating a community… that is the success of art museums.

Working with important and the most respected names in the arts allowed the MICAS board members to introduce the concept of MICAS to the rest of the world. “Cristina Iglesias’s work was shown here in Malta before she exhibited at the Royal Academy in London the following year,” Sultana points out. “MICAS is really now on the upward curve of what’s going on in the global art world as we launch.”

And with MICAS’s artistic programme opening with the celebrated Portuguese artists Joana Vasconcelos, Sultana feels every walk of life in Malta will be engaged by her art. “We need to attract and engage the wider community that might not be motivated about art. MICAS is focused on reaching to as wide an audience as possible and creating a cultural hub for the whole country. Art truly crosses barriers between generations, cultures and backgrounds.”

Sultana also sees MICAS’s architecture and its siting in a repurposed military edifice as the start of a new destination that will invite a regeneration of the surrounding areas beneath the Floriana Lines and the Marsamxett Harbour.

“All over Europe, new museums have been opened in areas of dereliction, carrying with them the huge progressive and economic force of regeneration which trickles down to the whole area. When a major new museum of value like MICAS opens, it invites a domino effect of improvement and uplift.”

By the time MICAS establishes itself as a destination, Sultana believes more facilities will open in the area that will bring about a sense of purpose and a new wave of visitors to the area. “We have a wonderful new building, and a beautiful campus opening up in the coming year, including the Sculpture Garden, which will be a place for all the community to visit and enjoy.”

Even more importantly, he sees MICAS as a key building block in a new kind of lifestyle he has witnessed up close in London.

“Museums engage people of all walks of life. But they are also part of a lifestyle: having lunch, taking your children there for an ‘art morning’, creating a community… that is the success of art museums.

“MICAS will be something in Malta that will, in the years to come, be enjoyed and grow as has happened in other cities. Because the arts are not just some elusive idea; they actually help to create life, to encourage communities and they bring high economic and cultural value with them. MICAS will make its mark.”