Location: Peninsula in Baħar iċ-Ċagħaq at the Qalet Marku Tower

19. November 2023

and 25. / 26. November

11:00 am until 4:00 pm

Alfred Graf

Interactive Workshop / Installation

The Austrian artist Alfred Graf visited Malta in the Nineties to explore the specific soils and structures of the landscape. For Beyond What Drifts Us Apart, he produced five sediment corpses as a personal fusion of his body with the landscape. Participants can join him on a stroll on the peninsula Qalet Marku to discover the material he collected and to learn about his artistic practice and philosophy, the artist describes as follows:

“In my artistic practice, I approach the landscape with respect. The landscape and my body, juxtaposed with it, are representative of “nature”. In a sensitive act, a relationship is established through skin contact and touch. Hard, soft, rough, smooth, cold, warm… Slowly, the senses sharpen to perceive the numerous nuances of colour in sand, earth and eroding rock.  In the best-case scenario, the act of thinking and wanting finally switches off and a meditative flow guides you through the creation process, in which a series of sculptures emerge that capture these processes.”

Artist Alfred Graf digs ‘impressions’ of his body into soft places in the environment. His temporary imposition of the human on a non-human landscape (into sand, mud, and loose earth) is soon refilled with components of the landscape. A solid form – often the form of a torso – is created, born directly from the landscape, and allows the impression to become an expression. Through this process, the boundaries between subject (body) and object (landscape) become more and more blurred and sometimes dissolve completely.

“Soul and body belong together, and yet this connection has proven to be conflictual throughout the entire history of human life and culture. We encounter the body in its indomitable state: it “psycho-somatises”, it rebels, matures and deforms. The psyche must constantly re-understand these metamorphoses of the body from birth, puberty and old age through to death.” (Katrin Mackowski).

His participation is cofounded by Arts Council Malta, and the Federal Ministry for Arts, Culture, the Civil Service and Sport of the Republic of Austria,

Please be advised that photographs and videos will be taken at the event for use on our website and in the press, our marketing materials, and all other publications.

By entering this event, you consent to the photographing, filming and using your image and likeness.