We are pleased to invite you to the opening of Beyond What Drifts Us Apart on November 25 and November 26 between 11 am and 4 pm at the peninsula of Qalet Marku Tower in Baħar ic-Caghaq, Malta.

Opening Program

Saturday 25 November and Sunday 26 November

11:00
Threading an (Un)safe Plot – Fernando P Ferreira

Fernando weaves an ‘(un)safe plot’ from St Mark’s non-linear narratives. With a dialogic back strap loom (a mobile loom worn by two people), Fernando has woven with the local community a collaborative and multi-authored textile work made both of local fibres, and found and imagined stories. On-site, he will perform one fictional story he has created while inviting the audience to re-evaluate critically what is at stake when re-imaging the future of the Tower’s plot.

12:00

toe ear – Marija Rasa Kudabaite

Marija has been working on the peninsula with a deep reverence for the natural world, a recognition of its intrinsic value beyond human utility, and the non-human communities around the Tower. She has sought to amplify the voices of the wind-whispered trees, the murmurs of the ancient stones, the lives of waves crashing upon the shore, and the intricate conversations of wildlife hidden in the meadows.

13:00

Sedimentcorpi qalet marku – Alfred Graf

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.

14:00

Be Careful(l) – Charlene Galea

Charlene has been carrying out micro-interventions within the space around the Tower, bringing together her instinctive movement and poetry, with ever-growing issues around environmental contamination, climate-anxiety, and a hypocritical stasis which sees pollution and contamination increase constantly. Her body-as-tower immersion in the site will guide visitors along her reflective journey and asks; “In the future, what is the colour of nature?”

In-situ works

Antennae for a New Frontier – Samuel Ciantar

Samuel has spent time exploring the potential of intangible networks and their inherent characteristics, aiming to understand how they coexist and interact within the specific context of the Tower. Adopting a multidimensional approach and making use of field studies, observations, and collaborative research with professionals, he investigates the intricate dynamics between the physical landscape, humans and more unseen relationships. His physical manifestations of these intangible networks are dotted around the Tower area, partly hidden from view and embedded within the environment, but starkly present nonetheless. The sculptures introduce other ways of how we might come to understand and interact with the Tower and its landscape;  suggesting new frontiers for reconnection.

eyestone – Rakel Vella

Rakel has been exploring the duality of protection and surveillance that the Tower has provided over centuries. The ‘watchfulness’ potentially also relates to the vigilance required for the preservation of historical landmarks and vulnerable natural ecosystems, drawing a parallel between the historical use of the Tower for coastal defence and its modern ‘defensive’ role in conservation. However, blind spots are also exposed; while certain areas are under strict watch, those that do not merit such attention, suffer neglect.

16:30

Screening-Event of Factuals for Future (FaFu) – developed by Sabine and Thomas Büsch, Directors of the Mahalla Festival.

FaFu is a Working Group on Filmmaking about Biodiversity under Threat and Initiatives for its protection in Malta. A group of Malta-based Filmmakers work around the central importance of Biodiversity and Community-related projects to protect the environment.

Leanne and Lorraine Lewis produced two films about a Community Greening Event in Senglea and Organic Farming in Malta. Sandra Mifsud and Douglas Comley portrait a Friend involved in a Turtle Protection Program. Laura Piredda and Martina Vasallo feature the Breeding of Baby-Sharks in Malta.

Baħar iċ-Ċagħaq Church, Knisja ta’ Santa Marija tal-Anġli