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Arċipelagu, 2018

Arċipelagu, 2018, images, tables, chairs, video, artist’s book

Inhabiting a small island comes with its own epistemological framework, its peculiar sense of past and present, success and failure, dependence and independence. Soon after leaving school, emerging artists on islands around the Mediterranean will most likely face the inevitable question of self-exile: should I stay or should I go? Perceived shortcomings at home clash with touristic images of idyllic island life, typically characterised by sea and sunshine. Installed in a venue known locally as an old examination centre—a space combining apprehension and educational hope—the project Arċipelagu begins with this simple question: is an island a place one escapes to or escapes from? Initiated by Raphael Vella, the project nevertheless refuses to answer that question monolithically. Instead, emerging artists who live on or have lived on islands around the Mediterranean Sea use photography, text, video, Facebook and other media to create a virtual archipelago of ideas, co-producing alternative spaces between islands. The beginnings of a dialogue, however, remain unresolved as Catalan, Maltese, Italian, Greek, Turkish, Corsican and other tongues weave hungry paths across an untranslated sea.

This collaborative work included texts, videos and images by 33 artists and was shown in ‘The  Island is what the Sea Surrounds’, curated by Maren Richter for Valletta 2018 at St Elmo examination centre, Valletta (25 March – 27 May 2018).  Participants: Mario Abela, Kamy Aquilina, Margaux Aubin, Keit Bonnici, Enzo Calò, Juan Pablo Crichton Subercaseaux, Pietro D’Aietti, Ayça Damgaci, Giannis Delagrammatikas, Giuseppe Di Liberto, Ana Djukanovic Miljkovac, Didem Erk, Ryan Falzon, Aristea Gravou, Christos Hadjistylianou, Yiota Ioannidou, Demetra Kallitsi, Zeynep Kaynar, Davide Mineo, Crisia Miroiu, Eleni Palles, Beatriz Polo Iañez, Clémence Santucci, Lily Sapiano, Matthew Schembri, Eleni Stavrakidou, Giusi Sferruggia, George Sfougaras, Ozan Tezvaran, Anastasia Triantafillidou, TWIXTlab, Nicolas Vamvouklis, Irini Vazoukou.

Thank you: Hiba Aboulhosn, Accademia di Belle Arti, Palermo, Ambra Anselmo, Art Club Ibiza, AthenSYN, Clare Azzopardi, Daniela Bigi, Cagliari Art Magazine, Ro Caminal, Mario Cassar, Culture Agora, CuratorSpace, Department of Audio and Visual Arts, Ionian University, Corfu, Department of Design and Multimedia, University of Nicosia, Mimmo Domenico di Caterino, Sara Dolfi Agostini, Escola d’Arts d’Eivissa, Ibiza, Es Far Cultural, Hrvatsko Društvo Likovnih Umjetnika, Ileana Tounta Contemporary Art Center, Athens, InterArtive, K-Gold Temporary Gallery, Lesvos, Galini Lazani, Mehdi Kachouri, kerkenniens.com, Ikram Lakhdhar, Maria Letsiou, Maia Rosa Mancuso, Aldo Manzanares, Medculture, Herman Bashiron Mendolicchio, Elodie Pinet, Iara Pons, Maren Richter, Karl Schembri, Reiner Schneeberger, Darren Tanti, TransArtists, Evanthia Tselika, Università di Corsica Pasquale Paoli, Frédérique Valery, Valletta 2018 Foundation, Nicolas Vamvouklis, Nikolas Ventourakis, Eleana Yalouri, Sandra Zaffarese

Date
  • March 29, 2018
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