Debatable Land(s) Kalkara (2021)

Created by:  Grammar of Urgencies (Maren Richter & Klaus Schafler), Greta Muscat Azzopardi, and Unfinished Art Space (Margerita Pulè)
Multi-channel sound installation (6), A/V technician, performance: Niels Plotard
Contributors: Mohamed Ali ‘Dali’ Aguerbi & Chakib Zidi | Maria Attard | Fatima Amn |  Keit Bonnici | Kristina Borg obo Batman Gżirjan  | Johannes Buch | Josephine Burden | Florinda Camilleri | Tina Camilleri | Simone Cutajar | REA (Rachelle Deguara) | Charlene Galea | Justin Galea | Adrian Grima | Helen Horgan | Magna Żmien | Tom van Malderen & Charlie Cauchi | Caldon Mercieca | Greta Muscat Azzopardi | Niels Plotard | Margerita Pulè | Maren Richter | Klaus Schafler | Raphael Vella

In the connection of the two actually opposing terms “fleeting” and “territory”, the Fleeting Territories project series see spatial coordinates not simply as stable or fixed values, but rather as aiding in the identification and negotiation of [in]visible mechanisms, which in turn organise and shape cities, land[scapes], human and more-than-human interconnections. Rights, laws, politics, and economies, as well as emotions play a central role in the appropriation of territories.

By forming temporary collectives and performative forums, Fleeting Territories ask questions such as which materialities and regimes of spatial concepts can be identified, and which artistic tools can be employed to measure and experience them.

The final Debtable Land(s) presentation took the form of a 3-day-long visual-performative-exhibition-festival, and was the culmination of the project’s 12 months of research and conversations, exploring how territories, lands and spaces are formed, and what conflicting interests influence these delineations.

The venue is one of the oldest houses in Kalkara. It was built around 1802, and is said to have been a type of infirmary. The cellars below this block also date back to the time of the Knights. The first and second floors were built in the early days of the British in Malta. Later, the house belonged to a Mariano Stivala - Marjanu, a freight-handler, who added a third floor to the building. During the war, he was well-off enough to be able to distribute food to the poor. He died under rubble in World War II during an air raid.



Elisa von Brockdorff