Malta : land of sea

Abstract

Malta is Mediterranean territory of land and sea. Its history is inspired by the ways and means how the two connect and merge, overlap, and retreat. Dominant civilizations have engaged with this unique cultural landscape over time for reasons of war or trade. Ali have contributed threads to its cultural weave; many lost, some forgotten, and others highlighted as founding elements of the Maltese nation-state. Indeed, rather than being a frontier, Malta stands as betwixt and between, within a region of land and sea which connects beyond frontiers and borders. Land and Sea have been understood as separate albeit connected spaces of unities, diversities, or both. The elements which connect the two are broad and varied, and can also be read and construed as one. Indeed, Malta's cultural landscape can be read and understood as a space ofland and sea with common origins, history, and heritage. Indeed, this may come across as a conceptual contradiction given that the two are physically separate and clearly demarcated. The Mediterranean has been understood as a territory of seas where people live and where boundaries distort meanings (Fernand Braudel, The Mediterranean and the Mediterranean World in the Age of Philip Il, 1949). It has also been studied as a space shaped by relations and interconnections between distant micro-ecologies (Peregrine Horden and Nicholas Purcell, The Corrupting Sea: A Study of Mediterranean History, 2000) and a traversable void connecting diversity (David Abulafia, The Great Sea: A human history of the Mediterranean, 2011). This exhibition presents a selection of works purposely loaned from over twenty museums, heritage institutions, and other organizations. Rather than a chronology of objects presenting the history of Malta, the exhibition narrative presents a reengineered chronology by dislocating and reconnecting heritage objects with purposely commissioned interactive sound and text installations. New meanings are by consequence created as objects stand for new stories when grouped together. Relationships between objects in each group are carefully articulated and connect to the present in varied ways. [Excerpt]