1. Let’s go straight to the beginning; What is Beyond What Drifts Us Apart, and how did it start? Can you explain the project’s main themes and objectives? 

“BWDUA is an interdisciplinary artistic-research project I developed a while back, which aims to investigate the environments surrounding the coastal towers on the Maltese Islands. The project stems from my inherent interest and curiosity in making use of unconventional spaces for more experimental and research-based artistic practices,” Elyse explained. 

She continued on to explain that as a site/context-specific project, it combines various of her backgrounds, related to architecture, cultural heritage, environmental activism, and curation, while aiming to explore the entanglement of contemporary art and ecology. 

“The curatorial framework for the project aims to explore the environments surrounding these towers through ecological thinking and decolonisation. It aims to look closely at these landscapes and their non-human communities, with the creative team turning into mediators and facilitators bridging the human element with the non-human, raising awareness on their fragility and sensitivity which is especially important in relation to climate change.”

The project’s adaptation came about when Elyse was approached by Unfinished Art Space and Mahalla Festival, to create a residency-project for MagiC Carpets, a Creative Europe residency-based project bridging 15 EU cultural organisations, based on the overlapping of arts and non-arts communities. After she adapted the project to fit into this framework, local and international artists were selected to respond to the curatorial framework, and ultimately, develop reactionary works.

2. How does “Beyond What Drifts Us Apart” integrate or respond to the unique historical and cultural context of Gozo and Malta?

“The towers are often located in remote locations and together with their surroundings embody various aspects related to cultural heritage, the environment, socio-political issues and others. Each context is very different, and so are the opportunities and challenges of each site. Being site-specific and research-oriented, it allows the artists and myself to investigate various aspects of the site from its written and undocumented history and speculations,” she explained. 

Elyse continued to say that this enables them to draw connections with various communities, both human and non-human, allowing the creative team to investigate the site to further extents.

3. This year’s edition is focused around the Dwejra Tower in Gozo: How does the location of Dwejra Tower in Gozo contribute to the project’s themes and artistic explorations?

“Following the 2023 edition of BWDUA at Qalet Marku Tower in Baħar iċ-Ċagħaq, I opted for the Dwejra tower due to a number of factors. The natural environment at Dwejra is highly protected – from being a Dark Sky Protected Area to a Natura 2000 site. It offers multiple possibilities for investigation – it is embodied with so many layers and complexities,” Elyse said. 

“The tower at Dwejra also had a dual observatory function, not only that of guarding the coast but also the Fungus Rock. The shearwaters to the bats which inhabit the area, to the Posidonia Oceanica which protects our environment from under the water, to the varying degrees of native and alien species, it’s dark sky, the embedded fossils within rock formations together with the unique characteristics of the fungus rock were initially outlined as the main thematics,” she continued. 

All these different elements situated within the area of Dwejra eventually became the categories which defined the selection of the artists participating in this year’s edition. 

“Each of these nonhuman communities/aspects are often taken for granted, their voices or benefits are unheard, overlooked or unseen. This ultimately unfolds into further adaptation of the curatorial framework and development of unique artistic works, but also close and hopefully sustainable relationships between those involved, the related communities and the environment.”

4. What role do the participating artists and their works play in addressing the project’s themes?

Elyse explained how in each of the BWDUA projects, artists are selected based on their artistic interests and capacities to respond to the thematics related to the project, the context, and the interrelated communities. 

“Most importantly, their sensitivity towards environmental issues is necessary to adopt a strong sense of co-existence. At Dwejra, I earmarked six overarching thematics which were particularly strong points from my initial research of the site which feature the non-human in relation to the geological, the astronomical, the ecological, the biological – both above and below sea level,” she continued. 

“By approaching the investigation of each of the thematics with an ecological mindset, BWDUA evolves through a strong artist-curator relationship, whereby each artist reacts to the curatorial framework, works with related non/human communities and reacts through site-specific work.”

Last year’s edition of BWDUA, the community of artists at Qalet Marku included Samuel Ciantar, Rakel Vella, Fernando P Ferreira, Marija Rasa Kudabaite, Alfred Graf and Charlene Galea. 

For this year’s edition of the project, the six participating artists are Keit Bonnici, Jamie Barbara, Isaac Warrington, Florinda Camilleri, Martinha Maia and Justyna Olszewska. They have been researching the fungus rock, bats, fossils, sea grass, invasive species and the night sky, respectively, to develop works, often with the collaboration of various communities.

5. In what ways does the project address contemporary issues such as climate justice, territorial defense, and biocultural diversity preservation?

“The overarching ambition of the project is to work as sensitively as possible with the environmental and contextual conditions the site offers. For example, at Dwejra, given its dark sky protection status, the exhibition will open throughout the day only, to reduce the light pollution at night by making use of the daylight hours. If we are to intervene sensitively, we should make use of what is around, understand how it works out, and adapt accordingly. After all, public spaces are shared spaces. Moreover, in natural environments humans should allow processes to occur naturally releasing themselves of any form of control, allowing ecosystems to thrive,” Elyse said. 

The project redefines and re-contextualises the role of the towers in today’s society. Historically, these towers were part of coastal defense systems and marked territorial boundaries. Now, they can be reimagined as versatile resources, open to various interpretations through projects and initiatives like these.

“Through the collaboration with non-human communities, the focus shifts the thinking process with the aim of developing closer relationships with our natural ecosystems. It is amazing how different the entire creative team approaches the site at the beginning and end of the project,” Elyse remarked. 

“The interpretation of such environments through artistic projects gives the opportunity to provide multiple layers for interpretation, yet the works often offer critical thought and understanding and pose questions. The role of contemporary art in such spaces, often contested, allows for interesting discussions to be raised, untold stories to be interpreted.”

6. What interactive or community-oriented activities are included in this year’s exhibition?

Although the Magic Carpets platform highly encourages the overlapping of arts and non-arts communities through its framework, Elyse expressed how it’s both a personal ambition and characteristic aside from a need to ensure that participation in such artistic projects is not exclusive to the team. 

“In BWDUA at Dwejra, I, and eventually the team, have been working on developing relationships with various initiatives, groups, organisations, entities and individuals for the past few months, and more intensively over the 4-week residency period. Whether through online meetings, one-off conversations, multiple meet-ups and calls, direct participation and collaboration, the project would not have materialised the way it did.”

A series of workshops, performances and activities will be organised as part of the BWDUA programme, which can be found on Unfinished Art Space and Mahalla Festival website (hyperlink here), with some workshops requiring registration. These will be led by the participating artists themselves and the audience can experience the various processes undergone in the past weeks. 

She explained how a horizontal approach is adopted throughout the project to enable whoever wants to participate and engage to form part, both directly and indirectly. The entire team comprises the artists, and those working on administrative, logistical and communications on behalf of UAS and MF. 

“For these two editions of BWDUA we worked closely with the creative studio 2point3 and national trust Din l-Art Ħelwa. In 2024, the various site-specific communities including Ta’ Ċangura Folk Group, San Lawrenz Local Council, Annie Formosa from the Dwejra Marine Centre, Alda Bugeja, Ric Smith from the Gozo Bat Initiative, Noel Formosa, the Santa Marija Band Club in iż-Żebbuġ, the fishermen community, Gozitan artist Victor Agius, Martina Spiteri, Reuben Grima, ERA, funders including Arts Council Malta and the volunteers.

With a programme of events and workshops, the list will grow even further to include everyone who visited and participated, who created work together with the creative team, and shared their experiences! Everyone can participate and the events and workshops are free of charge. 

Following the four-week residency, the exhibition is launching today at 4pm at the Dwejra Tower, in San Lawrenz, Gozo, featuring a number of performances and workshops, which will continue on throughout the following week. 

The programme of events can be found here.

Beyond What Drifts Us Apart is a collaboration with the Istanbul-based Mahalla Festival and Unfinished Art Space, forming part of the MagiC Carpets Platform, co-funded by the Creative Europe programme, and supported by Arts Council Malta.