Malta
AMASS Coordinator: University of Lapland
Coordinator in Malta: University of Malta, Department of Arts, Open Communities and Adult Education within the Faculty of Education Research Team: Prof Raphael Vella (Malta Project Lead), Prof Milosh Raykov, Dr Isabelle Gatt, Dr Karsten Xuereb, Margerita Pulè Artists: Kristina Borg, Toni Attard, |
Case Studies: From 2020 - 2021 with x participants from marginalised communities, and x creative practitioners
Stakeholders: Jesuit Refugee Service, Malta Gay Rights Movement (MGRM), Opening Doors Association, Flimkien għal Ambjent Aħjar, Active Ageing and Community Care |
Five different projects with five very different groups of people took place in Malta during 2020 and 2021.
Suitable Citizens
In Suitable Citizens, a valuable lesson learnt has been the importance of co-creation and collaborative work in group projects. As the participants warmed up to each other and the artists, they participated in various activities without giving too much thought to the sense of 'authorship' that is so often associated with art-making. They took photos of each other, helped to print each other's images on paper or fabric, cleaned each other's screens and ironed tote bags, regardless of whether the image on the bags had been produced by them or not. At the end of one of their screen printing exercises, they shared images with each other, so that they would keep memories of each other alive even after the project. Having a laugh together over coffee or lunch contributed to creating an informal environment that was beneficial in the more creative and task-oriented parts of the sessions.
The Suitable Citizens project engages with the challenges of integration and inclusion of third country nationals in arts events and projects. It aim to bring artists and non-professionals together to work in a non-hierarchical process of co-creation, and to study the impact of participatory art on societal challenges related to a sense of belonging and citizenship. Amid prejudice against migrants, the project aims to empower third-country nationals through the training of creative skills. As well as this, the dissemination stage of the project aims to shift perceptions of this participant group.
The project is a collaboration with the local branch of the Jesuit Refugee Service – an NGO which works with migrants to provide practical support and advocate for their rights in Malta. JRS has brought participants to the project through their networks, taking note of potential participants’ language, availability and interest in creative tasks.
The project is a collaboration with the local branch of the Jesuit Refugee Service – an NGO which works with migrants to provide practical support and advocate for their rights in Malta. JRS has brought participants to the project through their networks, taking note of potential participants’ language, availability and interest in creative tasks.
Over the course of the project, the participants will learn to create their own fabric items and designs using a silk-screen printing technique, with images developed from photographs that they will take themselves. The participants are encouraged to reflect their lives, hopes and aspirations in the images and possible text that they develop to print.
The participants will attend a series of workshops, first focusing on photography skills with mobile phones, then learning about silk-screen printing techniques, and finally working on sewing and design skills.
Alongside this, a additional participant will undergo training in video and photography documentation, with Istanbul-based NGO Diyalog which works towards the promotion of cultural exchange, and intercultural understanding.
The participants will attend a series of workshops, first focusing on photography skills with mobile phones, then learning about silk-screen printing techniques, and finally working on sewing and design skills.
Alongside this, a additional participant will undergo training in video and photography documentation, with Istanbul-based NGO Diyalog which works towards the promotion of cultural exchange, and intercultural understanding.
The photographer Giola Cassar, who assisted with a photography session and follow-up tasks in the initial part of the project, wrote the following comments in her reflective journal: "It was visible that the learners were helping each other to fulfil the tasks. Students who had some camera knowledge supported peers to develop better images. From the first to the last exercise it was clear that learners started to observe their surroundings better. Some also were framing their subject matter better and observing the background. It was also evident that participants were aiding each other to fulfil their exercises. Collaborating with different artists and educators was key in making this session successful...Following the session, collaborating with the rest of the team was also key to be able to select, edit and prepare the participants images for screen printing." |
The project is lead by artist Raphael Vella. Photography training is by photographer Giola Cassar. Silk-screen printing is taught by artist Sarah-Maria Scicluna. Fashion and sewing is taught by designer Luke Azzopardi.
F'Ħakka t'Għajn
F’Ħakka t’Għajn (All of a sudden) is a community theatre project by older adults and theatre practitioners. Through recreational dramatic activities, workshops and discussions, the group collaborates to produce a theatre performance.
F'Ħakka T'Ghajn is a collaborative theatre project with older adults from the Active Aging Centre (AAC) in Siġġiewi. It is led by Dr Isabelle Gatt with a team of theatre practitioners: director -Josette Ciappara, scriptwriter-Simon Bartolo, music arrangement -Joe Roscoe and actor Sean Briffa, all working alongside the AAC participants. This project is in collaboration with the Active Ageing and Community Care at the Ministry for Senior Citizens and Active Aging.
The project collaborates with Active Ageing Community Care (AACC), a government agency which works to enable independence and dignity with advancing age, provide care services in the community.
F'Ħakka T'Ghajn is a collaborative theatre project with older adults from the Active Aging Centre (AAC) in Siġġiewi. It is led by Dr Isabelle Gatt with a team of theatre practitioners: director -Josette Ciappara, scriptwriter-Simon Bartolo, music arrangement -Joe Roscoe and actor Sean Briffa, all working alongside the AAC participants. This project is in collaboration with the Active Ageing and Community Care at the Ministry for Senior Citizens and Active Aging.
The project collaborates with Active Ageing Community Care (AACC), a government agency which works to enable independence and dignity with advancing age, provide care services in the community.
The project investigates the impact, in terms of wellbeing, confidence, social engagement and sense of belonging, that active theatre collaboration can have on a group actors and non-actors, mostly aged over 65.
The project's creative team are: Isabelle Gatt (co-ordinator), Josette Ciappara (director), Simon Bartolo (playwright), Joe Roscoe (music), Philip Vella (performance), Sean Briffa (performance) .
The project's creative team are: Isabelle Gatt (co-ordinator), Josette Ciappara (director), Simon Bartolo (playwright), Joe Roscoe (music), Philip Vella (performance), Sean Briffa (performance) .
Il-Pozittivi
Very few people living with HIV in Malta have publicly disclosed their status or speak about the subject. People living with HIV still fear of discrimination, (self-)stigmatisation, alienation and loneliness. By disclosing their status they fear repercussions to their day-to-day life. NSFW is a theatrical production that puts a focus on the stigma of people living with HIV in Malta. The play (in Maltese) will be the first theatrical production that addresses the specific issues faced by people living with HIV and the day-to-day matters that impact their lives. The dramaturgy will also aspire to create characters that will provide new roles for Maltese speaking LGBTIQ actors.
The project is produced in collaboration with Malta Gay Rights Movement (MGRM), a local NGO working for LGBTIQ equality and anti-discrimination legislation.
The project is produced in collaboration with Malta Gay Rights Movement (MGRM), a local NGO working for LGBTIQ equality and anti-discrimination legislation.
The pilot project Il-Pozittivi, which works with people living with HIV, began in Malta November 2020. In order to protect the privacy of the participant group, interviews were carried out anonymously by social workers, engaged by local NGO Malta Gay Rights Movement. Participants were asked about their lives, prejudice they encountered, and their experiences of living with HIV in Malta.
From the data gathered, playwright Simon Bartolo wrote the first draft of the performance NSFW. The play, directed by Toni Attard, follows a young man’s experiences with HIV. It includes references to gay sex, and is expected to be the first work which covers such topics in Malta. A rehearsed reading of this first draft took place online, with six actors reading their parts to an invited audience. The audience, made up of people with a background in theatre, as well as many people from the LGBTQ community, were invited to provide feedback on the story and script. The original participants were invited to join the rehearsed reading anonymously.
The online audience were asked to complete a survey both before and after the rehearsed reading, in order to measure their feelings of the prejudices encountered by those living with HIV. A live performance is planned to be staged in May 2021 in Malta.
The project's creative team are: Simon Bartolo (playwright); Toni Attard (director); Benjamin Abela; Josette Ciappara; Stephen Mintoff; Ray Mifsud; Clare Agius; Chris Vincent Jung (actors).
From the data gathered, playwright Simon Bartolo wrote the first draft of the performance NSFW. The play, directed by Toni Attard, follows a young man’s experiences with HIV. It includes references to gay sex, and is expected to be the first work which covers such topics in Malta. A rehearsed reading of this first draft took place online, with six actors reading their parts to an invited audience. The audience, made up of people with a background in theatre, as well as many people from the LGBTQ community, were invited to provide feedback on the story and script. The original participants were invited to join the rehearsed reading anonymously.
The online audience were asked to complete a survey both before and after the rehearsed reading, in order to measure their feelings of the prejudices encountered by those living with HIV. A live performance is planned to be staged in May 2021 in Malta.
The project's creative team are: Simon Bartolo (playwright); Toni Attard (director); Benjamin Abela; Josette Ciappara; Stephen Mintoff; Ray Mifsud; Clare Agius; Chris Vincent Jung (actors).
Batman Gzirjan
The Batman Gżirjan project is a socially-engaged art-research project which examines how local inhabitants in a busy and changing town are affected by over-construction, private development, and encroachment of land, and how local people can react at development which is not in their best interests.
The project will work with people living in Gżirja - a town which originally developed as a small working-class suburb but which has quickly been transformed into a business community of hotels, restaurants, online gaming companies, real estate, financial institutions and offices. Project participants are people who live in the community, and fishermen who frequently visit the area, and spend time on its seafront - a seafront that is also undergoing rapid changes.
The project is being developed with Flimkien għal Ambjent Aħjar: a non-profit, Non-Governmental Organisation, active since 2006, committed to protecting, preserving and campaigning for Malta, and Inħobbu l-Gżira a community pressure group established towards the end of 2018, which campaigns for the well-being of the community, for their rights, the environment and heritage of Gżira.
Workshops will focus on the collection of memories, the transformation of the area, its impact and the reaction of participants. Each workshop will focus on a different sense (sight, hearing, smell, touch) each providing a different and specific experience of the space. Later, the focus will shift to processing of the data collected and the development of the final outcome. Participants will be invited to have a more active role, thus becoming co-creators of the final outcome.
The project's artist is Kristina Borg.
The project will work with people living in Gżirja - a town which originally developed as a small working-class suburb but which has quickly been transformed into a business community of hotels, restaurants, online gaming companies, real estate, financial institutions and offices. Project participants are people who live in the community, and fishermen who frequently visit the area, and spend time on its seafront - a seafront that is also undergoing rapid changes.
The project is being developed with Flimkien għal Ambjent Aħjar: a non-profit, Non-Governmental Organisation, active since 2006, committed to protecting, preserving and campaigning for Malta, and Inħobbu l-Gżira a community pressure group established towards the end of 2018, which campaigns for the well-being of the community, for their rights, the environment and heritage of Gżira.
Workshops will focus on the collection of memories, the transformation of the area, its impact and the reaction of participants. Each workshop will focus on a different sense (sight, hearing, smell, touch) each providing a different and specific experience of the space. Later, the focus will shift to processing of the data collected and the development of the final outcome. Participants will be invited to have a more active role, thus becoming co-creators of the final outcome.
The project's artist is Kristina Borg.
Opening Doors Performance
The Opening Doors Performance is a devised, integrated theatre production. The work will provide a creative space for artists and participants with learning difficulties to explore themes and subjects which matter to them and which they would want to share with audiences. The theatre piece will also strive to provide a dramaturgical legacy for actors with learning difficulties to perform roles which feature disabled characters as the protagonists of a theatrical work.
The project is a collaboration with Opening Doors Association - a non-governmental voluntary arts organisation that provides opportunities for adults with diverse intellectual needs.
The creative team are: Toni Attard (director), Simone Spiteri (playwright).
The project is a collaboration with Opening Doors Association - a non-governmental voluntary arts organisation that provides opportunities for adults with diverse intellectual needs.
The creative team are: Toni Attard (director), Simone Spiteri (playwright).