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Month: September 2018

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Fourtoni @Science in the City

The Department of Digital Arts presented the Fourtoni project during the Science in the City Event.

Fourtoni is an Augmented Reality sculpture that makes use of audience eye tracking data in order to recreate a fourth Triton from the existing three tritons in Vincent Apap’s Triton Fountain located in Triton Square, Valletta.

The virtual sculpture was launched on an Android platform on 28 September 2018 as part of the Science in the City Festival 2018. Fourtoni is a collaboration between Matthew Attard and Matthew Galea from the Department of Digital Arts, together with Dr Vanessa Camilleri from the Department of Artificial Intelligence.

The virtual sculpture’s content was driven by research concerning the combination of the cortical homunculus representation of our body in our brain, and eye-tracking results involving free gazing. This aspect of the project was discussed with Prof. Ian Thornton from the Department of Cognitive Sciences.

Want to push a mouse around Valletta? Trigger an artwork with your body? You can head to our capital Valletta on Friday 28 September and join in the fun and empowerment of the science and arts festival: Science in the City 2018 – European Researchers’ Night, between 18:00 and midnight.

At Triton Square, three larger than life interactive installations – Of Mice, Carbon and Tritons – will be displayed to engage with visitors: a giant computer mouse, a virtual sculpture, and an interactive art piece. ‘This specific project is a collaboration between the University of Malta, Valletta 2018 Foundation and University of Applied Arts, Vienna. It embodies the core values of the festival in creating relationships across disciplines, and fusing science with the arts to entertain and educate in a uniquely engaging way,’ said Dr Edward Duca, Manager Science in the City.
‘Pushing the Mouse‘ by artists Michael Bachhofer and Stefan Resch and researcher Marthese Borg, is a giant computer mouse that visitors can push around the Triton Fountain. Another installation will be a high-tech augmented reality experience called The Fourth Triton designed by Matthew Attard and Matthew Galea in collaboration with University of Malta researchers Dr Vanessa Camilleri (Faculty of ICT) and Professor Ian Thornton. This unique structure can be accessed from your smartphone and visitors can see the virtual artworks brought to life.
Reforming Carbon, an artwork inspired by Malta’s rich heritage will also transform St George’s Square and is triggered by your body, created by Daniela Brill Estrada and Guadalupe Aldrete and researchers Dr Ing. John Betts, Dr Catriona Brogan and Rowan McLaughlin.
The Malta Chamber of Scientists has joined forces with Creativity for Life and the Inspire Foundation in a Creative Communities project to build Ekologija. These three kaleidoscopic installations are the work of Inspire students, who learned about the local flora and fauna from the biologists themselves. Artists Liliana Fleri Soler and Gabriella Agius, and Inspire’s therapists guided the students in sculpting, sticking, moulding and painting, a myriad of organisms. Look out for this installation at the corner of Republic and St John’s Street.
Wiki Loves Monuments, an annual international photographic competition organised by Wikimedia groups and chapters, and Magna Żmien, another Valletta 2018 project, will be held at Spazju Kreattiv. Magna Żmien is aiming to preserve and provide access to local historic content from the past century that has been captured on analogue sound and image equipment by Maltese.
Visitors can explore the different layers of the Mediterranean seabed at Ħoss fl-Ilma, a fusion of geoscience, electro-acoustic music and an interactive art piece on the stairs leading to Hastings.
The National Museum of Archaeology will be opening its doors to a discussion on conservation science through an excellent case study of the Gran Salon project. Sessions will be held on the hour between 19:00 and 22:00.
The Science in the City festival—European Researchers’ Night is funded by the Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions of the Horizon 2020 Program (H2020, 2014–2020) of the EU.  The consortium is led by the University of Malta, Malta Chamber of Scientists and the University’s Research Trust (RIDT), in partnership with Valletta 2018, Parliamentary Secretary for Financial Services, Digital Economy and Innovation, MCAST, Esplora, JUGS Ltd, Studio 7, BPC International, GSD Marketing Ltd, Aquabiotech Ltd, MEUSAC, PBS, Spazju Kreativ, Pjazza Teatru Rjal, Valletta Local Council, Notte Bianca, Melita, More or Less Theatre, Transport Malta and Arts Council Malta.
The programme can be viewed on the Science in the City website or follow the festival on Facebook for regular updates.
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Order of Knowledge

Delve into the world of concepts and ideas through reflections, experiences and research led by some of the most respected thinkers of our time. The European Graduate School is organising a programme of public lectures at the Bibljoteka Nazzjonali (National Library) under the Valletta 2018 Capital of Culture Programme.

The ‘Order of Knowledge’ is offered by the School’s Division of Philosophy, Art, and Critical Thought and it promises to bring the latest reflections by leading philosophers, critical theorists, artists, and practitioners working in the fields of philosophy, higher education, the arts, the media, or other cultural sectors to the interested public.

October Evening Lecture Schedule

Sunday, October 7th, 2018 — Fred Moten (by video conference)
Monday, October 8th, 2018 — Manthia Diawara: Edouard Glissant: The World Seen from the Eye of the Archipelago
Tuesday, October 9th, 2018 — Caveh Zahedi: Honesty as a Subversive Act
Thursday, October 11th, 2018 — Claire Denis and Jean-Luc Nancy: Filmic thought
Friday, October 12th, 2018 — Judith Butler: Gender in Translation: Beyond Monolingualism
Monday, October 15th, 2018 — Lev Manovich: Artificial Intelligence and Future of Culture
Tuesday, October 16th, 2018 — Chaker Khazaal: Arts and Refugees
Friday, October 19th, 2018 — Achille Mbembe: The Idea of a World Without Borders
Saturday, October 20th, 2018 — Sarah Nuttall: Early Century Oceanic Narratives: Cyclone, Sea, Island
Tuesday, October 23rd, 2018 — Robert Brewer Young: Euclid in Valletta
Wednesday, October 24th, 2018 — Elie During: Philosophy in zero-G
Saturday, October 27th, 2018 — Thomas Keenan: How to Make a Refugee
Sunday, October 28th, 2018 — Avital Ronell: Abandonment

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Dorothea.Space Art Venue Launch in Fontana, Gozo

Opening of a new art space in Gozo.

Electronic Music Malta (EMM) teamed up with Swiss experimental / electronic music label -OUS records for the opening weekend of Dorothea.Space – a new art space located in Fontana, Gozo. Most importantly, this was EMM’s first activity in Malta’s sister island.

Dorothea Art Space opened its gates for the first time ever on September 14 and 15: experimental and electronic music performances, an exhibition featuring site specific installations, graphic works, media art and sound objects, as well as artist presentations were explored daily from 6 – 11 pm.

Dorothea Art Space, an initiative by Natascha Sturny & Adnan Hadzi, set out its journey with a two-day event that brought together a wide array of international artists. Together with Swiss experimental / electronic music label “-OUS”, Malta’s vital network “Electronic Music Malta” both contributed to the performance program, while the exhibition featured works by several local artists working in various disciplines.

You may view a feature on KulturaNews about this event here.

EXHIBITION:
Natascha Sturny & Adnan Hadzi (CH), Manuel Oberholzer (CH), Matthew Galea (MLT), Mario Abela (MLT), Martina Camilleri (MLT)

PERFORMANCES:
Bit-Tuner (CH), Darren Borg & Ed Blank (MLT), Electronic Music Malta (MLT), Feldermelder (CH), Jnnfr x Ink! (CH), Glen Saliba (MLT), Luc Houtkamp (NL), Mario Abela (MLT), MM (CH), Natascha Sturny & Adnan Hadzi (CH)

Day 1 (14/09/18) Line-up:
  • Welcome – Natascha Sturny and Adnan Hadzi (presentation)
  • Glenn Saliba – A compilation of voices from the past, re-voiced in a soundpiece (audio visual presentation)
  • Mario Abela – The in-between place of drawing and sound (Live drawing and jamming)
  • jnnfr x ink! – Spoken words woven into tales meet microscopic sounds captured on loop records (Performance)
  • Ed Blank – Combining drones, sequences and 8-bit sounds with samples from electro mechanical instruments and speeches from the two extremes of human intelligence (Performance)
  • Bit-Tuner – Roaring soundscapes with field recordings, shattered beats and acid-driven melodies (Performance)
Day 2 (15/09/18) Line-up:
  • Welcome – Natascha Sturny and Adnan Hadzi (presentation)
  • Electronic Music Malta – Bringing together people of all ages with one common interest in electronic music (presentation)
  • MM – As the physical self of IOKOI, she is raw and personal, electronically loaded and organically animated (performance)
  • Luc Houtkamp – A Dutch composer/improviser living in Malta since 2014 will be performing a short improvised set, using his own software and controllers to play the computer and a self build acoustic drum machine.
  • Edwin Balzan – Patching from scratch – a performance on modular synthesizer (Performance)
  • Bit-Tuner – Roaring soundscapes with field recordings, shattered beats and acid-driven melodies (Performance)

Abraham’s Arte at Vini e Capricci is pleased to present ‘Leave at Dawn – Return by Dusk’, an exhibition which marks the third solo exhibition by Gozo/Malta-based artist, Mario Abela. In Leave at Dawn – Return by Dusk, Abela is questioning memory throughout life, casting doubt on human memory limitations and vulnerability. Most of the works in the exhibition are from memory, leaving the artist exposed to all errors and different probabilities to where a particular painting or drawing can head. The works look back at what in theory is called ‘constructed memory’. The death of the artist’s father back in August 2018 was instrumental to bringing Abela closer to questioning existence. Specifically, this death becomes a memento mori: an event leading to the contemplation of the vanity of life and the transient nature of earthly pursuits. With a limited palette, Abela has built a romantic body of work, mostly paintings, inspired by his father’s daily errands on a Vespa across the Gozitan landscape. In sum, this presentation treats the artist’s relentless pursuit to unify the self with the universe. The exhibition will be open from 1st March till 2nd April 2019 at Vini e Capricci by Abraham’s, Gozitano, Xewkija Gozo. Leave at Dawn – Return by Dusk Vini e Capricci by Abraham’s

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boattr.uk @Digital Research in the Humanities and Art

Adnan presented the boattr.uk project during the DRHA conference, in form of a paper and as a 360 video installation.

This 360 video installation lets the conference visitor experience the ‘boattr’ project through a VR headset, and access the boattr micro-computer book over any WiFi enabled device. The installation encompasses a photographic triptych showcasing canal life, a seating representing a narrow boat’s bow on which the viewer can sit and immerse into a journey on the narrow boat Quintessence. With the evolution the moving image inserted itself into broader, everyday use, but also extended its patterns of effect and its aesthetical language. Video has become pervasive, importing the principles of “tele-” and “cine-” into the human and social realm, thereby also propelling “image culture” to new heights and intensities. The boattr 360 installation makes use of video as theory, reflecting the structural and qualitative re-evaluation it aims at discussing design and organisational level. In accordance with the qualitatively new situation video is set in, the installation presents a multi-dimensional matrix which constitutes the virtual logical grid of the boattr project. The installation translates online modes into physical matter (micro computer), thereby reflecting on logics of new formats – by rendering a dynamic, open structure, allowing for access to the boattr micro-computer book over the ‘boattr’ WiFi SSID.

The boattr DIY infrastructures offer a unique set of special affordances for local services to the narrow boat community, outside the public Internet: the ownership and control of the whole design process that promotes independence and grass-roots innovation rather than fear of data shadows; the de facto physical proximity of those connected without the need for disclosing private location information, such as GPS coordinates, to third parties; the easy and inclusive access through the use of a local captive portal launched automatically when one joins the network; the option for anonymous interactions; and the materiality of the network itself.

DRHA (Digital Research in the Humanities and Arts) continues to be a key gathering that brings together the creators, users, distributors, and custodians of digital research and resources in the arts, design and humanities to explore the capturing, archiving and communication of complex and creative research processes. DRHA is rapidly expanding in the contemporary global context of arts, sciences, education, communication- and information- economies and the creative industries. DRHA provides a forum for debate across these areas focusing on the interchange between disciplines concerning the use of new technologies relating to knowledge, communication and creative practice. This takes place within a context of rapidly expanding technological infiltration throughout all areas of life, causing changes that are irreversible. It is our belief that certain digital practices both critique and influence the social and political, in as much as they question the very nature of our accepted ideas and belief systems regarding new technologies.

Over recent years DRHA has broadened its field of enquiry from the humanities to include many distinctive disciplines in the arts. Previous conferences at Dartington, Cambridge, Queen’s University Belfast, Brunel University, the University of Nottingham’s Ningbo campus in Shanghai, the University of Winchester, the University of Greenwich, Dublin City University, the University of Brighton and most recently Plymouth University, have welcomed colleagues from many research fields and professional backgrounds, from academia, creative industries and the worlds of performance and fine art. At the same time, DRHA has strived for the provision of intellectual and physical space for cross-disciplinary discussion and ideas generation.

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Transformer

Transformer is a multifaceted, two-year project presented by Blitz, in collaboration with Central Saint Martins, University of the Arts London, and culminating in a multi-site exhibition in September 2018. The project will build a relationship between a Maltese artistic context and an international cultural network through a series of border-crossing curatorial and artistic exchanges. The project includes curatorial research, artist residencies, a website, public talks, workshops and a multi-site exhibition in spaces across Malta during the 2018 European Capital of Culture year.

The activities will be a collaboration between project partners from Malta, the United Kingdom, Spain, Morocco, and Greece, with the aim of building a network which will help develop Artist Run Organisations (AROs) and the contemporary art context in Malta.

Transformer focuses on the dynamic generated by AROs and their engagement with contingencies of the present, engendering artistic discourse via artists-based research activities in-situ. Transformer institutes a ground-up, grassroots, sustainable and long-lasting interchange; nurturing, developing and extending the activity of the Maltese contemporary art scene, widening its sphere of influence, and embedding it within European and international communities of practice

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Curatorial School: Social Practices in Contemporary Art and Curating

The Valletta 2018 Curatorial School is a one-week intensive programme featuring leading curators and experts from major international arts and academic institutions. The course includes daily lectures for the whole group and workshops for smaller groups of students. The theme for this year’s Curatorial School is ‘Social practices in contemporary art and curating’, which will focus on artistic and curatorial practices which engage directly with audiences or specific groups of people. Social practice art is typically collaborative, performative and interdisciplinary, bringing together various fields like ethnography, community arts, activism and experimental forms of curating. Presentations by individual speakers and workshops will deal with the following topics, amongst others:

  • How might the curator produce projects that include participatory elements and manifest in the museum over a period of time?
  • How can political involvement within and beyond institutions be formulated and staged with the aim to stimulate social change?
  • How can we build a collective understanding of a territory when territories are fractured?
  • How can curators activate and intervene in real-life contexts?
  • How can the curatorial account for multiple sites of contact?
  • How can art practice intersect with politics and activism meaningfully?

Further your curatorial career through insightful lectures and professional networking opportunities. The programme includes daily interactive workshops.

Directed by Professor Raphael Vella and organised by Valletta 2018, the Curatorial School hosts international guest speakers from various institutions; it offers a programme of lectures and workshops designed to bring new curatorial practices and philosophies to the local scene, while also opening the door to discussions on all areas of contemporary curatorial practice.

The Curatorial School is designed to act as a capacity-building and training opportunity for practitioners and students in a variety of related areas such as fine arts, art education, arts administration, curation and history of art. Participants will also be able to present their curatorial ideas and receive feedback from invited speakers.