Marlands

MEDITERRANEAN islands
Arts and Science Project

October Residency Activities

Time to visit islands!

The time has come to take a break from the routine in the studio and feed the artistic creativity with real islander impressions. Starting from the end of September the residency artists Max Fouchy, Edgar Sarin, Olga Sabko, Klitsa Antoniou, and Lucy Orta will meet the scientists, craftsmen and technical teams on site in the Mediterranean islands to extend their artworks under the guidance of MARLANDS project.

MARLANDS is a contemporary art project that unites artists and researchers to work together on art, cultural heritage, and ecological issues of the Mediterranean Islands, to promote their harmonious coexistence.

 

Malta

Edgar Sarin, a painter, and sculptor, will spend the art residency in Malta. His artwork idea is to address the most pressing water problematic on the Mediterranean islands: how to treat water and how to reuse it.

Several meetings will be held with the Malta Society of Arts, the nation’s oldest institution for the promotion of  arts and crafts since 1852, so they can contribute to the project “Ba’al”. 

“Ba’al” is meant to be a rainwater collector in the shape of the ancient amphora. The best place to find the inspiration for antiques is the local National Museum of Archaeology which boasts a spectacular artifacts collection of the Islands’ history. To learn more about the Maltese drainage system Edgar Sarin will also visit a 16th-century palace Casa Rocca Piccola and Valetta Underground Vaults – Malta’s secret tunnels. To evaluate the “Ba’al” from the scientific point of view, Edgar Sarin will meet Dr. Reuben Grima from the Department of Conservation & Built Heritage, University of Malta

Valetta Vaults

Underground Valletta are the passageways beneath Valletta along displaying the genius engineering entailed in the construction of this city.

Source: Heritage Malta

The main part of the residency program will be the intensive workshops with the technical team to create the prototype and discuss the exposition space, installation details and project finalization. A collaboration to happen is the one between the artist and the founder of Alka Ceramics Joan Haber. There will be two installations: an outdoor amphora to be embedded in the ground and filled with fresh water, while the indoor object is planned to be presented as an archeological find.

Alka Ceramics

Alka Ceramics – acknowledged Malta’s flag-bearer of all things to do with ceramics

Source: Google maps

Mallorca

Mallorca’s nature inspired Olga Sabko, a Ukrainian artist from Paris, to work on the endemic species of the island. Thus the key part of her residency work will take place in the Botanical Garden of Mallorca. The research of local plants will be carried on in collaboration with scientist Magdalena Vicens Fornés. Based on the gathered visual material Olga will create a series of botanical engravings.

AnticMALLORCA studio is a group of artisans who contributes to preserve the true artisan craftwork of the palm of Ses Madones de sa Llata de Capdepera. The craftsmen from the studio will show Olga the local techniques of weaving from palm leaves. The old tradition will help Olga to create a parallel between nature and culture, local plants and local goods. 

Palm leaves weaving

AnticMallora is an expert of palm weaving

The other part of Olga Sabko’s project is to “grow” the “Garden of the Past. Garden of the Future”, the installation that comprises several ceramic vessels in whimsical shapes, video art, and engravings. The ceramic vessels will be created in collaboration with local ceramic studio “AAA” and cultural arts artist Anastasia Egorova. The residency challenge is to find the right color of clay and glaze that would resemble Mallorca’s soil.

Island pottery

AAA ceramic studio is a creative place to get inspiration from the island nature, local traditions and modern trends;  Olga Sabko, source: boonparis.com/olga-sabko

 

To get inspiration and discover local features, Olga Sabko and Lucy Orta will visit Es Baluard museum. It has a collection of over 600 works of modern artists that show how local traditions revive in contemporary art.

Es Baluard Museu is one of the most outstanding spaces in Spain of its kind in Palma since 2004

Sicily

 

Sicily is the home of three active volcanoes – Etna, Stromboli, and Vulcano, in consequence, Max Fouchy, known as a contemporary abstract sculptor, could not ignore this phenomenon in his project. Fouchy’s visit to Sicily will include the workshop with Boris Behncke, a volcanologist and scientific partner of the Marlands.

Boris Berncke
Mount Etna

Volcanologist Boris Behncke, an expert on the possible dangers of one of the most active volcanoes Etna

Lava stone is an integral part of Sicily’s stone culture. It has been used for paving and curbing and is also used for carved architectural work. Max Fouchy is collaborating with Magda Masano, a ceramist from Catania, to create a system of hanging in lava stone to hold the sculptures made from plastic bottles.

Magda Masano sees creation as combination of memories and experiences, colours and  traditions

Plastic bottles are one of the key symbols of today’s environmental threat. And still they are the basics of Max’s sculptural installation. The confrontation of plastic with lava stone in the sculptural form is designed to underline the importance of reuse and transformation of materials.

With the help of Legambiente network Max Fouchy will conduct a workshop in Isola Catania. Legambiente network focuses on climate change, environmental justice, sustainable development and biodiversity protection. First, volunteers will collect bottles at the seashore, and then clean them up; afterwards Max will transform the plastic bottles into works of art. The knowledge and knowhow sharing will allow islanders to teach others thinking about sustainability. 

As to the piece of art, Max Fouchy’s project is designed to metaphorically turn the pile of plastic bottles into the clear transparent beauty of the sea in the shape of emerging molten lava.

Cyprus

Klitsa Antoniou focuses her research on the Marine Species Migration to Cyprus. The Lessepsian migration of sea species from the Red Sea to the Mediterranean Sea across the Suez Canal is due to climate change and heavy maritime traffic. Therefore her residency implies intensive work sessions with Jose Rafael Garcia March, the scientific coordinator of IMEDMAR-UCV. How has the climate changed in the last few years? What is the impact of biological invasion? Can we stop the tropicalisation process? Many questions are to be asked and, hopefully, some answers will be found.

Klitsa Antoniou focuses her research on the Lessepsian migration

The project “Invaders’’ will be presented via multimedia installation. Thus Klitsa will meet local researchers and craftsmen to implement their works in the general concept.

Alien Species

Klitsa Antoniou’s project “Invaders” 

A brainstorming session is planned with Ruben Solar, a sound artist from Ibiza, who will compose the soundscape for the final work. The sounds of nature, the sea, and of the advancing civilization will create a well-thought-out mood and let your imagination flow.

A press conference based on the final concept of “Invaders” will take place at Theatro Polis, Municipal Arts Center.

Mallorca/
Ibiza

The famous  contemporary artist Lucy Orta is working in Mallorca and Ibiza on her project “Red Coral”.

Corallium rubrum is believed to be endowed with mysterious sacred properties in the past. In her project, Lucy evokes the symbolic bonds, ancestral rites or rituals associated with Mediterranean species, which are endangered because of the gradual loss of indigenous knowledge systems, climate change and human impact.

Lucy Orta has been working on the project “Lost Species” since 2020 and will go on with its second volume on the Balearic Islands. The on-site residency initially targets the research work on the endangered sea species in cooperation with local scientists and ecologists. The preliminary work has been done in Mallorca, the further research will be conducted in Ibiza.

The artisanal studio AAA on Palma specialised in ceramic and glass blowing   also will be involved in the final phase of the project – a sculpture based on the threatened Mediterranean species – Monk Seal and Red Coral that are common in the Balearic Islands.

Red Coral
Lucy Orta at work

Corallium rubrum; Lucy Orta with a prototype of the “Red Coral”

The open-dialogues and workshops will be
held with islander community at museum Es baluard. The public
discussion intends to explore the special relationships humans once had with
other living organisms, deep cultural and spiritual connections with animals
and plants.

Day-to-day residency – start 1st of October

Join  Artists’ Diaries during the Marlands project and see the progress of their works and travels around the islands. Every artist will keep a diary and share accounts of events throughout the island’s stay, and give hints to the hidden gems to visit.

 

Art Dissemination

One of the Marlands project missions is to develop the communication between the islands and revitalize the local cultural and scientific connections. For this purpose, every artist is participating in recreation of his work on another island. The selected piece of art will be reproduced based on the artist’s “protocol” with the help of local partner institutions in the light of the island’s challenges.

Edgar Sarin’s work will be reproduced in Mallorca, Olga Sabko’s work – in Sicily, Lucy Orta’s works – in Malta, Ibiza and Sicily.

________________________________________________________________________________

MarlandsProject.com – on-line platform for Contemporary Art and Science around the Mediterranean. Follow us: @marlands, @maritima01 

Co-funded by The European Commission @europeancommission and supported by the project’s partners:

Time to visit islands!

Time to visit islands!

The time has come to take a break from the routine in the studio and feed the artistic creativity with real islander impressions. Starting from the end of September the residency artists Max Fouchy, Edgar Sarin, Olga Sabko, Klitsa Antoniou, and Lucy Orta will meet the scientists, craftsmen and technical teams on site in the Mediterranean islands to extend their artworks under the guidance of MARLANDS project.

MARLANDS is a contemporary art project that unites artists and researchers to work together on art, cultural heritage, and ecological issues of the Mediterranean Islands, to promote their harmonious coexistence.

 

Malta

Edgar Sarin, a painter, and sculptor, will spend the art residency in Malta. His artwork idea is to address the most pressing water problematic on the Mediterranean islands: how to treat water and how to reuse it.

Several meetings will be held with the Malta Society of Arts, the nation’s oldest institution for the promotion of  arts and crafts since 1852, so they can contribute to the project “Ba’al”. 

“Ba’al” is meant to be a rainwater collector in the shape of the ancient amphora. The best place to find the inspiration for antiques is the local National Museum of Archaeology which boasts a spectacular artifacts collection of the Islands’ history. To learn more about the Maltese drainage system Edgar Sarin will also visit a 16th-century palace Casa Rocca Piccola and Valetta Underground Vaults – Malta’s secret tunnels. To evaluate the “Ba’al” from the scientific point of view, Edgar Sarin will meet Dr. Reuben Grima from the Department of Conservation & Built Heritage, University of Malta

Valetta Vaults

Underground Valletta are the passageways beneath Valletta along displaying the genius engineering entailed in the construction of this city.

Source: Heritage Malta

The main part of the residency program will be the intensive workshops with the technical team to create the prototype and discuss the exposition space, installation details and project finalization. A collaboration to happen is the one between the artist and the founder of Alka Ceramics Joan Haber. There will be two installations: an outdoor amphora to be embedded in the ground and filled with fresh water, while the indoor object is planned to be presented as an archeological find.

Alka Ceramics

Alka Ceramics – acknowledged Malta’s flag-bearer of all things to do with ceramics

Source: Google maps

Mallorca

Mallorca’s nature inspired Olga Sabko, a Ukrainian artist from Paris, to work on the endemic species of the island. Thus the key part of her residency work will take place in the Botanical Garden of Mallorca. The research of local plants will be carried on in collaboration with scientist Magdalena Vicens Fornés. Based on the gathered visual material Olga will create a series of botanical engravings.

AnticMALLORCA studio is a group of artisans who contributes to preserve the true artisan craftwork of the palm of Ses Madones de sa Llata de Capdepera. The craftsmen from the studio will show Olga the local techniques of weaving from palm leaves. The old tradition will help Olga to create a parallel between nature and culture, local plants and local goods. 

Palm leaves weaving

AnticMallora is an expert of palm weaving

The other part of Olga Sabko’s project is to “grow” the “Garden of the Past. Garden of the Future”, the installation that comprises several ceramic vessels in whimsical shapes, video art, and engravings. The ceramic vessels will be created in collaboration with local ceramic studio “AAA” and cultural arts artist Anastasia Egorova. The residency challenge is to find the right color of clay and glaze that would resemble Mallorca’s soil.

Island pottery

AAA ceramic studio is a creative place to get inspiration from the island nature, local traditions and modern trends;  Olga Sabko, source: boonparis.com/olga-sabko

 

To get inspiration and discover local features, Olga Sabko and Lucy Orta will visit Es Baluard museum. It has a collection of over 600 works of modern artists that show how local traditions revive in contemporary art.

Es Baluard Museu is one of the most outstanding spaces in Spain of its kind in Palma since 2004

Sicily

 

Sicily is the home of three active volcanoes – Etna, Stromboli, and Vulcano, in consequence, Max Fouchy, known as a contemporary abstract sculptor, could not ignore this phenomenon in his project. Fouchy’s visit to Sicily will include the workshop with Boris Behncke, a volcanologist and scientific partner of the Marlands.

Boris Berncke
Mount Etna

Volcanologist Boris Behncke, an expert on the possible dangers of one of the most active volcanoes Etna

Lava stone is an integral part of Sicily’s stone culture. It has been used for paving and curbing and is also used for carved architectural work. Max Fouchy is collaborating with Magda Masano, a ceramist from Catania, to create a system of hanging in lava stone to hold the sculptures made from plastic bottles.

Magda Masano sees creation as combination of memories and experiences, colours and  traditions

Plastic bottles are one of the key symbols of today’s environmental threat. And still they are the basics of Max’s sculptural installation. The confrontation of plastic with lava stone in the sculptural form is designed to underline the importance of reuse and transformation of materials.

With the help of Legambiente network Max Fouchy will conduct a workshop in Isola Catania. Legambiente network focuses on climate change, environmental justice, sustainable development and biodiversity protection. First, volunteers will collect bottles at the seashore, and then clean them up; afterwards Max will transform the plastic bottles into works of art. The knowledge and knowhow sharing will allow islanders to teach others thinking about sustainability. 

As to the piece of art, Max Fouchy’s project is designed to metaphorically turn the pile of plastic bottles into the clear transparent beauty of the sea in the shape of emerging molten lava.

Cyprus

Klitsa Antoniou focuses her research on the Marine Species Migration to Cyprus. The Lessepsian migration of sea species from the Red Sea to the Mediterranean Sea across the Suez Canal is due to climate change and heavy maritime traffic. Therefore her residency implies intensive work sessions with Jose Rafael Garcia March, the scientific coordinator of IMEDMAR-UCV. How has the climate changed in the last few years? What is the impact of biological invasion? Can we stop the tropicalisation process? Many questions are to be asked and, hopefully, some answers will be found.

Klitsa Antoniou focuses her research on the Lessepsian migration

The project “Invaders’’ will be presented via multimedia installation. Thus Klitsa will meet local researchers and craftsmen to implement their works in the general concept.

Alien Species

Klitsa Antoniou’s project “Invaders” 

A brainstorming session is planned with Ruben Solar, a sound artist from Ibiza, who will compose the soundscape for the final work. The sounds of nature, the sea, and of the advancing civilization will create a well-thought-out mood and let your imagination flow.

A press conference based on the final concept of “Invaders” will take place at Theatro Polis, Municipal Arts Center.

Mallorca/
Ibiza

The famous  contemporary artist Lucy Orta is working in Mallorca and Ibiza on her project “Red Coral”.

Corallium rubrum is believed to be endowed with mysterious sacred properties in the past. In her project, Lucy evokes the symbolic bonds, ancestral rites or rituals associated with Mediterranean species, which are endangered because of the gradual loss of indigenous knowledge systems, climate change and human impact.

Lucy Orta has been working on the project “Lost Species” since 2020 and will go on with its second volume on the Balearic Islands. The on-site residency initially targets the research work on the endangered sea species in cooperation with local scientists and ecologists. The preliminary work has been done in Mallorca, the further research will be conducted in Ibiza.

The artisanal studio AAA on Palma specialised in ceramic and glass blowing   also will be involved in the final phase of the project – a sculpture based on the threatened Mediterranean species – Monk Seal and Red Coral that are common in the Balearic Islands.

Red Coral
Lucy Orta at work

Corallium rubrum; Lucy Orta with a prototype of the “Red Coral”

The open-dialogues and workshops will be
held with islander community at museum Es baluard. The public
discussion intends to explore the special relationships humans once had with
other living organisms, deep cultural and spiritual connections with animals
and plants.

Day-to-day residency – start 1st of October

Join  Artists’ Diaries during the Marlands project and see the progress of their works and travels around the islands. Every artist will keep a diary and share accounts of events throughout the island’s stay, and give hints to the hidden gems to visit.

 

Art Dissemination

One of the Marlands project missions is to develop the communication between the islands and revitalize the local cultural and scientific connections. For this purpose, every artist is participating in recreation of his work on another island. The selected piece of art will be reproduced based on the artist’s “protocol” with the help of local partner institutions in the light of the island’s challenges.

Edgar Sarin’s work will be reproduced in Mallorca, Olga Sabko’s work – in Sicily, Lucy Orta’s works – in Malta, Ibiza and Sicily.

________________________________________________________________________________

MarlandsProject.com – on-line platform for Contemporary Art and Science around the Mediterranean. Follow us: @marlands, @maritima01 

Co-funded by The European Commission @europeancommission and supported by the project’s partners: