The Office of the Deputy Prime Minister and Ministry for Foreign and European Affairs and Trade presents Living on the Edge, an artistic exploration of the effects of climate change, particularly sea-level rise, by Peter Paul Barbara. The exhibition, held at the Rudy Buhler Art Gallery in Marsaskala, will also feature a literary event in collaboration with Inizjamed.

Foreward from Mr Christopher Cutajar, Permanent Secretary, Office of the Deputy Prime Minister and Ministry for Foreign and European Affairs and Trade

Picture of Christopher Cutajar, Permanent Secretary

Christopher Cutajar, Permanent Secretary

As the world grapples with the profound implications of climate change, one of the most serious challenges we face is sea level rise. This phenomenon, driven by melting ice caps and the thermal expansion of seawater, poses a significant threat to states and coastal communities around the world.

The Office of the Deputy Prime Minister and Ministry for Foreign and European Affairs and Trade is proud to be launching this event which aims to highlight the multifaceted impacts of rising sea levels, exploring its far-reaching social, economic, and environmental implications. It is a call to action for policymakers, researchers, and communities alike to confront the realities of climate change with urgency and resolve.

The evidence is irrefutable: climate change affects everyone. Extreme weather events are increasing natural disasters and aggravating impacts on natural resources that are already under threat. Lives and livelihoods are under threat from climate change and rising sea levels. Entire cultural landscapes are at risk of being submerged, eroded, or irrevocably altered.

We are not merely witnessing a gradual change; we are facing a crisis that demands immediate attention and coordinated global responses. It is why Malta, as an island state, has chosen to shine a spotlight on sea level rise as a matter of priority in its foreign policy, and has championed the cause during its tenure on the United Nations Security Council during 2023-2024.

The Office of the Deputy Prime Minister and Ministry for Foreign and European Affairs and Trade is proud to be launching this event as an opportunity to bring together a diverse array of voices and perspectives, highlighting the importance of interdisciplinary collaboration in addressing the complexities of sea level rise.  From a photographer’s lens to selected authors’ perspectives, our renowned contributors provide invaluable insights into the challenges we are facing as a result of the impacts of rising seas.

Let us be reminded that the fight against sea level rise is not solely about protecting coastlines; it is about safeguarding our shared future.

We must harness our collective knowledge, resources, and creativity to confront this challenge head-on. Together, we can forge a sustainable path that not only addresses the immediate threats posed by rising seas but also paves the way for a more resilient and equitable world.

The time for action is now.

Picture of Simone Borg Malta’s Ambassador for Climate Action

Simone Borg Malta’s Ambassador for Climate Action

As Malta’s climate action ambassador, I feel particularly honoured and responsible to carry on Malta’s legacy on climate action at the global level. The Maltese initiative on climate change in 1988 can be considered as the genesis of climate diplomacy. It was in fact Malta that requested the 43rd session of the General Assembly to include climate change on its agenda. Malta then managed to achieve consensus on a Resolution that declared climate change as a common concern of humankind. The Maltese initiative was innovative in many ways. It highlighted the need, perhaps for the first time, that diplomacy needs to respond adequately to scientific evidence. So much so, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), was set up shortly after Malta’s initiative, and it influences developments in climate diplomacy each time it issues its famous Assessment Reports.

Malta had referred to sea level rise, at the time as one of the most dire consequences of climate change. Malta urged the International community to provide an adequate legal framework to address this existential threat. The rest is history. The climate treaties, particularly the Paris Agreement ushered in a new form of diplomacy, that cuts across a myriad of sectors such as energy, agriculture, trade and transport. Climate diplomacy is omnipresent in all bilateral, regional and multilateral agendas, in its quest to achieve decarbonization and climate neutrality by mid-century.

As climate action ambassador for Malta I was proud to be part of the team that focused on sea level rise as a thematic area during Malta’s tenure as an elected member of the security council. Malta organized a dialogue on sea level rise as a global security threat, which heightened the diplomatic debate on this sensitive aspect which threatens not only lives and livelihoods, but also risks threatening statehood rights emerging therefrom because of partial or complete inundation of coastal States.

I am also proud that part of my work involved the launch of Malta’s Island for Island Initiative, whereby Malta assists other small island developing states, which are negligible contributors to the problem of climate change but the most disadvantaged in terms of impacts. Malta shares their geo physical realities and economies of scale. It has also the advantage of being an EU member State with a robust legal and policy framework on climate action. This endows us with a responsibility to support other States, which share our realities. As micro island nations our challenges to decarbonize are bigger because of the influence of external factors over which we have no control, but we have the advantage of being a small community, which facilitates cross-sectoral accessibility and solidarity that are instrumental to ensure effectiveness. In this sense, Malta can team up with other island nations to prove that decarbonisation is key to economic, social and environmental well-being. Our major strength is the community-based approach. As we have seen throughout the pandemic and the rest of our nation’s history, it is crucial to adapt and build resilience to face unprecedented change.

Foreward by Curator Melanie Erixon

Peter Paul Barbara’s images address the pressing issue of climate change, particularly sea-level rise, through a collection of carefully selected photographic works. These pieces present a balance between documentary realism and Barbara’s unique artistic interpretations, all focused on this global challenge. The exhibition also explores sub-themes like melting glaciers, with powerful images of towering mountain peaks, and drought, symbolised through withered trees and dried roots and desertification. These pieces, often manipulated to emphasise dark, withered trees, evoke a sense of a Grimm fairytale with no happy ending — perhaps a foreboding glimpse of the future. This darkness is contrasted with fresh, macro images of green and dried leaves, revealing details invisible to the naked eye and offering a glimmer of hope amid the tense situation.

A prominent theme is forest fires, with one striking image showing firefighters battling a blaze, the only photograph featuring human figures. Other images depict trees silhouetted against massive fires, blending haunting beauty with devastating destruction. Barbara also addresses overdevelopment, which drives environmental damage. Using photo manipulations and mirrored images of skyscrapers, he creates visually compelling compositions, highlighting the paradoxical beauty of overdevelopment while addressing its environmental toll.

Sea-level rise, the exhibition’s central theme, is depicted through a mix of realistic and manipulated images. These range from rough seas and storms to natural water phenomena like whirlpools, demonstrating the power of water and its looming threat. One of the most powerful works, in my view, is a striking image of Maltese saltpans, arranged in a beautiful pattern. These saltpans, an iconic feature of the islands, will be among the first to disappear as sea levels rise, making this piece particularly poignant.

The issue of sea-level rise has been explored through various exhibitions and art installations worldwide. One notable example is the 2019 light installation Lines (57° 59´N, 7° 16´W) by Pekka Niittyvirta and Timo Aho. This outdoor piece uses sensors to detect high tides, triggering synchronised light lines to represent future sea levels if climate change continues at its current pace. The installation, located on the low-lying islands of Uist in the Outer Hebrides off the west coast of Scotland, serves as a stark visual warning of the dangers these communities face. An interesting parallel that arises from this installation is how lit beacons have served as a warning to ships at sea about the dangers of land, while by contrast, the installation uses the same power of light to warn the land, of the coming incursion by the sea.

Another visually striking installation is Ana Teresa Fernández’s On the Horizon (2022), which addresses projections of a 6.5-foot sea-level rise by 2100. Fernández created 6-foot-tall transparent columns filled with seawater and installed them at the shoreline, marking the boundary between land and sea and symbolising the future inundation.

To further emphasise the importance of the issue, the exhibition includes a literary component in collaboration with Inizjamed, featuring commissioned writings by Keith Borg, Tyrone Grima, Omar N’Shea, and Loranne Vella, exploring the effects of climate change and sea-level rise.

Picture of Melanie Erixon

Melanie Erixon

Melanie Erixon holds a BA (Hons) in History of Art (Malta) and read for an MA in Museum & Heritage Management (Newcastle). She also attended various courses in curation at the Sotheby’s Art Institute.

Erixon was part of the Mdina Cathedral Contemporary Art Biennale team for two editions of the Biennale, under the artistic direction of Giuseppe Schembri Bonaci. She produced and presented two radio show series on Campus FM, one about the Mdina Biennale, Culture Vulture and Savoir Faire which tackled the subject of Design.

Her first experiences with exhibition curation were at STUDIO 104 (today DESKO), in Valletta, where she cocurated various exhibitions as part of her internship, with Michelle Morrissey.

From 2015 to 2018, Erixon was the coordinator of the Strada Stretta Concept - a project under the auspices of the Valletta 2018 Foundation - where she oversaw around 90 cultural events throughout the years, including operas, fashion shows, concerts, poetry evenings, lectures, art exhibitions, theatre, and other cultural events.

Erixon is the founder of the online gallery Art Sweven, which also provides a curation service. She is currently the resident curator at il-Kamra ta’ Fuq, in Mqabba, where art exhibitions are hosted monthly. She has curated several exhibitions at various locations in Malta and has also curated a group exhibition in Noto, Sicily. Erixon has been part of the art4mccf committee for the last three years and she writes exhibition reviews for local newspapers.

Melanie is extremely passionate about art and is also an avid collector of contemporary Maltese art.

Photography Exhibition 18th – 27th October

Picture of Peter Paul Barbara

Peter Paul Barbara

Peter Paul Barbara started photography at a very early age and later on studied reprographics and colour processes at Crosfield College in Watford UK.  In 1997 he was made Associate Member of the Royal Photographic Society and the Masters Photographers Association of Great Britain.

His work has been published both locally and abroad and has also featured in international publications including the UK magazine, People in Camera. He has received various local commissions from public and private agencies, and his field of specialisation is industrial maritime landscapes, seascapes and landscapes, fine art photography as well as editorial photography.

A warranted teacher by profession, Barbara was visiting Lecturer at BSc Level in Applied Photography and Digitisation for Cultural Heritage between 2001 and 2005 within the Institute of Cultural Heritage of the University of Malta and the Malta National Centre for Restoration and Documentation of Cultural Heritage.

Throughout his photography career, Peter Paul had set up a number of personal exhibitions the largest of which was Steel 2001-The Moulding of a Small Nation, was opened in 2002 in the foyer of the European and International Trade Union Confederation General Headquarters in Brussels and later at the St James Cavalier in Valletta and the Trees of Buskett - Agents of the Sublime , also at St. James Cavalier National Art Centre and MedNet at the Crossroads of the Mediterranean at the Auberge d' Italie in Valletta.

Gallery

One-Man Exhibitions

Hamrun, it’s Culture and People
The Hamrun Culture Hub
Hamrun – 2024

Combating Violence Against Women – The Role of Men and Boys
The National Parliament
Parliament House
Valletta – 2023

Malta Metro
Pjazza Putirjal
Valletta – 2021

The First Ten Years
Transport Malta Centre
Lija – 2020

Malta’s Harbours
International Maritime Forum
Hotel Excelsior
Valletta – 2015

Mednet – At the Crossroads of the Mediterranean Sea
Auberge d’Italie
Valletta – 2014

The Trees of Buskett
The National Centre for Creativity
St. James Cavalier
Valletta – December 2013

Malta – 60AD
Maritime Museum Vittoriosa
for APS Bank to commemorate Papal Visit of John Paul II in Malta
(Curated by Dr Jevon Vella)
Vittoriosa – 2010

Sacred Places
Comune di Spoleto
Lazio Region
Italy 2004

Steel 2001
The Moulding of a Small Nation
The National Art Centre for Creativity St James Cavalier
Valletta – 2002

Steel 2001
The Moulding of a Small Nation
ETUC GHQ
Brussels – 2001

The Works of National Sculpture Anton Agius
Gallerija Liberta Valletta
Valletta – 2000

Inside a Walled City
The Mdina Restaurant
Mdina -1998

Primordial Engravings
National Museum of Fine Arts Contemporary Gallery
Valletta – 1997

Collective Exhibitions

Facing Future Challenges through Intercultural Dialogue
Commissioned European Representation Malta
Auberge d’Italie
Valetta – 2008

Sacred Art
Gallerija Liberta
Valletta – 2001

All That Jazz
The Malta Jazz Festival
Gallerija Liberta
Valletta – 2001

The Silent City
Mdina Festival
Mdina Restaurant
Mdina – 1998

Citta Vittoriosa
Malta National Tourism Organisation
Societa Muzikali San Lawrenz
‘Palazzo Huesca
Vittoriosa – 1997

Selected Books and Publications

T-21 – A Transport Malta Annual – 2022

T-21 – A Quarterly Publication – since 2021

The First Ten Years (Photography) – Transport Malta – Ed Dr Maria Brown Transport Malta -2020

MEDNET – At the Crossroads of the Mediterranean – 2015

The Trees of Buskett – Agents of the Sublime – 2014

Elements of Change – 2007

Steel 2001 – 2002

Premordial Engravings – Exhibition Catalogue 1997

In Memoriam – 1999

Literary Event 27th October

Inizjamed

Inizjamed is a voluntary non-governmental cultural organisation  founded in 1998 in Malta that is committed towards the regeneration of culture and artistic expression in the Maltese Islands and actively promotes a greater awareness of the cultures of the Mediterranean. Inizjamed is a secular, non-partisan organisation that acknowledges that every generation must seek to create its own language and both respond to realities of its day and look beyond them.

The organisation is project-based. Its lean internal structure reflects its emphasis on concrete action and fruitful collaboration with all those with whom it shares common goals. Inizjamed believes that cooperation and partnership are far more effective in the long-term than competition.

Inizjamed is an independent organization that is not linked to any institution

Authors

Picture of Keith Borg

Keith Borg

Keith Borg (1984) studied Communications and Maltese at the University of Malta. He graduated with a Masters in Literary Tradition and Popular Culture (2014). Borg participated in numerous literary events, both locally and internationally. In 2017, he published his first work, a poetry collection titled hemm qarsa fil-vers (Klabb Kotba Maltin). He published a short story in the anthology Skariġġi (2012) and some of his poems were translated and published in Slovenian and Greek. In 2021, he published a short story collection titled Il-Parabboli tal-Imġienen (Merlin Publishers). This collection was nominated for the ‘National Book Prize’ (2022). In 2023, he published a long poem, magħġuna fit-tbenġil (Ede Books), as a reaction to the femicide of Bernice Cassar. Borg is a member of the literary NGO Inizjamed. He delves into literature as a way to understand the world, humanity, and himself.

Picture of Loranne Vella

Loranne Vella

Brussels-based Maltese writer, translator and performer Loranne Vella is the co-author of the award-winning fantasy novels The Fiddien Trilogy. She is the author of two eco-fiction novels ‒ MagnaTM Mater and Rokit (winner of the National Book Prize in 2018, and awarded an English Pen Translates award in 2024) ‒ and the short story collection mill-bieb 'il ġewwa (published in translation as What will it take for me to leave, Praspar Press, 2021, shortlisted for the Society of Authors TA First Translation Prize 2022, and selected for Readers of Europe 2022 of the European Council). Vella’s Maltese translation of Bertolt Brecht’s Mother Courage and her Children was staged at the Manoel Theatre in 2022. Her most recent work is the novel Marta Marta, which won the 2023 National Book Prize. An extract from Marta Marta, translated into English by Kat Storace, has been selected for publication in The White Review Translation Issue in April 2024. Another extract, also translated by Kat Storace, was included in the IHRAM publication The Feminine Voice of Malta also in 2024. Vella is co-founder and co-editor of the online Maltese literary journal Aphroconfuso.

Picture of Tyrone Grima

Tyrone Grima

Tyrone Grima is a Senior Lecturer at the Malta College for Arts, Science and Technology (MCAST) where he teaches in the Department of the Performing Arts. Tyrone’s first novel Celibacy was published in 2007, followed by two collections of short stories, Frekwenzi Ħiemda (2012) and Frekwenzi Msikkta (2015). In 2013 he wrote his first LGBT novel Bep, followed by the queer novel Frammenti (2021), which won the award for best novel of the year. His latest novel Din il-Ġawhra ta’ Pajjiżna will be published in the coming month. He is also a theatre practitioner and has directed numerous plays in English and Maltese. He has also written original plays, his most distinguished works being Michel, the first LGBT play ever written in Maltese, and Zayden, a performance on the theme of homelessness.

Picture of Omar N'Shea

Omar N'Shea

Omar N'Shea is a scholar of the Assyrian Empire in the first millennium BC, with an emphasis on political history, literature, gender and masculinity. He is currently working on a monograph on eunuchs and castration as a bureaucratic strategy in the first empire in history. Another work in progress is the biography of the lost archaeological site of Bur Mgĭz, Malta. He is also preparing to translate Gilgamesh to Maltese. Omar has a Doctorate in History and Archeology of the Middle East from the University of Malta, where he is the Director of the International School for Foundation Studies. His essays on the work of translation from Gilgamesh into Maltese and queer modernity in Malta, which are already virtually published,will be printed in Anthology 1 of Aphroconfuso soon.

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