Art residency explores Gozo’s changing coastal landscape

An interdisciplinary art and research project exploring the changing relationship between people, heritage and the natural environment is being held at Tal-Qortin in Marsalforn throughout October.

Beyond What Drifts Us Apart (BWDUA), curated by Elyse Tonna, runs from October 5 to November 1 and brings together four artists-in-residence: Bettina Hutschek, Julian Micallef, Martina Georgina and Sébastien Schnyder.

The project examines lesser-known narratives embedded in the environments surrounding Malta’s historic coastal towers, focusing on how these sites have evolved as their original military and colonial functions have faded.

This year’s project centres on Tal-Qortin, a coastal area in Marsalforn that includes agricultural land used for grazing, private fields, a scrapyard and a recreational area developed on a rehabilitated landfill site.

Organisers said the absence of a standing tower at Tal-Qortin is central to the artists’ approach, with the remains and uncertain locations of collapsed structures raising questions about territorial boundaries, changes in land use and the legacy of defence, communication and waste.

The project adopts a post-anthropocentric perspective, focusing on climate justice, biodiversity and the relationship between human and non-human communities.

The residency will officially launch on October 10 between 6pm and 9pm at the BWDUA studio in Rabat, Gozo. The project was developed by Tonna as a multi-year research and residency initiative examining the less dominant stories associated with Malta’s historic coastal landscapes.

The Tal-Qortin site will serve as the main location for this year’s project, while the residency studio is located in Rabat, Gozo.