The Journey
by Rossella Biscotti
When and where?
30 sept. at 6pm / performance
1st oct. at 6pm / performance
2 oct. at 6pm / performance
3 oct. from 5pm to 8pm / installation
4 oct. from 5pm to 8pm / installation
5 oct. from 5pm to 8pm / installation
6 oct. from 5pm to 8pm / installation
7 oct. from 5pm to 8pm
8 oct. from 2pm to 6pm / installation
9 oct. from 2pm to 6pm / installation
Dar Mohsen - Institut National du Patrimoine
Artist: Rossella Biscotti
Sound artist: Attila Faravelli
Sound technician: Hubert Monroy
Artist assistant: Youssef Torjmene
with the participation of Noureddine Dziri, Sihem Harbaoui, Abderrazek El Kortbi, Khayreddine Debaya
Field recordings: Attila Faravelli
Sound editing: Giuseppe Ielasi
Audio recordings: Ravaccione and Michelangelo quarry in Carrara (Italy); Valletta harbour and on the Gozo coastline (Malta); in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea while navigating with the merchant vessel Diligence for the performance The Journey (20 — 24.05.2021); on the shores of El Haouaria, Kelibia, Beni Khiar, Gabes and Zarzis (Tunisia)
In order of appearance: mariners on board of the Diligence and radio ship, Rico Gevez (mariner), Timmy Gambin (associate professor of Archeology, University of Malta), Enrico Malatesta (percussionist), Kais El Rais (former fisherman,El Haouaria), Ines Ben Cheikh (Co-founder and CEO Samaka, Beni Khiar), Chemseddine Marzoug (fisherman, activist and founder of Cemetery of the Unknown, Zarzis), Moez Goubaa (ethnomusicologist, percussionist), Khayreddine Debaya (activist / part of Stop Pollution Gabes)
Special thanks to: Daniel Blanga Gubbay and Kunstenfestivaldesarts team; Blitz’s curator Sara Dolfi Agostini; Kristina Borg and Emna Lakhoua for research in Malta and Tunisia; Catalogtree for the GIS route; PLO operations’ manager Lewis Baldacchino; marine geologist Aaron Micallef; Anthony Gruppetta and Nature Trust Malta; Alarm Phone's activist Simeon Leisch; master mariner Ramon Espiritusanto, mate Vladimir Daniel Dalit, and mariners Javy Jones Torilla, Rico Gerez, Rene Bilal, Dennis Alcances, and Cesar Tayo; Youssef Ettourjoumene and L’Art Rue team; David Chaloiti for Tunisian-English translation; TBA21–Academy’s curator Barbara Casavecchia; Studi d’Arte Cave Michelangelo Carrara
L'Art Rue / Kunstenfestivaldesarts
In the framework of the project "Between Land and Sea", supported by the Kulturstiftung des Bundes, co-funded by the Creative Europe Programme of the European Union. With the support of the Italian Cultural Institute in Tunis.
Video
In 2010 I was awarded a 20-ton block of marble. One year ago, this rock was extracted and loaded onto a boat that sailed on a symbolic route between Italy, Malta, Tunisia and Libya, releasing the marble block into the Mediterranean Sea. The route, followed on GPS, was designed to highlight points of interest – from a geological rift to nautical borders demarcating oil and gas concessions, areas of military operations, or the migration of a sea-turtle crossing the patrolling lines of the European Border Agency FRONTEX.
The sound recorded on this journey beginning with the extraction of the marble, then along the shores of Malta and Tunisia finally leading to a location in the middle of the sea, is the starting point of the immersive eight channel sonic composition and sonic performance presented here. It includes the hum of engines; the ceaseless sea churn; the songs of seafarers and fishermen; the unique rhythmic matrix and resonances from ancient amphorae.