IIC Valletta
June 17 - August 16, 2026
MUŻA, the Malta National-Community Art Museum
Born as a three-stage itinerant journey, the project has gradually expanded, becoming a space for reflection on the ways in which individual and collective identities are constructed, transformed, and redefined over time, within a geography that has always brought together different cultures, languages, and visions.
Site-specific
For the Malta stop, a series of site-specific interventions and a selection of works have been conceived to enrich the dialogue with the host context.
The poem by Tomaso Binga selected for this stage is Rima di Mari, 2002. In dialogue with the island of Malta and its deep connection to the Mediterranean, the work resonates with the element of the sea, its intensity, and its role as a space of transit and of the redefinition of identity.
Gea Casolaro presents Chi utilizza più lettere vince, 2019, inviting reflection on the construction of meaning and on the possibility of cultural change grounded in dialogue and openness. She also presents the video Prima che la notte duri per sempre, 2015, which addresses oil exploitation and its environmental consequences, stressing the urgency of collective action before it is too late.
The exhibition is further enriched by Laura Pugno’s Ammophila arenaria, 2025, an amphora engraved with the image of the plant of the same name, which plays a crucial role in the stability of coastal dunes. In dialogue with the Maltese coastline, the work offers a reflection on nature’s capacity for regeneration and resilience.
TOMASO BINGA
Rima di Mari, 2002
Describe your image
Describe your image
Within the Roots of Resistance section, the visual poem Rima di Mari is also on display. The work takes on particular significance in relation to Malta, as it directly engages with the country’s insular condition and with the Mediterranean as a space of passage, encounter and waiting.
Its final verse, “PACE per TUTTI è giorno ... d'Attesa!!” (“PEACE for ALL is a day... of Waiting!!”), acquires a specific symbolic resonance. Surrounded by the sea and historically positioned at the crossroads of Europe, Africa and the Middle East, Malta becomes a metaphor for a threshold: a place that does not belong to a single identity, but is instead shaped by its continuous relationship with elsewhere. It is precisely this condition of waiting that characterises liminal spaces.
LAURA PUGNO
Ammophila arenaria, 2025
In Ammophila Arenaria, the focus is on the coastal ecosystem and the role of dune vegetation in the formation and protection of sandy shorelines. The work acquires particular resonance within the Maltese exhibition context, given the island’s strong relationship with the marine landscape.
At the centre of the work is an amphora engraved with the image of Ammophila arenaria, a plant that plays a crucial role in stabilising coastal dunes. The vessel is marked by fractures through which streams of sand escape, accumulating on the ground in small, distinct piles and symbolically evoking a process of dispersal and loss.
Like an hourglass, the gradual release of sand sets in motion a continuous cycle of fullness and emptiness, transforming the work into a reflection on the fragility of ecosystems and their progressive alteration.
GEA CASOLARO
Chi utilizza più lettere vince, 2019
With Chi utilizza più lettere vince, Gea Casolaro reflects on themes of hospitality and migration, showing how the addition of just two letters can transform the Italian word ostilità (“hostility”) into ospitalità (“hospitality”). Through a simple and immediate visual language, the work suggests the possibility of cultural change grounded in dialogue, openness, and the ability to recognise new generations of immigrants as a vital resource for the growth and transformation of society.
GEA CASOLARO
Chi utilizza più lettere vince, 2019
With Chi utilizza più lettere vince, Gea Casolaro reflects on themes of hospitality and migration, showing how the addition of just two letters can transform the Italian word ostilità (“hostility”) into ospitalità (“hospitality”). Through a simple and immediate visual language, the work suggests the possibility of cultural change grounded in dialogue, openness, and the ability to recognise new generations of immigrants as a vital resource for the growth and transformation of society.
