Sigrun Drapatz & Kiki Gebauer (Germany)
About the Project
Malta is a strategic base for shipping, trade and military in the Mediterranean. Malta has also been a place of refuge for centuries. Traces bear witness to a long history. A country on the edge of Europe that raises our questions. History is characterised by topographical locations. What traces can be named that crystallise history, away from the beaten path? What narratives are alive in the Maltese population? Which places carry meaning? Which landscape structures are made for landmarks?
With Spazju Kreattiv’s support, we will meet experts in Malta’s topographical, botanical, historical, heritage and architectural fields. Our goal is to create a map of Gozo as a “handout” to residency guests. This map will bear “our” tracks. We will bring our tools: cameras, colours and chalk. In our explorations, we mark, denote, and describe the places that seem important to us: squares, gardens, buildings, landscapes, workplaces, places of customs and of remembrance. Temporary installations are created. Photographically documented, they accompany our detective work.
Q&A with the artists
1) Tell us a bit about yourself.
I work mainly with abstract and concrete forms and objects. Since I studied landscape planning many years ago and worked in the field for several years, I am still interested in interventions in public space and in the landscape, such as setting abstract signs against natural structures.
2) Tell us a bit about your art practice and what inspires you.
I am inspired by archaic forms, wild barren landscapes, breaks in many forms.
3) What do you hope to achieve with your residency in Malta?
In Malta I would like to emphasise existing structures of nature that have their own character as signs, highlight their specificity and discover a new world of signs.
Kiki Gebauer
Following the residency, Sigrun Drapatz and Kiki Gebauer have invited Prof. Raphael Vela, whom they were introduced to during their stay in Malta to deliver a talk in SCOTTY – an artist-run project space in Berlin. Prof. Vella is a lecturer at Arts, Open Communities, and Adult Education, Faculty of Education at the University of Malta. The recording of the talk ‘Between Engagement and Miracle Cure: Art, Education, and Solidarity’ may be found below:
Spazju Kreattiv Artists’ Residency programme is organised in collaboration with the Valletta Design Cluster and the Ministry for Gozo
