Sejjaħ lil Malta invites the audience to travel on traditional Maltese boats (Dgħajjes) while listening to seashells picked up from the shores of Sousse in Tunisia. This site-specific performance explores our changing perception of the Mediterranean Sea, a fluctuating space of many borders and a death trap for those seeking refuge. The Dgħajjes themselves, once a sign of movement and local craft, now tell a story of a privatised Mediterranean seashore. The seashells whisper oral histories from the community of boat drivers in Valletta struggling to make ends meet, refugees who survived the journey in the Mediterranean, and two artists, one in Sousse and another in Valletta, collaborating across the sea.
Sejjaħ lil Malta is the sound of the Mediterranean as a border.
First developed and commissioned as part of “Dal-Baħar Madwarha” exhibition, curated by Maren Richter, produced by Valletta 2018 and supported by The British Council.
Produced by Unfinished Art Space, within Figure It Out: The Art of Living Through System Failure, and presented as part of Malta Refugee Week 2024.