MARLANDS at Es Baluard Museu

Es Baluard Museu collaborates as a partner in the European project MARLANDS, an initiative that brings together artists and research staff to address cultural and ecological issues on various Mediterranean islands. This project aims to implement collaborations between art and science with the aim of generating specific cooperation methodologies that address specific issues about the ecosystems of each place, environmental and social problems, to ultimately make known both the rich and important cultural heritage of the Mediterranean, as well as the vitality of contemporary practices.

MARLANDS is conceived as an international biennial through artist residencies that involve collaboration with the local scientific community and that are articulated through presentations, talks, workshops and conferences, both on the islands involved and throughout Europe. The main venues for the first edition are: Spazju Kreattiv (Malta), Isola Catania (Sicily) and Es Baluard Museu.

The residences, which foster the collaboration framework between local artists, creators and creators and the scientific community, have an online first part to limit the carbon footprint. The second face-to-face part brings together international researchers and artists with local artists. For a period of time, each artist creates a prototype (original work) and a protocol (instructions for reproduction) of her work of art in collaboration with artists from the chosen island for mounting/activation on another island.

MARLANDS aims to promote the coexistence of the Mediterranean culture in its natural environment. The Mediterranean islands are treasures that represent natural diversity and are also places with vulnerable ecosystems. Through art-science collaborations, the aim is to activate and promote interest in the cultural sector on the islands that have been threatened by their isolation from the mainland, especially due to the COVID-19 pandemic and its consequences. The idea is to promote interdisciplinary and ecological artistic production methods through cooperation between artists, scientists, venues and cultural institutions from our partner islands: Malta, Sicily, Mallorca, Cyprus and Corsica.

MARLANDS begins in June 2022. After closing the open calls, the artists selected by an international jury begin a two-stage artistic residency (online and face-to-face) and on-site work in September and October. The artist residencies are dedicated to fostering interdisciplinary and collaborative art projects on each of the partner islands, which can be followed in the artist diaries.

Starting in December 2022, the creators will present their work, first on the partner island and then in continental Europe. Specific dates of events and symposiums will be announced on the MARLANDS social media accounts.

The jury that selected the winning artists was made up of: Christina Baron (Musée National de la Marine, Toulon, France), Yvannoé Kruger (Poush Manifesto, Paris, France), Carlos Duran (LOOP Festival and Galería Senda, Barcelona), Ines Musumeci Greco (Acqua Foundation, Rome and Palermo, Italy), Alex Vaysse (Galerie Sono, Paris, France), Elisa Carollo (Imago Mundi Foundation, Milan, Italy & New York, USA), Christina Pomilla (Mediterranean Institute for Advanced Studies, IMEDEA, Majorca).