In 2014 Pierre Portelli was also commissioned to create four artistic projects to commemorate the 40th anniversary of the Republic of Malta. One of the projects, a large megaphone shaped steel structure, entitled ‘rePUBBLIKA’ was placed at Pjazza Teatru Rjal, near the entrance of the capital city Valletta, symbolic of the piazza, a contested but highly democratic space, itself synonymous with citizen gatherings and free expression. Strategically placed facing one side of the new Parliament building designed by Renzo Piano, ‘rePUBBLIKA’ celebrated the role of the citizen as the main protagonist in the democratic process of the Nation State. This was reflected in the use of sound and voice as the projection of democratic process and participation. In keeping with the previous installations ‘rePUBBLIKA’ was an interactive work which invited the viewers to become active participants by projecting their voices through its mouthpiece, an articulation and celebration of the founding principles of the Republic which include fundamental rights and freedoms of the individual including freedom of expression.10 Kirshenblatt Gimblett argues that for an ‘exhibition to be memorable, the experience must be emotional, but to be worth remembering, it must be thought provoking’.11 The installations by Portelli explore the meta-historical relationships between the past and the present. The sounds he presents offer a sample of the fusion as well as the complexities found in Malta. Questions on the island’s national and cultural identity persist, as do questions on its contemporary interpretation, on which stories to tell and how to tell them. Portelli’s installations immerse audiences inthe hybrid world down south, allowing them to question and contemplate on the complex fusion that each and every one of us truly is. Through Portelli’s narrativespecific installations, the ‘Land of the Sea’ blurs its borders and barriers, connecting the North with the South in multiple ways. The sounds of the Mediterranean have the potential to bridge the surrounding lands, allowing journeys of discovery and hopefully of transformation. They also provide the missing pieces for new narratives to evolve, as the land of the sea provokes thoughts of who we are and aspire to be. NOTES J. Machon, Immersive Theatres. Intimacy and Immediacy in Contemporary Performance (London, 2013), xiv. 2 www.pierreportelli.com 3 www.pierreportelli.com 4 A. Jackson and J. Kidd (eds.) (2011) Performing Heritage: Research, Practice and Innovation in Museum Theatre and Live Interpretation (Manchester and New York, 2011) 5 A. Jackson and J. Kidd, Performance, Learning and Heritage, Report on the research project funded by the Arts and Humanities Research Council, July 2005– November 2008, Centre for Applied Theatre Research, University of Manchester, 2008, 81.
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The titles of Portelli’s installations derive from the International Maritime Signal Flags system. 7 A.T. Luttrell, Medieval Malta. Studies on Malta Before the Knights, (London, 1975), 66-7. 8 The poem was written down by Caxaro’s nephew Brandano in his notarial register (Dec. 1533–May 1563). 9 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Il_Cantilena 10 www.pierreportelli.com 11 B. Kirshenblatt-Gimblett, ‘A theater of history: 12 principles’ in author Tygodnik Powszechny (Place of Publication, 2014).