Interdisciplinary mural

How do you transform a dull tunnel into a reflection on a country’s past and present times? According to a group of Masters students from the Faculty of Education, one way of doing this is by highlighting interdisciplinary and ecological connections between history, contemporary politics and endemic species. Art is inherently interdisciplinary, exploring historical and cultural narratives, ecological challenges, philosophical questions about existence and identity or scientific concepts. An interdisciplinary creative research project developed in 2024 at the University of Malta brought together Prof Raphael Vella (art education), Dr Edward Duca (science education) and other academics who supported the research with lectures delivered specifically for this purpose: Prof Emanuel Buttigieg (History), Prof Nicholas Vella (Archaeology), Prof Joseph Borg (Genetics) as well as Prof Tom Scicluna (Fine Arts), who teaches at Florida International University.

The aim of the project was to expose the students to research about Maltese identity, nationhood, colonisation and more-than-human dimensions, developing discussions about identity as an evolving concept. The students carried out artistic research, working with the input of their lecturers (Prof Raphael Vella and Mr Robert Zahra) as well as Spanish mural artist Pep Walls, who travelled to Malta and spent a month working on the project with the students. The imagery they developed focuses on endemic species, loss of habitat, over-construction and the relationship between the environment and a country's economy. The notion of identity was broadened to include other species. We are who we are because we are part of an ecosystem.

Read more about the project in this article in The Times of Malta.

The project was supported by Arts Council Malta.