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29 THIS WEEK CHILLI CHARM – PGS 36, 37 down maltatoday, SUNDAY, 31 AUGUST 2014 SCANDI SADNESS – PG 34 PERENNIAL PARIS – PG 38 to the practical realization of the scenes in the shoot. There are also photos. Both exhibitions are posted on a huge poster outside of the re- spective buildings. In EAFIT, some scenes overlap with Sala U, but here the emphasis is on the ending. For the first time we have this projected in a row of seamlessly contiguous projections, flat on the wall. The added serendipitous bonus is the reflections of these images on the floor, as if Emma were already bur- ied. In both exhibitions, Loving Léon is installed exactly as we had envisioned it: in a cinema-like space. In both spaces, the public consists largely of faculty and students, and others with enough intellectual and artistic interests to penetrate through the very serious security gates. In view of what I just said, we have selected for the project in Valletta elements address the predicament of capitalist lures clothed in emotions – we call it "emotional capitalism". We have eliminated the story that inspired the larger project – Flau- bert's 1856 novel Madame Bovary that predicts both psychoanalytic and Marxist insights from decades later – and limit the installation to a descriptive-experiential presenta- tion of an issue that is in fact new for this work and so far, unique for Val- letta: the reversed logic of cause and effect. In terms of the material, it overlaps largely with the exhibition we had in Estonia earlier, plus the photographs included in Valletta and not in Estonia. The works were especially edited from our footage to show states of stagnation. The way we present these in the festival takes advantage of the long corridor-like space. This allows us to make a long range of works addressing the effects of emo- tional capitalism, and only then the causes – in disappointment, bore- dom, communicative poverty. We feel very lucky that Raphael Vella is clearly very communicative and an expert curator, with a fine sense of the space and a deep understanding of the works. This is where email and internet are fantastic tools. And the Valletta International Visual Arts festival is a brilliant context for this work. We are very pleased and proud to be part of VIVA, and of the curatorial school. It's exactly right for our work, and I am sure interac- tion with the other guests and art- works will be very inspiring. Mieke Bal's 'State of Suspension – SOS' (in collaboration with Benny Brunner) will be showing at Pjazza Teatru Rjal on September 3, while 'Madame B' (in collaboration with Michelle Williams Gamaker) will be showing at the same venue on Sep- tember 4. Both events start at 21:00, and are free of charge. For more in- formation about the festival, log on to: www.viva.org.mt Poetry across borders TEODOR RELJIC speaks to poets Peter Semolic (Slovenia) and Marc Delouze (France) ahead of their visit to the Malta Mediterranean Literature Festival, taking place at the Msida Bastion Historical Garden, Floriana, on September 4 to 6 MARC DELOUZE W hat are some of your key themes and/or preoccupa- tions as a poet? Time (the one that persists in making us believe it exists). Memory (the one that we ig- nore, i.e. – the real one). Death (which is not the opposite of life, but its completion – just like one completes a painting, a work of art, a concerto…) W hat have been some of the most important milestones of your career so far – both in terms of actual publishing, and beyond? In chronological order: The first four poems of mine that were published in Les Lettres français by Louis Aragon: he was like a devilish Santa Claus in my life as a 'poet'. The birth of my daughter, Marie. Break- ing away from Communism. W hat do you think is the role of poetry in the world to- day? Trif ling, because profound- ly essential: poetry says that which language is meant to conceal (especially in the way language is generally used). Do you think poetry can serve as an important facilitator of inter-cultural dialogue? After music, painting, dance, movies… and food. How important is transla- tion in this day and age? It is essential in its attempt to serve as an important facilita- tor of inter-cultural dialogue, as you said in the previous question. W hat are some of the most significant challenges when it comes to translation? Forgetting oneself without forgetting one's language. Does having English present more problems than solutions to the non-English writing poet? That's a strange question… for a non-English speaker, Eng- lish is all Chinese, isn't it ? W hat have been some of the most interesting 'findings"' for you, as you set about ex- ploring how poetry can con- nect with urban life? People's curiosity, something which is ignored by poets, but also by those who drive that same curiosity (urban life). PETER SEMOLIC What are some of your key themes and/or preoccupations as a poet? At the beginning I was fasci- nated particular by the sound, so my early poems were close to the sound/concrete poetry. Later I realized that in this form I couldn't write about topics which were important to me. Slowly I changed my style to- wards a more narrative poetry. Finally I started to write about my childhood, and eventually I became able to write love poetry and erotic poetry. These days I am obsessed by poems in prose, and I write about the violence in the modern world. My most recent poems are more or less written in this form and they speak of various forms of vio- lence: from individual violence to violence of politics. What have been some of the most important milestones of your career so far – both in terms of actual publishing, and beyond? The most important milestone in my career was when I met Dane Zajc, one of the greatest Slovenian poets of 20th century. Dane is my master, my teacher even my poetry is very different from his poetry. The next mile- stone is my third book of poetry, A House Made of Words (1996), because there I found my own style. The book also won the big- gest prize for poetry in Slovenia, award of Simon Jenko, named by the Slovenian 19th century poet, and consequently had an impact on young Slovenian poetry of that time. What do you think is the role of poetry in the world today? Poetry can assume different roles, it depends on the his- torical and cultural context: in Slovenia the poetry played an important role in the national movement from 19th century till the independence of Slove- nia; today it is more or less mar- ginalized and it holds a position very similar to that of poetry in France, England, Germany. But this doesn't mean that poetry no longer has a role. According to Ernesto Sabato, poetry plays the same role in the life of hu- man kind as the dreams play in the life of individual. For me personally, poetry is a form of eroticism: here I'm a follower of Georges Bataille. Do you think poetry can serve as an important facilitator of inter-cultural dialogue? Yes it can, and in my opinion it does. Through translations of poetry we are in touch with the deepest sentiments of people from other cultural environ- ments. So translations are very important. How important is transla- tion in this day and age, and what are some of the most significant challenges when it comes to translation? I'm not a lingustic relativist so I believe in the possibility of trans- lating poetry. But this is a very hard job, because the language of poetry is culturally marked, it is full of lingustic idioms and so on. English is very helpful as a lingua franca – through English we can translate even from lan- guages the translator may not be familiar with... with a lot of help from the authors of course. What led you to decide that you didn't want to "play the part of the poet" for – what turned out to be – a 20-year period? In the period of communism Slovenian poetry was very her- metic, poets used this way of speach to express their thoughts and feelings about the totalitaris- tic regime – this was very power- ful poetry. In the transition from communistic regime to democ- racy poetry has become more communicative, we started to talk about our personal experi- ence, everyday events and so on. Today we can define the main- stream of Slovenian poetry as 'poetry of experience'. Slovenia is right now in deep economic, political and cultural crisis and somehow this kind of poetry can no longer confront reality – it has become tired, even boring. From my point of view we need to invent new forms, new lan- guage – in my last book (which is not yet published) I moved towards "found poetry". Perhaps this is the right way to make po- etry more interesting and chal- lenging again. We'll see… The Malta Mediterranean Lit- erature Festival is organised by Inizjamed. For more information log on to http://inizjamedmalta. wordpress.com/ Photo by Nina Medved