Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/563633
maltatoday, SUNDAY, 30 AUGUST 2015 30 This Week What were your initial aims with this project, and how did they evolve over time? To some degree you can say we just wanted to create this ex- hibition, called The Culture of Ageing. It's about ageing, about how societies deal with an ageing population and how elderly peo- ple are incorporated in culture. Artists that are participating are Ferhat Özgur, Libia Castro & Ólafur Ólafsson, Trevin Mat- cek, Louise Hervé & Chloé Mail- let, Vince Briffa, Adrian Abela, Femke Bakker, Gilbert Calleja, Kristina Borg, Bettina Hutschek and Azahara Cerezo. We will al- so show the documentary series 'UP' by filmmaker Michael Ap- ted as part of the exhibition. Content-wise, we wanted to create some sort of awareness about the issue of ageing, which we think is set to become one of the most crucial social issues of the coming decades. Our projects are always research-based, so we looked at the subject of ageing from various perspectives. Such as: what does 'ageing' actually entail? What are its consequenc- es? How should we deal with a growing population of people older than 65 years of age? Last year, during our first visit to Malta, we did our initial round of research and then developed our project proposal. We had al- ready decided on most of the ele- ments within the project by that point, and not much has changed regarding goals or focus. So you could say that the whole layout, or 'framework' if you like, was all set. The content, on the other hand, is what required the most hands-on work. The art works which form part of the exhibi- tion grew out of the video inter- views that we did – which will also be shown. What would you say were your biggest challenges with this project? We think the biggest challenge was actually organising this project in Malta, since we are based in Holland. How do you get in touch with the local com- munity, and make them want to collaborate with you while you are only here for such a short period of time? In the Maltese culture, the best way to arrange something, is to meet someone about it and discuss it. That's a bit more difficult if you live on the other side of Europe. How did you set about adapting to the Maltese environment, and what kind of 'intermediaries' did you employ to help you under- stand the Maltese milieu? For this project we're working together with quite a few part- ners – Care Malta, INIA (The International Institute on Age- ing, United Nations), Seniors helping Seniors, Active Ageing, Malta Today – and we've set up these collaborations ourselves. It's really great to experience that quite a number of people is really willing to collaborate with us for this project. But there have also been a lot of things we've had help with: finding people to be interviewed for the video interviews, finding people to work with, translat- ing, finding a place to stay for a few weeks, helping to sort out telephone problems, taking us to places for appointments, and so on. Jessica Galea, our project manager, has been doing all that and more, and we couldn't have done this without her. Jessica, along with our cam- eraman Josef Florian Micallef, served as able guides for us, and offered us a way into Maltese cul- ture that we wouldn't have had access to as lonely foreigners. How would you describe the 'exchange' that took place be- tween the Maltese and Frisian artists who formed part of this project? What kind of insights did they bring to your explora- tion of ageing across cultures? Maltese artist Adrian Abela spent two weeks in Groningen (The Netherlands) in April 2015, and Dutch artist Femke Bakker spent some weeks in Valletta during August. Adrian did re- search at the European Research Institute On The Biology of Age- ing (ERIBA), which is research- ing how cells age, and how they can prevent cells from ageing. While Femke is collaborating with CareMalta, and looking into how elderly people actually live in these elderly homes in Malta. We can't really say whether Femke and Adrian's projects lent any particular insight into the project. But in general, I think we've learnt a lot from the project as a while, and we're con- fident that the exhibition will re- flect this. Having undergone the bulk of the process, what kind of insights did you gain about how both of the respective cultures deal with ageing? What stuck us most is how, while the ageing population in Malta traditionally stayed home with their families, as time goes The aged are all of The exhibition for The Culture of Ageing will be taking place in the Main Hall at St James Cavalier Centre for Creativity August 31 to September 27 as part of the Valletta International Visual Arts Festival (VIVA). The film programme comprises three screening: Young @ Heart at Camarata Building, Merchant's Street on the September 2 at 20:00, Robot and Frank at St James Cavalier Cinema on September 4 at 20:00, and Boyhood at St James Cavalier Cinema on September 5 at 15:00. A free public lecture titled 'The End of the World as We Know It! The Coming of Population Ageing' is set for September 16 and will be delivered by the Director of the International Institute on Ageing, United Nations Malta, Dr Marvin Formosa, at St James Cavalier Cinema at 19:00. To reserve your place for the free film screenings and the free public lecture, please visit www.viva.org.mt. For further details contact the Valletta 2018 Foundation on info@valletta2018.org or 21242018. Ahead of the opening of their long-gestating interdisciplinary project – born out of a collaboration between Valletta 2018 and fellow capital for culture Leeuwarden – TEODOR RELJIC speaks to Dutch curators Lennard Dost and Mare van Koningsveld about 'The Culture of Ageing', which through a series of video interviews and an accompanying exhibition, looks into the different ways Malta and Holland treat their elderly Lennard Dost Mare van Koningsveld. Photo by Lennard Dost