MALTA AS METAPHOR, video installation by  Myriam Thyes, 2008

Stills and synopsis

Scene 1: Gozo coast, ships from the times of the great naval battles crossing and drowning

ships 046

ships 101

ships 211

ships 320

ships 403

ships 415

Galeons, galleys, frigates, galeasses, ... cross along the coast of Gozo, and drown. When the Knights Hospitallers' galleys sink, the rows of the drowned galley slaves rise. In the end, a refugee boat lands, but the old ships push themselves to the foreground and grow huge, until their ropes and ties are replaced with barbed wire and fences from detention centres and from European borders.

(click on the images for larger views)