Mediterranean Sounds in Belfast
On Friday 8 April 2005, four young
Mediterranean writers, Nora Nadjarian (Cyprus), Frederico Zanatta (Italy),
Pavlina Ferfelli (Greece) and Adrian Grima (Malta) read their poetry and
prose at the Crescent Arts Centre in Belfast as part of the weeklong
activities of the Between the Lines International Literary Festival (4-10
April, 2005) organized by poet John Brown. All four Mediterranean writers
were invited to the festival after their participation in the Klandestini
festival held in Malta in November 2004. The Maltese percussionist Renzo Spiteri gave a
well-received solo performance and accompanied the reading of two of
Adrian Grima’s poems.
In her introduction to the readings by the “Klandestini”
writers, novelist Jo Baker (in picture, Nov 04, Malta) from Northern
Ireland spoke about her experience as a writer in Residence in Malta and
her participation in the Klandestini Festival for Emerging Mediterranean
Writers in November 2005, during which she chose the four writers who were
eventually invited to Belfast. The selection turned out to be “extremely
difficult” and she expressed her disappointment that it was not possible
to invite more Klandestini writers to the Between the Lines festival. “I
met some very talented writers, heard some amazing work, and saw some
performances that put my approach to giving readings of my work (which has
always been pretty much confined to walking up to the mike and reading out
of a book) to shame.”
“Frederico Zanatta, Nora Nadjarian, Pavlina Ferfelli and Adrian Grima, are all extraordinary writers, and I am delighted to be part of the process of bringing their work to the wider audience which it so richly deserves. Their work is often challenging, frequently socially and politically committed, and always beautiful. And what more, after all, can you ask for from a writer?”
Nora Nadjarian (left) was born in Limassol, Cyprus and
educated in the UK. She writes both poetry and short fiction, primarily in
English, although she has also had work published in Greek. The poems she
read in Belfast, like “Don’t Forget,” were taken from all three
collections of her poetry that have been published in Cyprus: The
Voice at the Top of the Stairs (2001), Cleft in Twain (2003)
and 25 Ways to Kiss a Man (2004). Her story “Ledra Street,” which
she also read in Belfast, was a runner-up in the Commonwealth Short Story
Competition in 2001, and she was commended again in the same competition
in 2002 for her story “Spoon Sweet.” Nora Nadjarian lives in
Nicosia.
The young Italian writer Frederico F Zanatta lives in
Treviso. He has worked with his friend Chiara Lee on “Father Murphy,” a
wide-ranging musical project within the Madcap
Project set-up. He also producing soundtracks for shortmovies
and plays and music for installations. He has collaborated with the
Turkish/French videomaker Baris Dogrusoz, working on texts, images clips
and live performances. At the Between the Lines Festival he presented his
short story, “Brief tales of St Louis & Lawrence.”
Pavlina Ferfelli was born in Athens in 1977.
She studied English literature at the University of Athens and as a
postgraduate at King’s College, London, specialising in 20th century
literature and culture. In 1999 she was awarded the University of Athens
Iphigenia Chrysochoos prize for her poem “Smyrni,” recounting the flight
of the indigenous Greek population of Asia Minor to the Greek mainland
after the pogrom of 1922. Her poetry was included in a-formes, a
yearly publication of the University of Athens. In Belfast she read,
amongst others, her poem “The Silver Journey,” with which she participated
in the Klandestini project.
Maltese Percussionist Renzo Spiteri
Maltese percussionist Renzo Spiteri was the guest performer during the Mediterranean night. He is always eager to discover new musical pastures and investigate, through performing solo or with other artists, “how different sounds and textures can fuse themselves to create an abstract, yet invisible, world that is then presented to the audience, each and every one of them interpreting the performance in their own way.” In solo performances he likes to allow more room for improvisations that draw inspiration from the physical space within which he is performing and from the event itself.
Renzo felt that the Crescent Arts Centre had what he
called “a Jekyll-and-Hyde effect” on him. The harsh neon lighting that hit
him when he was bringing his instruments into the performing space
contrasted sharply with the “intimate readings” of the four Mediterranean
writers and the “beautiful warmth” throughout the evening. “Therefore I
wanted my solo piece to be just an added ingredient to this setting. From
abstract sounds that evoke our sea and the winds that sweep our little
island of Malta to ostinato rhythms that are heard in folk and village
festa band music. Never too loud, actually at times it’s more like a
whisper, to maintain the intimacy created by the four
poets.”
“The Maltese poet Adrian Grima, who is also a very good friend of mine, was the last to read. We collaborated on two of his poems: from the ringing, at times dissonant, tones of the vibraphone on the love poem ‘Il-Forma ta’ Mħabbtek,’ to the soloing and ‘dialogue’ instances on the traditional tama (talking drum) of Africa for ‘Distances,’ dedicated to Adrian’s African friend and refugee Zing and his nephew. I felt it was a beautiful reunion since Adrian and I have, in the past, worked on quite a few similar collaborations. Between the Lines brought us on the same platform again.”
This was not Renzo Spiteri’s first artistic encounter with Belfast. Between September and October 2004 he did a residency period at SARC (Sonic Arts Research Centre), that is part of the Music Program at Queen’s University, Belfast, two hundred metres from the Crescent Arts Centre. As the name implies, SARC is a centre that investigates sounds and the manipulation of sounds, aided primarily by computer technology. “During my residency period I worked very closely with three composers from SARC. We wanted to see how I, as a live performer and as a musician who is employing more and more recycled and ‘raw’ materials as instruments, can integrate my music within such a computer-based environment.”“
The result of this six-week residency was “an unforgettable performance” in SARC’s Music Lab performing space. “The composers and myself soon realised that this is just the beginning of a long voyage of continued exploration. In fact, I was also invited to perform, together with the three composers, at the Sonorities contemporary music festival at Queen’s on April 28, 2005.” In September 2005 Renzo Spiteri will be giving solo performances in Dublin and Lisbon in collaboration with SARC composers. He will be performing again in collaboration with SARC during the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting in November in Malta.
In recent years, Renzo Spiteri has performed in Malta and in other countries with the Maltese contemporary dance group, Contact Dance Company, most recently in Volos, Greece, and Limassol, Cyprus. Their next performance together will be during the Malta Arts Festival at Pinto Wharf in Valletta in July. In October, he will team up with the Maltese installation artist Vince Briffa to perform in the official opening of “Re:Public” in Cork, Ireland (Cork 2005, EU Cultural Capital).
The participation of Renzo Spiteri and the Klandestini writers in the Between the Lines Festival and Renzo Spiteri’s residency at SARC were supported by The British Council and the Arts Council of Northern Ireland.
May 2005