MELA (Mediterranean Ethnographic Laboratory & Archives) organised a screening of the award-winning short film Cookie Box on 27 May. The event was held in collaboration with the Migrants Commission and the Archbishop’s Seminary. It was followed by a discussion entitled The Art of Awareness: Women, Film, and the Mediterranean, which brought together perspectives from the worlds of film, culture, and contemporary thought. Through both the film and the discussion that followed, participants were invited to reflect on how women’s experiences are represented, narrated, and heard within the Mediterranean context.
The event took place during a particularly rich period of encounters and exchanges of ideas. Earlier that same week, a walk around Marsaskala Bay and a workshop were organised as part of the pilot project Voices from Marsaskala Bay, being carried out in collaboration with the Department of Classics and Archaeology within the Faculty of Arts at the University of Malta.
Later in the week, Malta hosted the doctoral summer school Moral Theology in the Mediterranean, organised in collaboration with the VDTR of the University of Vienna (the Vienna Doctoral School of Theology and Research on Religion), as well as the conference Who Cares? Society, Religions, and the Concern for the Other, organised together with the Faculty of Theology at the University of Malta. Together, these initiatives brought students, academics, professionals, and members of the public into dialogue around questions of care, justice, representation, and human experience in the Mediterranean.
“One of the most beautiful things that emerged from these days was the opportunity to meet people from different backgrounds,” said Fr Jean Claude Attard, Coordinator of the Diocesan Presence in the Mediterranean. He added that these encounters naturally brought participants into contact with the Mediterranean Sea itself, because it cannot be separated from the rich tapestry of peoples who come from around its shores.
“The sea that surrounds us often appears to be merely a backdrop to our lives, yet it is in fact part of the way we think, remember, and encounter one another. Today, more than ever, the Mediterranean continues to invite us to slow down, listen more deeply, and pay attention to what connects us,” Fr Jean Claude Attard continued.
At a historical moment often characterised by division and polarisation, experiences such as these remind us of the value of encounter, attentive listening, and shared reflection as pathways towards a deeper understanding of one another and of the world we inhabit together.
For more information about MELA’s work, visit: https://mela.org.mt/.
