Artist takes to streets to protest commercial takeover of public spaces

A new performance piece is taking aim at the encroachment of public places and reflecting on the relationship that people have with the dwindling free open spaces around them.

Malta Ħanina? Tużana u Tarmina is a collaborative performance piece that combines music, poetry and dance to create a commentary on how people’s ability to enjoy public spaces is constantly under attack.

Created by Ġagħel Dingli as part of the Artivisti mentorship programme, the artist said she wanted to collaborate with poet Francesca Sammut and music producer Funky Monkey to express the frustration she feels at the way private commercial interests seem to be continuously prioritised over public common good when it comes to the use of public open spaces.

“I wanted to create the piece to showcase our relationship with public spaces and how that is reflected in the people that we consider to be less than ourselves,” she said. “The connective factor is vulnerability and increasingly, access to public spaces is becoming vulnerable.”

The 22-year-old, who recently graduated from the Trinity Laban Conservatoire of Music and Dance in London, said collaboration was an important factor in creating the piece,...