Nhar it-Tlieta 14 ta’ Jannar 2020, fis-6.00pm, f’Sala Pietru Pawl Saydon (ALT) tal-Università ta’ Malta, Tal-Qroqq, il-fotografu u riċerkatur Gilbert Calleja se jagħmel taħdita bir-ritratti u l-filmati dwar l-esperjenza tiegħu ta’ riċerka fuq medda ta’ snin fuq lanċa tas-sajd Xlukkajra. Fit-taħdita, “Mhux Tradott u Intraduċibbli: Id-diskors f’dokumentarju etnografiku fuq lanċa tas-sajd,” Gilbert Calleja, li jaħdem fil-qasam tad-dokumentarju fotografiku, se jistħarreġ il-lingwaġġ użat mis-sajjieda.
Din se tkun il-ħames attività mis-sensiela fuq It-Tradizzjoni Orali, proġett li issa daħal fir-raba’ sena tiegħu. Dan huwa proġett immexxi mid-Dipartiment tal-Malti fl-Università ta’ Malta bil-Fondi tar-Riċerka tal-Università ta’ Malta u bl-appoġġ tal-Klabb Kotba Maltin.
Fit-taħdita tiegħu, Gilbert Calleja se jitkellem fuq l-esperjenza fit-tul li għamel fuq lanċa tas-sajd Maltija u fuq kif is-sajjieda jużaw il-lingwa. Illum mal-Maltin jaħdmu diversi barranin bħala ekwipaġġi u għalhekk id-dinamika fuq il-laneċ hi totalment differenti minn dik li kienet sa għoxrin, tletin sena ilu. Permezz ta’ diversi eżempji mix-xogħol awdjoviżiv tiegħu se jiddiskuti l-użu tal-lingwa biex tqanqal l-emozzjoni, toħloq tensjoni u tasal għal interpretazzjoni poetika fir-rakkont mhux mistħajjel.
Gilbert Calleja se jibda billi jħares lejn il-film etnografiku bħala riċerka msejsa fuq l-esperjenza diretta tar-riċerkatur jew ir-riċerkatriċi. Se jħares ukoll lejn ir-rwol li kellhom jew għad għandhom ir-riċerkaturi fit-tradizzjoni tar-rakkont mhux fittizju u jirreferi għal xogħlijiet speċifiċi ta’ nies bħal Louis Buñuel, Robert Gardner u l-Ethnographiċ Sensory Lab. Permezz ta’ diskussjoni dwar l-istruttura u d-dinamika ta’ kif naslu għall-għarfien fir-rappreżentazzjoni tal-“verità,” il-kelliem se jipprova juri kif u għaliex ir-riċerkaturi etnografiċi ħaddmu r-riżorsi awdjoviżivi biex jipproduċu dokumentarji.
Imbagħad se jħares lejn l-użu tal-kelma mitħaddta, il-mistoqsijiet li jitqajmu fil-proċess tat-traduzzjoni u x’tip ta’ impatt għandha t-traduzzjoni fuq ir-rakkont innifsu. B’rabta diretta ma’ dan, se jiddiskuti eżempji minn dokumentarji speċifiċi fejn it-taħdit jew ma ġiex tradott f’lingwa aċċessibbli għal udjenza wiesgħa (tħalla fil-lingwa oriġinali) jew tħalla barra kompletament. Il-kelliem huwa interessat fil-mod kif ir-riċerkaturi-diretturi, flok imponew tifsira huma, ħallew f’idejn il-pubbliku biex jipprova jaqta’ x’inhu jingħad jew x’inhu jiġri.
L-argument ta’ Gilbert Calleja se jkun marbut mal-problemi li jinbtu meta persuna fl-udjenza tirrelata mal-istampa, il-ħoss u l-kitba. Il-kelliem se jispjega kif il-fenomenoloġija għenitu jagħraf il-kwalitajiet espressivi tat-taħdit u wasslitu biex jifhem iċ-ċentralità tagħhom fil-proċess etnografiku tiegħu. Il-mistoqsija ewlenija li se jindirizza hawn hija dwar kif it-taħdit u l-kuntest li jseħħ fih influwenzaw ir-rakkont tiegħu bħala riċerkatur u produttur tad-dokumentarji?
L-esperjenza tiegħu jisma’ lis-sajjieda, jitkellem magħhom u jaqra mid-diarju miktub minn wieħed minnhom wasslitu biex jispekula fuq il-potenzjal tal-istrutturi tat-taħdit u tal-kitba bħala mudelli li fuqhom jista’ jibni rakkont etnografiku bħala dokumentarju għall-internet.
Gilbert Calleja, li twieled fl-1978, huwa fotografu u riċerkatur li jiffoka fuq temi soċjali f’Malta u fir-regjun tal-Mediterran u jiddokumenta nies u sitwazzjonijiet fuq medda ta’ snin sħaħ ta’ riċerka.
Bħalissa qed jagħmel dottorat mas-Centre for Research and Education in the Arts and Media (CREAM) fl-Università ta’ Westminster, Londra fejn qed jinvestiga l-potenzjal ta’ pjattaformi medjatiċi ġodda bħala għodda għal rakkonti mhux fittizji. L-interessi prinċipali tiegħu jinkludu proġetti ta’ kollaborazzjoni bħala metodi ta’ riċerka u formati multimedjali bħala strutturi ta’ rappreżentazzjoni. It-titlu tar-riċerka tiegħu hu “Identity and the Maltese fisherman: challenging stereotypes througħ multi-media platforms – a practice-based case study.”
Ix-xogħol tiegħu kien parti mill-padiljun Malti fil-Biennale ta’ Venezja fl-2017. Kien ukoll wieħed mill-artisti magħzula għall-wirja kollettiva “Dal-Baħar Madwarha” organizzata mill-Fondazzjoni Valletta 2018. Wirjiet oħra tiegħu jinkludu “Lampara” (Berlaymont Buildings, Brussell, 2017); “L.O.M.L.” (ma’ Matthew Attard) film qasir tal-poeżija kkummissjonat minn Inizjamed għall-Festival Mediterranju tal-Letteratura ta’ Malta tal-2016; u l-wirja “The Culture of Aging” (Valletta, 2015). Xogħlu ntwera f’”Les Rencontres de la photographie d’Arles” u fil-festival “Caochangdi Photospring” f’Beijing.
Gilbert Calleja studja l-Istorja tal-Arti fl-Università ta’ Malta u l-prattika artistika fl-Università ta’ Parigi, Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne (2004). www.gilbertcalleja.com
Taħdita u ritratti ta’ Gilbert Calleja
Title: Untranslated and untranslatable: speech in ethnographic filmmaking. A case-study with a Maltese fishing boat.
In this presentation I will be discussing my long-term experience working with a Maltese fishing boat and the fishermen’s use of language. Through various audio-visual examples from my fieldwork I will discuss the use of speech as a way to generate emotion and as an opportunity for tension and poetic interpretation in non-fiction storytelling.
Starting by defining ethnographic film as experiential research and its position within the non-fiction storytelling filmmaking tradition I will them proceed to look at specific works by the likes of Louis Bunuel, Robert Gardner and the Ethnographic Sensory Lab. Exploring the structures and dynamics of sense making in the representation of the real, I will try to expose how ethnographers working as documentary makers have conducted and processed audio-visual research and to what effect.
I will then focus on speech and the questions surrounding the way it is translated and how translation influences the storytelling process. More importantly I will also look at instances in documentary making where speech has been either left in its original language, thus leaving it up to the public to understand or guess what is being said on screen, or has been edited out completely. Alluding to the problems surrounding subtitling and the relationship between images, sound and text I engage in a phenomenological reading of my own research with Maltese fishermen to highlight the inherent expressive qualities of speech as an essential part of the ethnographic encounter. How have speech and the conditions in which the spoken word is uttered shaped my storytelling process?
Informed by my own experience of talking and listening to fishermen as well as my reading of the log-book/diaries of one of the fishermen I hypothesize on the potential of tapping into the dynamics of dialogue and the written account as structuring models for developing web-based non-fiction storytelling interfaces.
Keywords: Ethnography, storytelling, representation, speech, translation, engagement
Gilbert Calleja (b.1978) is a documentary photographer focusing on long-term socially engaged projects in his native Malta and around the Mediterranean.
As a practice-based PhD researcher at the Centre for Research and Education in the Arts and Media (CREAM) at the University of Westminster, London, Gilbert is looking into the potential of new media platforms for non-fiction storytelling. He is particularly interested in collaborative ethnographic processes and multimedia representations. The title of his research is ‘Identity and the Maltese fisherman: challenging stereotypes through multi-media platforms – practice-based case study’.
A selection of photographs from his three-year project working with transgender individuals in Malta was recently shown at the Venice biennale (2017) as part of the Maltese pavilion. He has also produced a 5.1 immersive audio piece for ‘Dal Baħar Madwarha’ exhibition as part of the Valletta2018 (European City of Culture) cultural events programme. Other recent exhibitions and commissions include Lampara (Berlaymont Buildings, Brussels, 2017), ‘L.O.M.L.’ short film commissioned for the Mediterranean International Literature festival (2016) and VIVA, The culture of Aging (Valletta, 2015). His work has also been shown at the Rencontres de la Photographie d’Arles and the Caochangdi Photospring festival in Beijing.
Gilbert has worked as a freelance photographer and studied history of art and fine arts at the University of Malta (2000) and the university of Paris, Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne (2004).
It-Tradizzjoni Orali 