PONKS

PONKS is pleased to introduce two new members of the team:

PONKS Manager: Cyril Sancereau ponks.manager@gmail.com

Patron Relations & Public Relations: Michelle Amato amato.michelle@gmail.com

Michelle will support the development of patron relationships and communications, while Cyril will oversee management, partnerships, and strategic development across PONKS’ international projects.

We look forward to working together as we continue to expand our activities in Malta and internationally.

CURRENT PROJECTS

///////// Gwangju Biennale 2026

PONKS has been selected to represent Malta at the 16th Gwangju Biennale as a part of BEJN / In-Between, Malta's inaugural national participation in one of Asia's most significant contemporary art events.

For the Biennale, PONKS will present ROPE TEMPLE, a large-scale installation that draws on the symbolic and material histories of rope in both Malta and South Korea. Suspended within the exhibition space, hundreds of ropes form a temporaty architecture that visitors can enter and move through. The work explores themes of connection, memory, ritual and transformation, creating a space where poetry, sculpture and collective experience intersect.

Developed through an extended period of research in South Korea, the project brings together contributions from Korean and Maltese poets, artists and cultural practitioners. Through conversations, field research and collaborations across both countries, ROPE TEMPLE seeks to create a living archive of contemporary poetry and shared cultural narratives. The work forms part of BE/N / In-Between, a wider exhibition bringing together artists Norbert Francis Attard, Michael Quinton and PONKS in an exploration of the spaces between cultures, histories and ways of understanding the world.

The 16th Gwangju Biennale opens in September 2026.

///////// Poetry Research in South Korea

Throughout 2026, PONKS has undertaken an extensive research programme across South Korea in preparation for ROPE TEMPLE and future international projects. Working closely with poets, academics, publishers, booksellers and artists, the collective has been investigating the role of poetry in contemporary Korean society while building new cultural connections between Malta and South Korea. Meetings have taken place in Seoul, Gwangju and other cities, resulting in a growing collection of texts, recordings and conversations that will contribute to the Biennale project.

The research focuses on poetry not only as literature, but as a social and cultural force capable of creating new forms of community, memory and exchange. The project continues PONKS' long-standing interest in bringing poetry beyond the page and into public space.

///////// Systems for Poetry 2026–2027

Systems for Poetry is an ongoing programme exploring how poetry can exist beyond traditional literary contexts and become part of everyday public life. Supported by Arts Council Malta, the project investigates poetry as a social, spatial and material practice through interventions, workshops, residencies, publications and collaborative projects. Rather than treating poetry solely as a written form, Systems for Poetry considers how language can inhabit streets, buildings, objects, landscapes and collective experiences.

The programme serves as an evolving platform for experimentation and exchange, bringing together artists, writers and communities while contributing to the development of new approaches to contemporary poetry.

Many of PONKS' current international projects, including research undertaken in South Korea and China, emerge from questions first explored through Systems for Poetry.