FLÂNEUR

1400x280x120CM

INDUSTRIAL PAPER ROOLS,

METAL RODS, BOOK, VIDEO,

POETRY

2025

FLÂNEUR is a framework developed by PONKS, rooted in the art of spontaneous encounters with people and place. Rejecting the scripted demands of mass tourism, this work celebrates the joy of discovery through human connection. In its first iteration, FLÂNEUR reimagines Hamrun-Malta's vibrant capital suburd-through poetry and poster art.

Ten independant business owners, hailing from Togo to Mauritius, Syria to Santa Venera, shared their stories: their lives, ties to Hamrun, and their hopes, dreams, and desires. PONKS transformed these intimate conversation into ten stream-of-consciousness poems, each accopanied by a poster featuring a striking line of verse

The posters were displayed in the shop fronts of each participating business, inviting passersby to engage as flâneurs themselves. Scanning QR codes on the posters revealed the poems, and those who collected all ten unlocked a free digital edition of the FLÂNEUR book.

The project culminated in a limited-edition book (PONKS' first publication, released by Kobta Calleja) and an exhibition at Hamrun's historic train station. At its heart stood a 14-meter steel installation, evoking the carriages of Malta's long-vanished railway. Rolls of book paper unfurled like tracks, displaying the posters, poems, and portraits of each business owner - a tribute to Hamrun's unstoppable motion and its overlooked diversity.

The ghost train, forever in transit, became a metaphor for the suburb itself: a place of perpetual becoming, carried forward by its people.