Sugar, Stone and Sea

Sugar, Stone and Sea was developed by the ARDA Collective and produced by Dance Beyond Borders, and presented on December 5th at Spazju Kreattiv. The performance unfolded as a series of acts reflecting on the nature of colonialism throughout history. Employing cavernous stones as traces of a primordial archaeology, the staging sought to deconstruct the very entrails of colonial power. The opening scene revolved around a single stone, surrounded by the evocative dialogue of two performers. They recalled episodes from the lives of individuals who had experienced exploitation, yet their manner of remembering—perhaps intentionally selective—questioned the fragile boundary between memory and forgetting.

The subsequent scenes placed questions themselves at the centre of contestation. The four artists, hailing from Malta, Italy, Spain, and Germany, explored the meaning of “home.” Is a home merely four walls? Is it a place of comfort? Or is it defined by what it stubbornly chooses to include, and what it persistently aims to exclude? Their inquiry raised concerns among the audience about what “home” signifies within our contemporary world.

The performance continued with the artists highlighting the virtues of their respective cultures. Each country placed a large spoon of their “country” upon the central stone, as if declaring: This is the territory that will allow my country to feed itself, and no other country can conquer it apart from me. The act evolved into a symbolic struggle over the stone, representing the European desire of each of his countries to conquer as many territories as possible, invariably at the expense of the colonised.

The third scene was particularly emblematic. One performer prepared the stage for the “joyous arrival of sugar” into the world, distributing English tea with sugar while ironically questioning how much of this substance was needed to generate enough profit to sustain an economy. (Start counting the grains of sugar, she instructed the colonised—or the colonisers—so that we can add them all up and’ build hospitals’) . Meanwhile, the other artists positioned boats around the stage, representing the global routes involved in this “sweet” trade.

This reflection can echo the analysis found in Sidney Mintz’s influential book Sweetness and Power, which traces how Europeans (British in particular) and Americans transformed sugar from a rare luxury into a ubiquitous necessity of modern life. Mintz explores the subtle relationship between sugar production and enslaved labour in tropical colonies. Initially consumed only by the aristocracy, sugar later became a staple in the diet of the industrial working class. By examining both its quantitative and qualitative uses, Mintz reveals how sugar has reshaped labour patterns, eating habits, and our diet into the present day.

The performance then shifted toward introspection, as each artist considered the strengths and shortcomings of their own culture, asking what their nations might have been without the invasions that shaped them. What would Italy be without the enrichment—or arguably the intrusion—of Greek philosophy? What would Malta be without its long history of conquest, and without the institutionalisation of two official languages, particularly English, which has become a major tool of emancipation toward the “foreign”? Malta is labelled as ‘The  nurse of the Mediterranean,  but  perhaps only because of its readiness to open its bridges to anyone in need—especially thanks to the British language.

Ultimately, the performance asked: What is Europe after all its so-called accomplishments? Is it not, at its core, a willingness to tread over others without understanding the consequences for those dominated? Europe, in the Greek Mythology, was a beautiful princess who fell in love with a white bull , who originally was Zeus. The use of the Greek myth of Europa and the Bull (Zeus) serves as a satirical device to amplify the critique:

Europa, a Phoenician princess, is famously abducted by Zeus, who has transformed himself into a magnificent white bull. This myth is traditionally associated with the geographical and cultural founding of the European continent.

The Mockery: The performance, asserts that the analogy of “Europe falling in love with a white bull” represents a “sort of ‘mockery’ of the European achievements and legislations.” Indeed, the bull, Zeus in disguise, represents deception, brute power, and irresistible force dressed up as beauty and innocence. The “love” or attraction of princess Europa to the bull symbolizes Europe’s historical attraction to power and expansion achieved through deceit or violence (the deceptive power of the bull).By linking the continent’s mythological origin to an act of seduction and abduction by a deceptive power, the performance suggests that Europe’s foundations, and thus its celebrated “achievements and legislations,” are fundamentally rooted in coercion and misplaced admiration for power, rather than genuine moral virtue.

European history is a history of merits claimed not always through an honest sacrifice. This is a necessary reflection, acknowledging that Europe, at times, has enriched itself through not very ‘honest’ achievements. This critical understanding, however, can motivate us to reflect on the different ways that Europe can instead gently conquer the ‘heart’ of the other, without ‘stepping stubbornly into it.’ There can be hope in our contemporary days through initiatives that foster this gentle approach. Specifically, mobility projects like Erasmus and similar exchanges initiatives, favor inclusion and integration among people of different backgrounds. Ultimately, these programs teach participants to see their surroundings with greater awareness and to approach reality differently, perhaps even fostering a genuine inclination toward inclusion and integration within the broader European context.