Performing (with/for) Posidonia
with the kind permission of the Ċirkewwa Marine Park
Interesting Facts
Posidonia oceania - Neptune’s seagrass - Mediterranean tapeweed - Alka in Maltese
Endemic to the Mediterranean Sea.
A secret weapon against climate change. It absorbs more carbon dioxide that an equavalent area of the rainforest. Dense balls of dead Posidonia leaves are formed by water currents and can help trap plastics, removing them from the ocean when they wash up on the shore.
In 2006, a colony of neptune grass was found off the coast of Ibiza, stretching over 8km. It is thought to be over 100,000 years old, and both the largest and oldest living organism on Earth.
It forms lagre undersea meadows, in shallow and deeper waters of the Mediterranean, up to 40m depth. Its stems stretch into the sand and form a thich mat of roots that anchor the plant, while green ribbon-like leaves grow up to around 1.5m long and 10mm wide.
It produces small green flowers which develop into free-floating fruit commonly referred to as ‘sea olives’.
Neptune grass meadows provide grazing ground for a variety of sea life, including fish, urchins, turtles and Fan Mussels (Pinna nobilis - Noble Pen Shell - Nakkra in Maltese) (1, 2).
Map of the Maltese Islands showing locations of Posidonia meadows used in study of the ecological status of Maltese coastal waters (3 Debono & Borg, 2006)
It reproduces both asexually and sexually, mainly the former. It flowers more or less every 5 years and its flowers are hermaphroditic. Through asexual reproduction, it forms rhizomes with horizontal roots that allow it to spread across the sea bed.
Posidonia flowers (4)
I find it interesting to speculate that due to this mode of asexual reproduction, the same Posidonia organism with the same DNA could be spread around our coast from Qalet Marku to Dwejra in Gozo - a coastal superorganism.
Another intriguing point is that Posidonia has been protecting our shores for many thousands of years before our coastal towers were built. It has been guarding the Islands slowly, gently, quietly, without receiving much acknowledgement.
PHENOMENOLOGICAL PERSPECTIVES
What is your perception of Posidonia? How do you relate to it?
How does Posidonia shape your experiences of our local coastal environments?
What role do you feel Posidonia plays in your perception of Maltese landscapes?
EMBODIED PERSPECTIVES
How do you engage with Posidonia, if at all?
How does it feel to be in proximity with it?
POSTHUMANIST + PERFORMANCE PERSPECTIVES
How to perform with Posidonia - as an attempt at co-creation?
How to perform for Posidonia - as a gesture of gratitude for its invaluable role in our ecosystems?
How could Posidonia perform as a protagonist in a site-specific performance?
MATERIALIST PERSPECTIVES
How to co-create with Posidonia without reiterating extractivist anthropocentric values?