About

Gateway for the Future of the Mediterranean

Produced by the European Commission (JRC), Union for the Mediterranean, Global Water Partnership –Mediterranean,and Eurecat, the “Gateway for the Future of the Mediterranean” is a book which combines science and art to examine the water-energy-food-planetary health nexus. It is an innovative and explorative disclosure of scientific knowledge, employing culture and arts in a visually compelling way and enhanced with modern features such as Augmented Reality and animations. The book will be officially launched at the UN 2023 Water Conference in the Walks of Water. Some of the artwork within the book would be included in the Walks.

The story

For centuries, half of the Ancient Mediterranean World has remained invisible. The lives of the women of antiquity have been, to a great extent, ignored. While the myths of Medusa, Arachne, or the Sphinx are famous, we know little about what daily life in the past meant for women. In a period in which goddesses were as powerful as gods, why was it that the status of women was so low and why was female intelligence and beauty demonised?

In Mediterranean societies, men traditionally benefit from a historical link between land ownership and community leadership. Women have always been discriminated against and affected negatively by decisions related to water, energy or food. Such gender dynamics are influenced by cultural and socio-economic realities. Women who have challenged traditional thinking have been demonised and depicted as an evil force defying the patriarchal status quo.

To shape one’s future, one needs to understand one’s past. If society is to defy the anachronistic situation of women, mythological female characters must be reinterpreted. This would permit an open discussion aimed at inducing a behavioural change capable of leading to a social acceptance of the WaterEnergy-Food-Ecosystem Nexus. Only with a true and equal partnership between the sexes can Nexus-based solutions realise their full potential.

The Medusa-Nexus concept aims to address the issue through emotional stimuli and engagement. Naming without blaming is key to the generation of the empathy required to induce behavioural change. Eight paintings by the Polish artist Natalia Głowacka reinterpreting female characters from Mediterranean mythologies are accompanied by the portraits of eight modern Mediterranean women by the Spanish photographer and artist Montserrat “Moon” Capel. The testimonies of women who work with water, energy, food or the ecosystem interact with the paintings by way of Augmented Reality and Artificial Intelligence. The past interacts with the future. A ninth painting encapsulates the experience and constitutes a mirror, the reflection of which encourages women of today to realise their potential.

Eva
Many would justify gender inequality because of this narrative. The forbidden fruit, the serpent and the tree as well as the infringement of rules constitute elements of the nature of the Nexus; the difficulty to establish an equilibrium between human desire beyond the physical needs for survival and the limited resources of the planet to satisfy them. A knowledge of what is wrong and what is right enables us to regain part of the Paradise lost.
Natalia Glowacka
  • Many would justify gender inequality because of this narrative. The forbidden fruit, the serpent and the tree as well as the infringement of rules constitute elements of the nature of the Nexus; the difficulty to establish an equilibrium between human desire beyond the physical needs for survival and the limited resources of the planet to satisfy them. A knowledge of what is wrong and what is right enables us to regain part of the Paradise lost.
  • Its form illustrates the Nexus. The Serpent tail reminds one of the viper living by water, its wings bring to mind the energy of an eagle, the body represents the most efficient of all hunters, whilst the erosion of its face mirrors human interaction with the environment. The purge of Ancient Thebes represents a warning to the Mediterranean of today. If the riddle of how one converts the study and contemplation of the Nexus into tangible action is not solved, the lands surrounding the Middle Sea will become a desert.
  • The unfortunate Queen symbolises humankind seeking momentary but ultimately futile pleasure. The consequences of sacrificing all for short-term gain is a warning. The Nexus requires patient, long-term development and an awareness of how our actions affect nature. Unfortunately, humankind has always tended to be a reflection of Lamia, demonstrating a selfish short-sightedness whilst devouring its children’s future.
  • The simplicity and perfect integration within the environment of Nature-Based Solutions yield better results than the thinking of industrial gods. The figure of the spider encapsulates the inherent fear that humans show when faced with the unknown, perceiving such elements as a threat. A fruitful approach to the Nexus requires the existence of an equilibrium between the needs of humankind and nature. This balance can only be achieved by understanding and bringing together the individual elements, as if it were a light, yet powerful spider web that was being created to ensure the survival of its weaver.
  • She reflects a being who falls victim to its own instincts. It acts in an abhorrent way despite knowing better. The Harpy has no freedom to decide, its natural inclinations always taking precedence over any other consideration. Therefore, the Harpy reflects what humans must feel when society knowingly disregards the relationship between food, water, energy and the environment simply to satisfy one’s basest of instincts.
  • Addressing the Nexus demands the creation of new rules, a liberation from conventional ways of thinking and a determination to go beyond the status quo. These qualities are encapsulated by the character of Vampira. Innovative solutions to longstanding challenges are the result of intellectual and emotional rebellion. The environ - ment is not something which can be chained to human desire and design. It is the source of our life. The death of a hundred infants each day, as described in the myth symbolises humankind’s destruction of a natural balance. The relentless greed displayed in order to ensure human society endangers the very origin of life itself.
  • She represents the power of the elements, which when unleashed become destructive and even lethal. The origin of life, water, is the natural habitat of this creature. The origins of the cult of Atargatis can be traced to the earliest Mediterranean civilisations and the daughter of Atargatis, named Semiramis, inspired Nebuchadnezzar to create the Hanging Gardens of Babylon, an example of what past cultures combining elements of the Nexus were capable of achieving.
  • According to popular legend, the first olive tree still stands in front of the Parthenon in Athens. Nexa is therefore the personification of the Nexus. Her roots, embedded in the ground, strive for the sun and if provided with water, she gives sustenance. Her grace is an expression of gratitude for all that nature offers humankind.
  • Its form illustrates the Nexus. The Serpent tail reminds one of the viper living by water, its wings bring to mind the energy of an eagle, the body represents the most efficient of all hunters, whilst the erosion of its face mirrors human interaction with the environment. The purge of Ancient Thebes represents a warning to the Mediterranean of today. If the riddle of how one converts the study and contemplation of the Nexus into tangible action is not solved, the lands surrounding the Middle Sea will become a desert.
  • <p>She symbolises the terrifying beauty of the Nexus (the snakes on her head). The fascination of studying the Nexus often jeopardises its implementation. In a sense the beheading of Medusa, signifies the victory of silo-based thinking leading inexorably to death.</p>
“I declare myself an art lover, I find inspiration in everyday life.”
Montse Capel
  • “I declare myself an art lover, I find inspiration in everyday life.”
  • Montse Capel was born in Figueres, the birthplace of Salvador Dalì and famed as the city of surrealism. Considered to be one of the most exciting new talents in Spanish photography, she first attracted the attention of experts and the general public when, aged 16, she began to publish her work as ‘Moon’ both a personal and artistic personality which has, over the years come to define this artist.
  • “I use the black and white self-portrait to undress my body, my ideas, my feelings and values, making it a way of life.”
  • Trained in fashion design and photography in Barcelona, her provocative visual creations have resulted in her receiving a number of awards in Catalonia and exhibitions in Girona, Valencia, Murcia and Madrid.
  • Her reputation became further enhanced when one of her self-portraits entitled, ‘I am Moon’ went viral internationally and became a cause celebre due to the fact that without her consent the image was and continues to be used all over the World on bags and T-shirts and has become a cult image for tattoo parlours.
  • The work of Montse Capel has been hailed as thought-provoking and critical with a certain air of erotica that is capable of breaking new ground.
  • “I am an artist who enjoys being able to convert the spectator into the accomplice of an intimate exhibitionist”
  • As a portrait photographer, she has demonstrated an innate talent for revealing her models’ true personality whilst maintaining an imaginative approach that converts the expression of her subject into a high form of art.