This article re-examines piracy not merely as a historical criminal phenomenon, but as a potent form of counterpower shaping the Mediterranean’s political, economic, and cultural geography. Focusing on Malta’s centuries-long history of corsairing and maritime trade, the piece argues that piracy served as a strategic engine of growth — with fleets, ransom economies, and slave trade — that significantly impacted Mediterranean networks of circulation and power.
By re-activating the metaphor of piracy in contemporary contexts — from financial-digital hubs to migrant rescue operations and artistic practices — the work proposes piracy as a critical lens to reconsider modern Mediterranean infrastructures of trade, labor, and resistance.
The Counterpower of Piracy: Malta, the Mediterranean,
and the Politics of the Sea
- PUBLISHED BY
- Fakewhale LOG
TYPOLOGY
Article, Review
ARTICLE
Link Here
DATES
October 2025
The Counterpower
of Piracy:
Malta, the Mediterranean, and the Politics of the Sea
ARTICLESofia Baldi Pighi
This review explores the curatorial approach of the 13th Berlin Biennale through the lens of “cuteness” as a subtle yet potent political tool. Rather than relying on overt statements or monumental gestures, the exhibition adopts a soft, affective strategy—where irony, vulnerability, and humor become means of resistance. From Han Bing’s performative Walking the Cabbage to curatorial tactics likened to “foxing,” the text reflects on how gentleness and aesthetic dissonance can infiltrate dominant narratives and reframe institutional critique. A nuanced look at how cuteness can disarm, disrupt, and reconfigure the space of contemporary art.