A view over water : the Qala ship graffitti in context

Abstract

'Intro lo cavo de Monltela e Miciaro si e una chaleta so to una gliexia de Sancta Maria'. With those words, a fifteenth-century portulan establishes the Immaculate Conception chapel at Qala as a landmark in the maritime landscape of Gozo, from where one can view the western reaches of the Gozo channel, and where maritime graffiti of some interest are also found. Graffiti are usually defined as mural scribblings or drawings done by idlers. It is quite ironic that while modem graffiti are regarded as acts of vandalism which deface monuments and buildings, those of antiquity and of the not so distant past are generating an ever increasing volume of studies which try to shed light on-the aim and meaning of these desjgns, and maybe establish a link with the history of the people responsiblen for their doing.