Ferdinandea
2022, Multimedia installation One 16 mm film, three videos, three photographs, historical documents and archives.
Between late June and mid-July 1831, underwater volcanic activity gave rise to a new island in the Mediterranean, in the Strait of Sicily, off the coast of Tunisia. While sailors and inhabitants of nearby shores feared the awakening of a sea monster, the new territory sparked the curiosity of scientists and the greed of European powers in the midst of colonial expansion.
Within a few weeks, the island was claimed—particularly for its strategic position—by Great Britain, France, and the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies. This competition between nations was, however, short-lived: barely six months after its appearance, the newly formed island sank beneath the waves of the Mediterranean. Its multiple names remain recorded in European archives: “Ferdinandea” for the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies, in honor of King Ferdinand II of Bourbon; “Julia” for the French, referencing the July Monarchy; “Graham” for the British, after Sir James Graham, First Lord of the Admiralty; and “Nerita” for local populations.
Now resting some six meters beneath the surface, the basaltic rock is closely monitored by seismologists. Could a new eruption, at any moment, cause it to reemerge and once again trigger geopolitical maneuvers, systems of exploitation, and exclusion driven by imperial powers?
For Clément Cogitore, this historical and geological episode serves as the starting point for an experimental and ever-evolving narrative. Through films, videos, and photographs, the artist speculates on the emergence, collapse, and possible re-emergence of the volcano. Blending documentary and fiction, his metaphorical intuition weaves together premonitions, popular beliefs, archival documents, and scientific and cartographic data.
“Ferdinandea” thus becomes a mirror reflecting different relationships to the world and possible futures: a submerged utopia/dystopia, a place of all possibilities from which the artist invites us to rethink the space of the “middle sea.”
Kathryn Weir, Hélia Paukner and Enguerrand Lascols, curators of the exhibition at the Mucem.
Different iterations of the project have been presented in two exhibitions at Museo Madre (Naples, 2022) and the Mucem (Marseille, 2025). They were accompanied by several publications: a volume co-published by Museo Madre and Arte’m Editions (Ferdinandea, 2022); an expanded exhibition catalogue including a fictional text by Tristan Garcia, co-published by the Mucem and Atelier EXB (Ferdinandea, the Ephemeral Island, 2025); and a philosophical essay by Federico Leoni published by Castelvecchi (L’Isola Sotto il Mare, 2026).
