Bāyna · بَيِّنَة
Walking seamlessly between land and sea
Looking back at history, we often feel the pull of nostalgia. But here in the Mediterranean, the past isn't just behind us – it is an ever-present force that shelters us, welcomes us, crumbles, and reassembles.
In a place like this, boundaries become relative.
Meaning never stays static; it settles, shifts, and rewrites itself.
The Mediterranean is a tapestry in constant motion. Layer builds upon layer, giving rise to a living crossroads where ideas, practices, and cultures seamlessly weave together."
Bāyna, the Mediterranean between us.
We gaze across from shore to shore, from island to continent, tracing ancient routes that shift and evolve, yet never fade.
Bāyna, the Mediterranean between us.
Together, almost imperceptibly, we continue to rewrite this shared landscape, crafting a new Mediterranean way of being.
MAGMA 2026
New Mediterraneans
In contemporary public discourse, the Mediterranean is frequently framed through a narrative of crisis – marked out as one of the world’s deadliest routes. Europe’s southern border has become a sea of migration and frontiers, shaped by cross-shore conflicts and an environment changing faster than almost anywhere else on Earth. Yet these crises are not isolated events: they intertwine, redraw territories, and fundamentally transform what it means to live here.
MAGMA 2026 takes this tension as its point of departure – not to ignore the complexity of the present, nor to amplify a sense of emergency, but to explore what emerges from within these shifts. This edition’s title, New Mediterraneans, speaks directly to that threshold.
The "New Mediterraneans" are the youth, the diasporas, and the hybrid communities traversing the basin, carrying with them new practices, skills, languages, and ways of relating. They are also the territories themselves, continually redefined by mobility, tourism, climate realities, and shifting economies. In this evolving landscape, the Mediterranean remains what it has always been: a living tapestry where every era marks the next, and every encounter generates new possibilities.
In 2026, Matera – as the Mediterranean Capital of Culture and Dialogue – serves as a vital vantage point for this reflection. A city built upon stratifications, Matera embodies how the coexistence of difference can yield continuity, transformation, and a shared future.
MAGMA was born to inhabit this space of dialogue. Over two days, artists, researchers, institutions, creative enterprises, activists, and local communities will gather to construct a shared vision for the contemporary Mediterranean – bridging artistic practice, scientific research, social innovation, and cultural industries. Highlights include an Open Day at the EIT Culture & Creativity Regional Hub South, dedicated to cultural innovation and international cooperation. Furthermore, the National Research Council’s Department of Humanities and Social Sciences, Cultural Heritage (CNR-DSU) serves as a key scientific partner for the festival.