For the past few weeks, people using the downstairs toilets at the St James Cavalier Centre for Creativity in Valletta (Spazju Kreattiv) have been hearing strange sounds. As they got down to business, a growing number of disembodied voices have been speaking their minds in the background. The result is equal parts amusing, disconcerting and enlightening.

All this is part of Communal Thoughts, an artistic installation by writer Malcolm Galea that aims to make people aware that our daily worries and concerns are shared to some degree by hundreds of thousands of others.

In today’s world, our lives are stifled by routine and the toilet is one of the very few sanctuaries left to us when we are truly alone with our own thoughts. It is here that what is topmost on our minds – whether it is an immediate issue or an ever-present fear that haunts our subconscious – surfaces to be analysed and mulled over during those few minutes of privacy.

Communal Thoughts explores what’s on people’s minds via an interactive installation. People can participate by answering an anonymous questionnaire regarding what’s on their minds at this present time. The answers are then turned into a monologue which is in turn interpreted by an actor. These monologues are then recorded and played inside St James Cavalier restroom – enabling those making use of it to hear the thoughts of others.

“It’s a pretty weird idea,” says Galea, “but it’s been generating some wonderful feedback and discussions. It’s also receiving interest from some other establishments and it’s likely that the project will make an appearance in other restrooms around the island before too long. It would be great to see it replicated in other countries with other writers as well. It’s been a very eye-opening experience and it would be interesting to see how it works on an international level.”

People may find the questionnaire by looking for Communal Thoughts online, thereby leaving an indelible record of their current frame of mind.

Communal Thoughts is supported by the Malta Arts Fund.

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