Joe Cochran

Cara Mehmed, also known as Giovanni Battista (1723-1749), lived a fascinating, albeit short life. An Ethiopian from Tripoli, Mehmed, presumably a slave since his youth, found himself freed by the Pasha Suleiman shortly before he died in 1740, only to be taken back into subjugation by the Pasha’s son Mustafa, the Pasha of Rhodes. Mustafa was a cruel man; doubly so to Mehmed, whom he treated with considerable disdain and cruelty for eight years until one day in 1748, while sailing from Tripoli to Malta, Cara led, alongside a diverse consortium of slaves overtook the Lupa, Mustafa’s galley, imprisoned the Pasha and his crew, and sailed into Malta as free men.

Cara would go on to enjoy great favor in Malta, gaining the favor of Grand Master Pinto, Magistrate of the island who, after Mehmed’s Baptism where he changed his name to Giovanni Battista Emmanuelle Pinto, showered the man with gifts; employment, a home and a wife, the maiden Francesca Azzopardi and ensured they had all they needed.

Unfortunately, this would be short-lived. Mustafa and his cohorts, captives of the island since Mehmed’s miraculous uprising aboard the Lupa, who because of their status as captives had access to Muslim slaves of the island, began to formulate a plot to take over the island using the slaves as their army. It would appear, however, that fortune favored the order. Giuseppe Cohen, a soldier in the Grandmaster’s court learned of the plot and informed the Grandmaster Pinto of the machinations and the order quickly ended the plot.

Though Mustafa was undoubtedly the mastermind of the plot, he was untouchable - bringing harm to an Ottoman, let alone one who was a Pasha would certainly bring war to Malta, who unsuccessfully laid siege to the island 184 years prior. As such, Grandmaster Pinto was faced with a precarious question - who shall pay for this? An example needed to be made. The slaves involved would certainly kiss the gallows, but a mastermind needed to be identified. And that mastermind would be our protagonist, Cara Mehmed.

On the 23rd of July, 1749, Cara Mehmed, aged twenty-six alongside 30 others implicated in the plot were tortured into confession, strangled, beheaded, and burned. He left behind his wife Francesca and daughter Anna-Maria, born mere days after his execution. The former would die weeks later of grief and Anna-Maria would be lost to history, thus ending Mehmed’s bloodline.

Examining this case I ruminated on the fact that Mehmed, in relation to Malta, lived. Freeing yourself is one thing; many did, and many did not. How you integrate into society is another. Cara Mehmed not only integrated into Maltese society, he did so with such speed and fervor -a slave for most of his life up to this point, his fortunes changed in a blink of an eye, from slave to a resident and folk hero of Malta within the court of Grandmaster Pinto, where he was considered a “young man of handsome bearing and large stature” to “The Negro”, upon his execution.

Mehmed’s fight for freedom, the colonial and imperial aims of empires during the “age of discovery”, or what I consider to be the first age of industrial globalization, the socio-political/socioeconomic policies and practices during the age of the grandmasters of Malta, and more provided significant insight into the period and for me, a better understanding of today. Contemporary industry wears new clothing today but its mechanisms, upon closer examination, remain the same or perhaps, worse.

We torpedo towards an ethical ecological future yet precious metals are mined more alarmingly than ever. Techno-feudalist entities have replaced monarchies and even contemporary governments in many respects, especially regarding fiscal controls. And while slavery in the “civilized world” has ended, only to be replaced with migratory policies that create impoverished immigrant populations who would be slaves if not for “human rights”. It all begs the question, are we any closer to freedom?

The wait for change, is lethargic, but when it happens our lives can never be the same; we can never go back to what was. Cara Mehmed understood that it was better to die on your feet than live in captivity. He took his shot and, regardless of how it ended achieved what he wanted to achieve - freedom. He, like many then and many now, risked their lives in the Mediterranean for the taste of it and all it entails.

Opening at Malta’s first-ever biennale and housed in the Armory of the Knights of Malta in Birgu, The Quartermaster focuses on Cara Mehmed and his brief, yet fantastical life. Working with the archives of various heritage and academic institutions in the country, Cochran presents Mehmed’s life through the re-presenting of archival documents, works on paper, sculpture, and photography, crafting a narrative that both historicises and mythologizes, highlighting the violent colonial economic structures of yesterday that inform our lives today.

Joseph Cochran II

The Quartermaster

Photographic prints, Works on Paper, Archival Reproduction, Felt, Polyester Acrylic Paint Pen, Felt Pen Sculpture, Photo printed on faux silk satin

2024