The inaugural Malta Biennale will be held in 2024. Supported by UNESCO, the biennial is scheduled to take place from 11 March to 31 May across 12 historic sites in Malta and Gozo, including its main exhibition venue, which will be Valletta’s recently restored Grandmaster’s Palace, the megalithic temples of Ġgantija and Birgu’s Armoury.
Lead by independent curator Sofia Baldi Pighi, the exhibition, titled Insulaphilia, will engage with the landscape and geopolitical significance of the Maltese archipelago, negotiating ideas of identity, migration, colonialism and settlement. Drawing on French philosopher Gilles Deleuze’s idea that islands contain ‘the intensity of the world itself’, the exhibition will ‘investigate insular thinking’, Pighi writes, ‘to see the island not as a postcard utopia but as a delimitation that produces learning and encounters.’
The main show will also be accompanied by 11 national pavilions representing Austria, China, France and Germany, Italy, Malta, Palestine, Poland, Serbia, Spain, Turkey and Ukraine.
A list of 72 artists has been announced:
Alan Abd El Monim (Italian/Egyptian), Camilla Alberti (Italian), Anna Anderegg (Swiss), Teresa Antignani (Italian), Jean-Marie Appriou (French), Rosa Barba (Italian-German), Simon Benjamin (Jamaican), Laura Besançon (Maltese), Aaron Bezzina (Maltese), Rebecca Bonaci (Maltese), Josian Bonello (Maltese), Isabelle Borg (Maltese), Claude Borg, Maria Borg, Sumaya Ben Saad, Rebecca Mifsud (Maltese), Amy Bravo (American), Tania Bruguera (Cuban), Siwani Buhlebezwe (South African), Teresa Busuttil (Australian), Anna Calleja (Maltese), Austin Camilleri (Maltese), Edson Chagas (Angolan/Portuguese), Mel Chin (Chinese-American), Leo Chircop (Maltese), Dolphin Club (Maltese, French), Joseph Cochran II (American), Andrea Conte (Andreco) (Italian), Gaia De Megni (Italian), Mònica de Miranda (Portuguese/Angolan), Adama Delphine Fawundu (American), Zehra Doğan (Kurdish), Dolphin Club (Maltese, French), Madeleine Fenwick (British), Andrea Ferrero (Peruvian), Martina Georgina, Romeo Roxman Gatt (Maltese), Nina Gerada (Maltese), Sara Goldschmied, Eleonora Chiari (Italian), Bettina Hutschek (German), Anne Immelé (French), Daniel Jablonski (Brazilian), Barbara Kapusta (Austrian), Dew Kim (South Korean), Konstantina Krikzoni (Greek), Wioletta Kulewska Akyel (Polish), Sara Leghissa (Italian), Ji Yeon Yaloo Lim, Pia Borg (Korean, Maltese-Australian), Luz Lizarazo (Colombian), Edson Luli (Albanian), Basim Magdy (Swiss/Egyptian), Guadalupe Maravilla (El Salvadorian), Jermay Michael Gabriel (Italian), Karyn Olivier (American), Zazzaro Otto (Italian), Adrian Paci (Albanian) Post Disaster (Collective), Grazia Mappa, Gabriele Leo, Gabriella Mastrangelo, Peppe Frisino (Italian), Dijana Protić (Croatian), Laure Prouvost (French), Keit Bonnici, Florinda Camilleri, Neils Plotard (Maltese, Maltese, French), Agnes Questionmark (Italian), Anna Raimondo (Italian), Pedro Reyes (Mexican), Cemile Sahin (German), Paul Sammut (British), Zineb Sedira (French/Algerian), Ana, Giuditta Shametaj, Vendrame (Italian/Albanian, Italian), Anthony Spagnol (Maltese), Tom Van Malderen (Belgian), Fabrizio Vatieri (Italian) and Raphael Vella (Maltese).
