maltabiennale.art Curatorial Private Tours

Join the curators of the main pavilion to discover commissioned contemporary art works from 76 international and national artists within magnificent heritage sites across Valletta and Three Cities.

The first edition of maltabiennnale.art 2024 examines the Mediterranean from an insular perspective; being surrounded by sea drastically alters one's vantage point and response. Through insular thinking, it becomes evident that the Mediterranean basin has two shores—it is both Southern Europe and Northern Africa, a meeting of Orient and Occident, a confluence of East and West. Far from being something pure, the island is always a principle of composition and invention. An island is the ideal location for the forging of relationships: one departs, one arrives. It beckons one to traverse the surrounding sea, to touch other lands. Exhibition—the act of being outside of oneself—constitutes the truth of the island (Jean-Luc Nancy, Thinking the Present, Cuec, 2010). Here, the island presents itself as the origin of a new political conception; the island must be conceived not as a buffer between the interloper and its inhabitants, but intimately woven with the presence of so-called outsiders. If utopia can still be spoken of today, this is the desire – to centralise the position of the islands, in order to transform the political discourse.

Sofia Baldi Pighi

Is an independent Italian curator based in Milan. Since 2017, she has been focusing on the encounter between art, historical and landscape heritage through contemporary art exhibitions, public programs and ad hoc art therapy workshops for public and private institutions.

Emma Mattei

Is a Maltese writer, curator, filmmaker, film programmer and food stylist. She is the founder of Uncommon Guide Books and co-founder of Kinemastik International Short Film Festival (est. 2004).

The bespoke tours by one of the curators are offered in English and Italian, tailored to your needs.

Valletta | 09:00 – 13:30

Discover contemporary works within the Matri-archive, Decolonising Malta and the Counterpower of Piracy sections at the Grandmaster's Palace, the Main Guard, Tal-Pilar Church, Pjazza Repubblika, the Bibliotheca, Underground Valletta, Auberge D'Aragon and Fort St Elmo.

Cottonera | 09:00 – 13:30

A trail from Dock 1, Cospicua to the Armoury of the Knights, Birgu displaying works concerned with Migration and the Mediterranean Sea as a political body.