From March 13 to May 31, Malta Biennale ignited a fascinating conversation between contemporary art and heritage across Malta and Gozo.

The theme of Malta Biennale 2024 was "Insulaphilia," focusing on examining the Mediterranean from an insular perspective. Being surrounded by the 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 forging relationships: one departs, one arrives. It beckons one to traverse the surrounding sea and 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. It should be conceived not as a buffer between the interloper and its inhabitants, but as intimately woven with the presence of so-called outsiders. If utopia can still be spoken of today, this is the desire—to centralize the position of the islands in order to transform the political discourse.

Location is the immediate identifier of any isolated land mass. Malta’s maritime lore dates back centuries, with its crucial role throughout history as a strategic crossroads in the Mediterranean. Malta is adept at transformation, functioning as a crossing of arrival and departure. As a nation-state, the Maltese identity emerges from centuries of colonization, indelibly linked to the various seafaring cultures that have dominated and declined through the region. Malta’s natural harbors have provided shelter, refuge, and trading outposts to all who sought to settle, conquer, and reign—the Phoenicians, the Romans, the Byzantines, the Arabs, the Normans, the Order of St. John, the French, and the British.

With over seven thousand two hundred and twenty-three years of civilization, envisioning the first edition of the biennale in such an ancient land required collaboration with its history. Thanks to Heritage Malta and the partnership with UNESCO, World International Heritage palaces, Neolithic sites, underground passageways, forts, and buildings of geopolitical importance—some of which had never been visited by the general public—were identified, upgraded, and transformed into dynamic sites of convergence.

The Main Exhibition and the National/Thematic Pavilions took shape primarily within the island’s most illustrious and evocative sites. The capital Valletta, the majestic palaces in the harbor town of Birgu, the megalithic temples of Ħaġar Qim, and the citadel in Gozo mapped out a biennale dispersed within the urban fabric.

These sites are not mere locations for intervention; no urban environment, let alone a cultural treasure steeped in history, is ever neutral or silent. Psychogeographic thought reveals the continual influence that landscapes have on our psyche. Seventy-two contemporary artists were invited to exhibit in these venues, encouraged to rebuild an intimate relationship with these locations. Common assets, including cultural treasures, exist only if a community of inhabitants exercises their fundamental rights through them.

The public good always results from these relations. To envision new possible futures for the Mediterranean region, there must be a rekindling of affection for the places that constitute history and diverse cultural identity. The insular thinking underlying the biennale sought to counteract the postcard-like imagery of the Mediterranean, resisting extractive tourism that desires only what belongs to others—their sea, their beaches, and their palm trees (with a round-trip ticket in their pocket).

This narrative is only possible alongside the vision of artists who, tireless in their efforts, were able to chronicle a sea that unites in the face of historical fractures—those forces that extract, exploit, and instrumentalize Mare Nostrum. Public space was explored in the conflicting nature of planning underlying memories in the political contingencies that have traversed the Euro-Mediterranean geographic and social territory, marking and militarizing borders and territories.

Recognizing hybridity is crucial. Malta is not one but many—multicultural, multiracial, multilingual. People sing in different languages, just as they think and dream in different languages. This positions Malta and its archipelago as an ideal observatory for examining prevalent aspects of Mediterranean culture.

The Biennale established a participatory configuration of invisible networks across the Mediterranean, connecting the East to the West and the North to the South, stimulating exchange, vision, and unwavering trust in individual and collective transformation. It proposed a regional expedition into the possibility of harmonious coexistence.

The Public Program aimed to engage various non-sector groups within local communities, broadening ties and connecting artists and their work to their audiences in a direct, impactful manner, working with local educators. To this end, 106 events were designed in the Public Program, emphasizing the educational and pedagogical nature of the event. These events targeted different audience types, including early childhood schools, elderly communities, local university students (MCAST), and European and international students. Activities for children were organized on weekends, and bilateral educational exchange projects, such as “Rethinking Lampedusa, Rethinking Malta,” involved various higher education institutions, two European countries, and a traveling project.

Collaboration extended to Maltese and international institutions, including ACCLA, Alien Montesin, Art Explora, Art Workers Italia, Biennale de Photographie Mulhouse, Biennale Sur, Mirjana Batinić, Marie Briguglio, Andrew Borg Wirth, Valentina Buzzi, Rafram Chaddad, Vanessa Ciantar, Cinema Spazju Kreattiv, Centru Tbexbix, Epicure, Timmy Gambin, Liam Gauci, Marcia Grima, Image Threads, Karmaġenn, Franco La Cecla, Larnaca Biennale, MADE Program, MCAST, Parasite, Rethinking Lampedusa, Rivoluzione delle Seppie, Ritmu Roots Music Festival, Virgilio Sieni, Żugraga, Michael Taussig, Tarzna, Tetuhi, The School of Winds and Waves, UNESCO - WHIPIC, Sam Vassallo, and Orientale University.

Sofia Baldi Pighi, Artistic Director and Head Curator, IKT Member
Emma Mattei, Curator
Elisa Carollo, Curator, IKT Member