Malta Biennale 2026 names winners for best artwork and best pavilion

Italian artist Concetta Modica, Maltese photographer Therese Debono and a cross-cultural Polish-Ghanaian textile collective have been named the top winners of the Malta Biennale 2026. 

The artists were awarded 'The Maltese Falcon' trophies during a Friday evening ceremony at the Oratory of St John’s Co-Cathedral, staged beneath Caravaggio’s masterpiece The Beheading of St John. 

In a joint victory for the Best Artwork Award, Modica and Debono were both recognised for their deeply evocative, site-specific explorations of history and matter. 

Modica took the prize for Fragments of the sky of Malta: The journey of a tomato sepal to become a star, a work that interrogates contemporary paradoxes through remnants, sculpture, and the concept of the modern epic. Debono was honoured for Blank, a long-term photographic project examining altered, erased, and rebuilt spaces in Malta - ordinary sites that still carry heavy layers of lived experience and trauma. 

Therese Debono and Concetta Modica. Photo: Heritage Malta

The Best Pavilion Award went to Redefining: Polish Ghanaian Textile Narratives. Curated by Natalia Bradbury, the monumental installation features the collaborative works of artists Eliza Proszczuk, Ernestina Mansa Doku, and Marta Nadolle. The pavilion resurrects a little-known history of solidarity between Poland and Ghana, guided by the African philosophy of Ubuntu - "I am because we are" - to project a vision of empathy and shared humanity. 

Recipients of the Best Pavilion Award. Photo: Heritage Malta

The winners were selected by an independent international jury comprising freelance curator Gerardo Mosquera, visual artist Monica Narula, and curator Irene Biolchini, acting on the recommendation of the Biennale’s Artistic Director, Rosa Martínez.

Following a three-day preview period, the Malta Biennale is now officially open to the public and will run until May 29. The ambitious contemporary art platform spans 11 Heritage Malta historical sites and museums across Malta and Gozo, featuring the work of over 130 artists. 

A third Maltese Falcon - the People’s Choice Award - will be announced in the festival's closing days. 

Tickets for the Malta Biennale, along with the full schedule of exhibitions and public programmes, are available online at maltabiennale.art.

The Malta Biennale is organised by Heritage Malta in partnership with Arts Council Malta, Visit Malta, the Valletta Cultural Agency, and Public Broadcasting Services. The Malta Biennale is also being held in full collaboration with the Ministry for Culture, Lands and Local Government, the Ministry for Foreign Affairs and Tourism, and the Ministry for Gozo and Planning.