Ġgantija, Fort St Angelo and the National Library are among popular heritage sites that will, as of today, serve as the backdrop for installations of Malta’s first biennale.

Themed White Sea Olive Groves, the event will – for the next three months – explore main socio-political themes through temporary installations in a celebration of contemporary art.

Most of the exhibitions will be held in Valletta and the Three Cities with another three taking place in Victoria and Xagħra, in Gozo.

The Malta Biennale, or, as it is has been branded – the maltabiennale.art – will welcome 80 artists from 23 countries whose work ranges from painting and drawing to installation, sculpture and video.

The lineup includes Maltese artists Austin Camilleri, Norbert Attard, Trevor Borg, Romeo Roxman Gatt and Martina Farrugia.

The prime minister kicks off the Malta Biennale at the national museum in Valletta.

The themes for this year’s inaugural edition are inspired by Malta’s geographical location and history and focus on the country’s relationship with its colonial past, Mediterranean politics, piracy and matriarchy.

They include Can You Sea?: The Mediterranean as a political body, Decolonising Malta: Polyphony Is Us, The Counterpower of Piracy and The Matriarchive of the Mediterranean.

The four themes are set to be explored in unusual and thought-provoking ways, such as Maltese artist Keit Bonnici’s installation titled Fuq L-Art, which saw him bubble wrap one of Valletta’s iconic red telephone boxes on Monday, and Austin Camilleri’s Siġġu – a sculpture of an empty throne installed directly in front of a statue of Queen Victoria in Valletta’s Pjazza Reġina.

Maltabiennale.art aims to engage a diverse demographic, claiming public spaces with arresting interventions, with the scope of providing a key for the public to discover the complex of works and discourse- Sofia Baldi Pighi, artistic director

According to the event’s artistic director, Sofia Baldi Pighi, the maltabiennale.art “aims to engage a diverse demographic, claiming public spaces with arresting interventions, with the scope of providing a key for the public to discover the complex of works and discourse”.

A biennale – Italian for ‘biennial’ – is a large-scale art exhibition which takes place once every two years.

It is most closely associated with the Venice Biennale, which first took place in 1895. And while it remains to be seen if the maltabiennale.art will be repeated in 2026, the event promises to give contemporary art a new larger platform than it has seen before in Malta.

Maltabiennale.art is a Heritage Malta initiative through MUŻA, in partnership with Arts Council Malta.

It is presented in collaboration with the foreign, national heritage, arts and Gozo ministries, Visit Malta, Malta Libraries, MCAST, Festivals Malta, Valletta Cultural Agency and Spazju Kreattiv. The opening ceremony, by the prime minister, was held on Tuesday evening. 

It includes the participation of the Malta School of Art, AUM, ŻfinMalta, KorMalta, Manoel Theatre, Malta Philharmonic Orchestra, Franco La Cecla, IULM University, Milan, Department of Humanities Studies, Faculty of Arts and Tourism, Underwater Department Heritage Malta, Archaeological Department Heritage Malta, and Maritime Museum Heritage Malta.

More information on www.maltabiennale.art