A curatorial project Diplomazija Astuta will represent Malta at 2022's Biennale di Venezia international art exhibition.
The Malta pavilion at the exhibition will be curated by a specific team selected following an international call.
An evaluation board assessed proposals and unanimously decided that Diplomazija Astuta was the best project to represent Malta in Venice.
Curators Keith Sciberras and Jeffrey Uslip, through the creative collaboration of Giuseppe Schembri Bonaci, Arcangelo Sassolino and the composition of renowned Maltese conductor and musician Brian Schembri, will be re-articulating Caravaggio’s seminal altarpiece The Beheading of St John the Baptist (1608).
The Beheading of St John the Baptist (1608). Photo: Wikimedia CommonsFor the Malta Pavilion, they will be creating “a conceptual, immersive, site-specific installation that bridges biblical narratives with contemporary culture”.
Brothers Giuseppi Schembri Bonaci and Brian Schembri, together with Arcangelo Sassolino, shall transpose the zeitgeist of the Oratory of the Decollato in Valletta onto the Malta pavilion, re-situating Caravaggio’s immanent themes within modern life.
The work shall celebrate the centuries-long art-historical exchange between Malta and Italy, while addressing global challenges such as inequality, justice, and peace.
The exhibition will take place between April 23 and November 27 and will be curated by Cecilia Alemani. It will be titled The Milk of Dreams, a name borrowed from a book by Leonora Carrington.
Diplomazija Astuta shall transform the Malta Pavilion into a reverent, spiritual space
Malta returned to La Biennale di Venezia in 2017 after a 17-year absence, and again in 2019.
The evaluation board for the selection of the 2022 Malta pavilion included experts of international repute within the artistic and cultural sectors, namely Rugilé Barzdžuikaité, Toni Sant, Matthew Joseph Casha, Ri Chakraborty and Rupert Cefai.
The evaluation was chaired by Eric Fenech Sevasta, director corporate services at Arts Council Malta.