Malta
Biennale
DECOLONIZING MALTA: POLYPHONY IS US
Tal Pilar Church / Auberge d’Argon / Republic Square / Dock 1 / Ggantija
Andrea Ferrero
Barbara Kapusta
Dew Kim
Edson Chagas
Fabrizio Vatieri
Gaia de Megni
Guadalupe Maravilla
Ibrahim Mahama
Jermay Michael Gabriel
Laura Besançon
Mònica de Miranda
Paul Sammut
Raphael Vella
Zazzaro Otto
Zehra Dogan
For those arriving in Malta for the first time, an immediate impression is the language being spoken by the Maltese. There is continuous code-switching, moving from Maltese—a latinised version of ancient Siculo-Arabic—to English, with the ritual greetings of Bonġu and Bonswa derived from the French.
This ability reflects the resistance of the local population to express itself in a way that avoided being understood by the various rulers. Despite being at the centre of globalisation, these islands have a strong, competitive and popular centripetal nature that no invasion, not even tourism, can erase.
It was precisely from these facts and the vitality of both Maltese culture and language that it was necessary to understand what decolonising might mean. Today, Malta seeks to reclaim its centrality, freeing its history from subordination, humiliation, external instrumentalisation, and instead proposing an identity that is unique on the global stage.
This inaugural biennale fitted into this dynamic and panorama, it threw a spotlight on these islands for several months, thus providing an opportunity for reflection on the meaning of identities today. We are in the midst of a revolution of paradigms: does it still make sense to talk about nations, countries, territories? Or is being Maltese something that, thanks to the diaspora, cannot be solely tied to a specific place?
Malta Biennale, with its artists, national and thematic pavilions, initiatives for meeting, debate, exchange, exhibitions and access to the magnificence of the historical artistic heritage, became a platform for the elaboration of scenarios, hopes, aspirations and concrete constructions for the coming world.
Curatorial Team & Franco La Cecla
READ THE CURATORIAL STATEMENT
- / Can you Sea?
The Mediterranean as a Political Body
- / Decolonizing Malta:
Polyphony is Us - / The Counterpower of Piracy
- / The Matri-Archive of the Mediterranean
- / Public Program