Malta lies at the centre of an extremely diverse geographical region. Such a plurality of cultures and religions in the Mediterranean has given birth to a wealth of visual objects that ideologically both complement and oppose each other. Mediterranean art of the past and likewise that of the present is rich, complex, and replete with the social, economic, and political tensions that have shaped its history. This is one of the reasons why the Mdina Cathedral Contemporary Art Biennale 2017-18 will be an event of great interest; it will address the Mediterranean and the role of conflicting identities within its social and natural environment.
The 2015-16 Mdina Biennale dealt with expanded interpretations of institutional religion and spirituality, as well as forms of non-belief. It brought together numerous international artists from all parts of the globe to debate how meanings and values are artistically articulated on a spiritual level. Each artist responded to this question differently; some highlighted the personal, meditative nature of spirituality, others appropriated religious symbols and rituals to re-define these practices. What was most striking was how certain artists took the opportunity of working within a church context, the Mdina Biennale being a project initiated by the Mdina Cathedral Chapter in the early 1990s, to reflect on this same institution and to expose historical and contemporary inconsistencies that separated religion from spirituality and vice versa.
Once again, Dr. Giuseppe Schembri Bonaci will be the artistic director of the entire project, which will be co-curated by Melanie Farrugia Erixon and myself. Last year's Mdina Biennale was organised in partnership with APS Bank and this relationship will resume with the upcoming edition. APS Bank has for many years been entirely dedicated to cultivating the arts in Malta and has generously supported the development of knowledge and research. The Mdina Biennale combines creativity with research, which is why APS Bank have once again offered to help such a project come to life.
The Mdina Biennale was used as a platform for the creation of new works of art by Maltese and foreign artists, and also commemorated the legacies of some of Malta's purveyors of twentieth-century modern art. This relationship between past and present is essential. We are well aware of the dangers of forgetting our own history. For the 2017-18 exhibition, opening on 13 November 2017 and ending in January 2018, a space dedicated to the paintings of Giorgio Preca will permit visitors to see the work of an artist who was one of the country's leading modernist figures, yet whose works are hardly known due to the limited amount of knowledge available on him. The Department of History of Art will be organising an international academic conference on Preca and his relationship with the European arts scene in December in conjunction with the exhibition. Prior to the inauguration, a display of Giuseppe Galea's drawings will be shown at the Mdina Cathedral Museum as a prologue to its opening.
The 2015-16 Mdina Biennale was rather voluminous, so the idea for this year is to limit the number of participating artists for each to have a suitable amount of space for their projects. Also, the only venue to be used will be the Mdina Cathedral Museum so that artists may interact directly with the museum's vast collection as well as the biennial's theme: The Mediterranean as a Basin of Conflicting Spiritualties. This subject is one of great resonance today, and Malta is positioned at the geographical centre of it all. Some artists will be returning to resume the dialogue begun at Mdina; Victor Agius, Anthony Catania and Michael von Cube are amongst the participating artists.
An extremely exciting aspect for this year is the collaboration with MuCEM - the Museum of European and Mediterranean Civilisations in Marseilles to bring works from their collection of contemporary art to Mdina. The museum's coordinator of international relations, Mikael Mohamed, has worked with Dr. Schembri Bonaci and the Mdina Biennale committee to select a number of artworks by Mediterranean artists that tackled the general and particular experiences of the region's cultural and political character.
A collaboration that will carry on from the previous edition is that with Horizons, the publishing house that worked on the 2015-16 catalogue. The Mdina Biennale catalogue was designed as a space for debate, bringing together artworks, essays, and roundtable discussions. The editorial board, consisting of Schembri Bonaci, Irene Biolchini and myself, worked to present new ideas and research on spirituality and the arts in relation to the works exhibited in the biennial. The writings of scholars and researchers from the University of Malta and overseas institutions were a significant part of the entire project. The conflation of visual and textual dialogue crucially emphasised what the Mdina Biennale is all about; the urgency of intellectual and creative dialogue in response to the bureaucratisation and regularisation of both fields by the neoliberal political system.
The Mdina Cathedral Contemporary Art Biennale 2017-18 will be an opportunity for critique and self-reflection, for artists to discuss those questions which are affecting our lives presently, and for the strength of artistic international exchange to be pronounced here in Malta. There is so much which needs to be said, a lot that must be confronted collectively, and contemporary art that attempts to do that is greatly necessitated.
The new Mdina Biennale website will be launched in the coming days. For information on last year's project, visit www.mdinabiennale.org.