The 2023 edition of the APS Mdina Cathedral Contemporary Art Biennale, under the artistic direction of Giuseppe Schembri Bonaci, will transform the Mdina Cathedral Museum into a space for contemporary dialogue on the Mediterranean region, weaving mythology, politics and identity together through international artistic projects.
The theme Mediterranean Goddesses deals with notions of spirituality and fertility, and how harkening back to divinity can provide a strong aesthetic reply to the political and climatic issues of our age. The format presents an evolution on previous editions of the APS Mdina Biennale that explored notions of the Mediterranean as expressed through art and artistic dialogues with our ongoing environmental crisis.
Contemporary artists from across the world will be displaying works that engage with this theme, positing their own aesthetic reply to the perpetual relevance of the Mediterranean and her goddesses.
The exhibition will be open to the public until 15 December.
For the 2023 edition, the APS Mdina Biennale is collaborating with the Changing Gear research project. An international conference, focusing on Mediterranean modern art, will be held on 28 November at the Mdina Cathedral Museum offering an opportunity for academics, researchers and artists to engage with the art historical and theoretical issues surrounding the theme.
Giuseppe Schembri Bonaci words
Creative projects, as with all organic processes, need continuous nurturing. Projects have their own point of conception, birth, ageing and, ultimately, death. This death may result in nothing or, on the contrary, be reignited into a new life of ideas and praxis.
This is how I approach and reflect upon all my projects, such as the Modern and Contemporary Art programme and the Fine Arts degree, which I developed at the University of Malta, the international Changing Gear research project, the Strada Stretta Concept artistic programme (Valletta Cultural Agency), and, of course, the APS Mdina Biennale.
Just like in everyday life, some projects have to be aborted thanks to external forces, others are maimed by back-stabbing, while others are treacherously and fatally terminated. Thanks to a team of solid and supportive godparents, namely Mons. Edgar Vella (Mdina Cathedral Museum) and Marcel Cassar, Jeremy Vassallo and others at APS Bank, the Mdina Biennale has succeeded in dredging through all fatal attempts, and thrives on, growing stronger still.
Artists from all over the globe intermingle and engage with the Maltese scene in a cooperative manner. International and Maltese scholars enrich the process with their wonderful and profound scholarly input, culminating in publications and conferences. Participants have hailed from China, France, Italy, the UK, the USA, Russia, Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Portugal, Australia, Poland, Egypt, Chile, Ukraine, Greece, Romania, Spain, Hong Kong, South Korea, Bulgaria, Iraq, North Macedonia, Hungary, Czechia, Israel, Morocco, Serbia, Lebanon, Latvia, Georgia, Lithuania, Cyprus, Japan, Norway, Ireland, Denmark, Türkiye, Croatia and The Netherlands.
