A total of 47 applications have been selected for the Malta Biennale 2026 to be held between March and May.
After months of rigorous review, the successful artistic projects were selected out of more than 3,200 submissions from 122 countries, marking an increase over the previous year.
Announcing the selection, Culture Minister Owen Bonnici said he expected the second edition of the Biennale to “be an even greater success.”
The Biennale’s first edition, which took place in 2024, received recognition from UNESCO and was met with strong interest from international artists, according to Bonnici.
“As a government, we are convinced of the importance in providing local artists with all the support they require in order to develop their skills, reach their full potential, and achieve personal and national success,” Bonnici added.
Heritage Malta chairman Mario Cutajar explained that the Biennale seeks to revisit the past in ways that inspire artists to reflect on the present by fostering dialogue within society and deepening our collective understanding of today’s world.
Cutajar expects these projects and events will transform Malta into a vibrant hub of artistic creativity in the Mediterranean from March to May 2026.
The selected projects will be related to the narratives embodied in each of the Heritage Malta venues, according to artistic director and international curator Rosa Martínez.
“For the Inquisitor’s Palace, I will select artists who try to bring to light the different forms of wisdom that the Inquisition tried to repress through centuries,” she said.
Pre-historic sites will focus on cosmological issues, with fertility and care as essential traits of being human, while projects at the Maritime Museum will point to the happenings in international waters.
Martínez expressed that, despite being a small country, Malta has huge ambition.
Given the limited number of artists within the archipelago, some names will be repeated in the Biennale’s second edition, which offers advantages, according to Martínez.
“Artists have the opportunity of interacting further with international peers whilst also developing their aesthetic visions, in close dialogue with every new curator,” she said.
The Malta Biennale is organised by Heritage Malta, in partnership with Arts Council Malta and in collaboration with the Ministry for Foreign Affairs and Tourism, the Ministry for Culture, Lands and Local Government, and with Visit Malta.