Photo credit: Joe Borg

Highly-anticipated event welcomes pieces by top international artists, including Italy’s Dario Fo, Germany’s von Cube and China’s Adam Chang

Mdina will soon step back in time to embrace its multicultural past, with the launch of the city’s eagerly-anticipated Mdina Cathedral Contemporary Art Biennale, which will be held between 13 November 2015 and 7 January 2016, with APS Bank as its main partner.

This rebirth edition of the Mdina Biennale will take a radically-different approach to art and religion, and is being hailed as a bridge between different cultures, faiths and, even, non-faiths.

The theme, Christianity, Spirituality and the Other, as well as the new conceptual direction for the event, has been developed by artist, art critic and academic
Dr Giuseppe Schembri-Bonaci, who is the artistic director of the Biennale. Harking back to the Mdina Biennale’s roots in the 1990s, it will provide a spiritual space for creativity, and will feature thought-provoking and high-quality artworks by top artists from no less than 25 countries around the world.

“We are thrilled to announce that the Mdina Biennale has attracted some very high-calibre names from both the national and international art world,” says Dr Schembri-Bonaci.

The long list of artists features close to names from across the artistic disciplines. Local artists include Richard England, Mark England, Vince Briffa, Patrick Dalli, Paul Haber, Pierre Portelli, Anna Grima, Sina Micallef Farrugia, Anthony Micallef, Victor Spiteri and James Micallef Grimaud.

Other international works are by Dario Fo, Francesco Infante, Adam Dix, Michael von Cube, Valera Loredana Longo, Silvia Camporesi, Denis Pondruel, Christian Jaccard, Bernard Cousinier, Gildas Le Reste, Frederique Lucien, Philippe Desloubieres, Vincent Come, Patrice Pantin, Kacha Legrand, Nicola Arkell, James Alec Hardy, Richard Shields and Natala and Valerya Cherkashin.

The Biennale will also present a full calendar of musical, literary and audiovisual events, with performances by the Malta Philharmonic Orchestra’s chief conductor Brian Schembri, composers Karl Fiorini, Reuben Pace and Albert Garzia, actor Pino Scicluna, and contemporary dance creations by Francesca Abela Tranter, as well as collaborations with Caravan and Artnaked.

Caravan is a trans-cultural initiative which organises a multitude of arts events with the intention of creating peaceful dialogue between diverse religious and cultural backgrounds. Caravan will be coordinating a number of projects for the Mdina Biennale, including the Maltese Donkey sculptural installation and a series of concerts.

ARTNAKED is a London-based curatorial organisation which creates numerous events, exhibitions, performances, radio podcasts and literary and academic events. A group of contemporary artists from London and beyond will be participating in the Mdina Biennale under the management of ARTNAKED.

“Mdina has been a city of art for centuries. We are thrilled to showcase that history and to bring more art than ever within its fortified walls,” says Dr Schembri-Bonaci. “Now, at this key moment in our own modern era, we are proud to celebrate diversity through art and encourage interfaith dialogue whenever possible. All art is spiritual, and that is the message that we want to pass on to the many visitors that we hope will enjoy this Biennale in the months to come.”

For more, regularly-updated information on the Mdina Cathedral Contemporary Art Biennale 2015, please visit http:www.mdinabiennale.org.