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 climactic 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.

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 November 28th 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.

“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”, artistic director, Giuseppe Schembri Bonaci explained.

“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”, he continued.

Participants for this year’s Mdina Cathedral contemporary Art Biennale have hailed from China, France, Italy, UK, 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, The Netherlands.

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