Biennale, at Malta Pavilion for the first time a single show by a Maltese artist

A solo show by Maltese artist Matthew Attard will be the project for the Malta Pavilion at this year’s 60th International Art Exhibition - La Biennale di Venezia scheduled from April 20 to November 24, 2024, commissioned by theArts Council of Malta. This will be the first time that a Maltese artist will be the exclusive protagonist of the national pavilion. The exhibition, titled I will follow the ship, features commissioned work that fuses cultural heritage with cutting-edge digital technologies, and was co-curated by Elyse Tonna and Sara Dolfi Agostini.

Presented by the youngest team ever represented for Malta at the Venice Biennale’s International Art Exhibition, I will follow the ship incorporates contemporary drawings, historical references and digital technology, the result of Attard’s recent explorations of artificial intelligence and digital technology as forms of artistic expression. The project draws inspiration from Attard’s interest in historical images of “ex-votos” (votive offerings of gratitude or devotion) and naval graffiti, vernacular iconographies that tell ancient local tales of faith and salvation across the Mediterranean. These maritime graffiti, located on the facades of chapels along Malta’s roads, have traditionally been attributed to sailors because of their religious implications and the political immunity afforded by such buildings. Analyzing humanity’s relationship with artificial intelligence and digital technology, the title alludes to the interaction between the concept of “I” and “eye,” symbolizing both the objective and subjective nature of the artist’s work. Moreover, the title refers to Attard’s adoption of a digital eye-tracking device as a means of artistic creation, offering a parallel between these tangible historical drawings on stone and contemporary digital drawing. Both processes are forms of tracing, sometimes unintentional, always ephemeral or immaterial, human actions over time.

The title I will follow the ship symbolizes the subjective and objective nature of Attard’s work, which uses an eye-tracking device to draw. Presented in the Malta Pavilion at the Arsenal, the multi-layered installation challenges our techno-symbiotic relationships, exploring the convergence of contemporary drawing, digital technology and historical imagery. Addressing themes such as authorship, perception and digitization, the work thus reacts to the expansion of artificial intelligence in contemporary society. In a context of climate change and questions about humanity in a hyper-technological world, these hopeful signs therefore take on new meaning. In 2024, the Malta Pavilion was commissioned by the Arts Council Malta, with support from the Malta Ministry of National Heritage, Arts and Local Government. The project was led by the Arts Council Malta Internationalization Team, headed by Romina Delia and supported by Frank Psaila for communications and Celine Portelli as coordinator. This will be the fourth time that Arts Council Malta has participated with its own National Pavilion at the Venice Biennale, following the 2017 editions with Homo Melitensis: an incomplete history in 19 chapters, 2019 with Maleth/Haven/Port - Heterotopias of Evocation, and 2022 with Diplomazija Astuta.

“This will be the first time that Malta’s national pavilion will be entrusted to a Maltese solo artist at the Venice Art Biennale. Matthew Attard, who will also be the youngest artist to have represented Malta to date, brings his project I WILL FOLLOW THE SHIP to the Malta Pavilion, exploring ideas of human existence and survival at the point of convergence between history and the future. It offers a fascinating counterpoint between the physical experience of all our lives and the intervention of the digital which is accelerating its role in everything we experience,” said Owen Bonnici, Minister for National Heritage, Arts and Land Government.

“It is an honor to be trusted to represent my home country in Venice Biennale 2024 and to develop this project together with a fantastic curatorial team. It is also a privilege to be able to devise a project that starts from humble drawings of cultural significance through technological means on such an international platform,” Attard said.

Notes about the artist

Matthew Attard, born in Malta in 1987, is distinguished by his artistic practice that explores images as social and cultural constructs. Through a multimedia approach, Attard places his practice within the context of contemporary drawing, highlighting its versatile, performative and time-based nature. His interest in the gaze as a form of drawing guided his doctoral research at the Edinburgh College of Art at the University of Edinburgh, funded by the Malta Arts fellowship program. Raised in Malta, he moved to Venice in 2009 and collaborated with the Peggy Guggenheim Collection and the U.S. Pavilion at the 2009 and 2011 Art Biennale. He then returned to Malta where in 2018 he received his Master’s degree at the Department of Digital Arts, University of Malta. She first exhibited her work in double solo exhibition organized in 2014 at Michela Rizzo Gallery in Venice. Since then he has exhibited in Venice, Rome, Valletta, Genoa, London, Beijing, and Los Angeles among other cities. Also, in 2017 he was selected for the 3rd edition of the Le Latitudini dell’Arte Biennale competition, at Palazzo Ducale, Genoa, while in 2018 he was awarded the Under 30 Euromobil Prize at ArteFiera, Bologna. He was selected three times to perform as part of “Ten Artists to Watch” at LACDA (Los Angeles Center for Digital Arts) and in 2019 he was invited to participate in Artissima Telefono at the OGR spaces in Turin, Italy. He was recently selected for the Lumen Prize 2021. Rajt ma rajtx... naf li rajt is one of Matthew’s major solo exhibitions, curated by Elyse Tonna at Valletta Contemporary in 2021. In 2022, he was commissioned to create the work Here’s How I Did Not See What You Wanted Me To See as part of the OPEN digital residency at Blitz, Valletta, curated by Sara Dolfi Agostini. The recent solo exhibition, Ship of Fools, was held in March 2023 at Galleria Michela Rizzo, Venice.

Biennale, at Malta Pavilion for the first time a single show by a Maltese artist

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