Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1514108
maltatoday | SUNDAY • 7 JANUARY 2024 5 CULTURE The President of Malta welcomes maltabiennale.art 2024 team The maltabiennale.art 2024 team, led by Mr Mario Cutajar – President of maltabiennale. art and Chairman of Heritage Malta – today visited His Excel- lency George Vella, President of Malta, to offer their best wishes for the new year; the year of the first biennale in Malta. The biennale, the first of its kind in Malta, is set to be the cultural highlight of 2024. It has been granted patronage by UN- ESCO as it will unfold across a number of Heritage Malta's his- toric sites, many of which have been declared World Heritage Sites by UNESCO, including Valletta, Malta's capital, and Ġgantija in Gozo. The President has also grant- ed the biennale his patronage. Mr Cutajar emphasised the significance of His Excellency's patronage, which makes the biennale a national event that brings together the main actors from the local cultural sector, thus strengthening an already thriving sector and diversifying it, while serving as a conduit be- tween Maltese art and beyond. The theme of the biennale's first edition – Baħar Abjad Imsaġar taż-Żebbuġ (White Sea Olive Groves) – reflects the fact that Malta exists in the midst of a sea that has hosted different cultures and, as such, is the only place where the Mediterrane- an can find and interpret itself through contemporary art. "Firstly, there is an overarch- ing theme for this biennale and future editions thereof, which is reflected on the region's constant search for peace. Our current times make this theme even more urgent," explained Cutajar. maltabiennale.art is a Her- itage Malta initiative through MUŻA, the Malta National Community Art Museum, in partnership with Arts Coun- cil Malta. The biennale is also presented in cooperation with the Ministries for Foreign and European Affairs and Trade, National Heritage, the Arts and Local Government, and Gozo, as well as with Visit Malta, Mal- ta Libraries, MCAST, Festivals Malta, Valletta Cultural Agen- cy, Malta School of Art and AUM with the participation of ŻfinMalta, KorMalta, Manoel Theatre, the Malta Philharmonic Or- chestra, Franco La Cecla, the Department of Humanities Studies within the Faculty of Arts and Tourism at IULM University in Milan, the Cen- tre for Postcolonial and Gender Studies within the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences at University of Naples L'Orien- tale, Matri-archivio del Medi- terraneo (MAM), Heritage Mal- ta's Underwater Department, Heritage Malta's Archaeologi- cal Department, and Heritage Malta's Maritime Museum.