Norbert Francis Attard (born 4 October 1951 in Sliema, Malta) is a Maltese multi-disciplinary artist, art collector, gallerist and entrepreneur known for his varied approaches to artistic projects, multi-media works, installations and anthropological-based projects.
Early years
Attard started as a self-taught painter and graphic artist before turning to installation art in 1998. He graduated in Architecture from the
University of Malta
The University of Malta (, UM, formerly UOM) is a higher education institution in Malta. It offers undergraduate bachelor's degrees, postgraduate master's degrees and postgraduate doctorates. It is a member of the European University Association ...
in 1977, practicing the profession as architect for twenty years until 1996. He lived in
Germany
Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...
in 1978/1979 working with the firm ‘Licht in Raum’, directed by
Johannes Dinnebier, one of Germany’s pioneers in light design.
Works
Whilst practicing the profession of architect for twenty years until 1996, he designed prints, posters, postage stamps and other works. Among Norbert Attard's numerous and most noteworthy artistic works one finds a growing collection of posters designed for various theatres national associations embassies and cultural institutions. On the same lines he has also designed a number of book covers and eight issues of Maltese postage stamps.
In 1998 he focused on installation art and has since then worked in various disciplines, merging expressions of architecture, sculpture, video and photography in different and various media. The relationship of his work to location and memory of site is crucial, as is his attempt to create a sense of balance and harmony through inter-relatedness of often contradictory themes and ideas.
In 1999, he represented Malta in the 48th Venice Biennale.
2002-2005
Committee member of the Malta Council for Culture and the Arts.
Since 2001
Director of GOZO Contemporary, an art space offering artist’s residencies on the island of
Gozo
Gozo (, ), Maltese: ''Għawdex'' () and in antiquity known as Gaulos ( xpu, 𐤂𐤅𐤋, ; grc, Γαῦλος, Gaúlos), is an island in the Maltese archipelago in the Mediterranean Sea. The island is part of the Republic of Malta. After t ...
.
1999
Represented Malta at the 48th
Venice Biennale
The Venice Biennale (; it, La Biennale di Venezia) is an international cultural exhibition hosted annually in Venice, Italy by the Biennale Foundation. The biennale has been organised every year since 1895, which makes it the oldest of ...
, Italy.
1998-2008
Created many site-specific installations in several countries and has participated in many
collective international exhibitions in Scotland, England, Cuba, Austria, Italy, Spain, Germany,
Liechtenstein, Turkey, Greece, South Korea, Australia, U.S.A., and Taiwan.
Valletta Contemporary
Attard is the founder of the Conceptual art gallery
Valletta Contemporary. Opened in 2018, this gallery has established itself as one of the leading galleries in Malta offering space for exhibitions of a conceptual and contemporary nature. The gallery also curates
VC Editions, a collection of artworks especially commissioned by the gallery by artists who have already exhibited at the venue.
Exhibitions
2005 Artists against Sedition Laws,
Casula Powerhouse Arts Centre
Casula Powerhouse Arts Centre (CPAC), commonly referred to as Casula Powerhouse, is a multi-disciplinary arts centre in Casula, a south-western outer suburb of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. Before being renovated and converted into an art ...
,
Sydney
Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Sydney Harbour and extends about towards the Blue Mountain ...
, Australia.
2005 Art’s Diary: Intervene, Taipei Artists Village, Taipei, Taiwan.
2005 Obsession, The
International Video Festival, Galerie X, Istanbul, Turkey.
2005 The Exhausted Body,
Kaohsiung Museum of Fine Arts
The Kaohsiung Museum of Fine Arts (KMFA; ) is located in Gushan District, Kaohsiung, Taiwan. It was founded by the Kaohsiung City Government and has been administrated by the Kaohsiung Bureau of Cultural Affairs since 2003. It occupies about a ...
,
Kaohsiung
Kaohsiung City (Mandarin Chinese: ; Wade–Giles: ''Kao¹-hsiung²;'' Pinyin: ''Gāoxióng'') is a special municipality located in southern Taiwan. It ranges from the coastal urban center to the rural Yushan Range with an area of . Kaohsi ...
,
Taiwan
Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia, at the junction of the East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocean, with the People's Republic of China (PRC) to the northwest, Japan to the nort ...
.
2005 Inspiration of Astronomical Phenomena, John David Mooney Foundation, Chicago, U.S.A.
2005
Casoria Museum of Contemporary Art, Naples, Italy.
2004 K.A.I.R.,
Kamiyama,
Tokushima Prefecture
is a prefecture of Japan located on the island of Shikoku. Tokushima Prefecture has a population of 728,633 (1 October 2019) and has a geographic area of 4,146 km2 (1,601 sq mi). Tokushima Prefecture borders Kagawa Prefecture to the north, E ...
, Japan.
2004 ART Expo, Mexico 04, Solaris / Observatorio,
Michoacán
Michoacán, formally Michoacán de Ocampo (; Purépecha: ), officially the Free and Sovereign State of Michoacán de Ocampo ( es, Estado Libre y Soberano de Michoacán de Ocampo), is one of the 32 states which comprise the Federal Entities of ...
, Mexico.
2004 ARTiade, Visual Arts of the Olympics,
Athens
Athens ( ; el, Αθήνα, Athína ; grc, Ἀθῆναι, Athênai (pl.) ) is both the capital and largest city of Greece. With a population close to four million, it is also the seventh largest city in the European Union. Athens dominates ...
, Greece.
2004 Nomadifesta, Kastelliotissa,
Nicosia
Nicosia ( ; el, Λευκωσία, Lefkosía ; tr, Lefkoşa ; hy, Նիկոսիա, romanized: ''Nikosia''; Cypriot Arabic: Nikusiya) is the largest city, capital, and seat of government of Cyprus. It is located near the centre of the Mesaor ...
, Cyprus.
2003
Macedonian Museum of Contemporary Art
Macedonian most often refers to someone or something from or related to Macedonia.
Macedonian(s) may specifically refer to:
People Modern
* Macedonians (ethnic group), a nation and a South Slavic ethnic group primarily associated with North Ma ...
,
Thessaloniki
Thessaloniki (; el, Θεσσαλονίκη, , also known as Thessalonica (), Saloniki, or Salonica (), is the second-largest city in Greece, with over one million inhabitants in its Thessaloniki metropolitan area, metropolitan area, and the capi ...
, Greece.
2003 8th
Havana Biennale
The Bienal de La Habana was founded in 1984. It takes place in Havana (Cuba) every two years. It principally aims at promoting the developing world in contemporary art circles, giving priority to Latin American and Caribbean artists, although art ...
, Cuba.
2003 Post-Civilisation,
Kaohsiung International Container Festival
Kaohsiung City (Mandarin Chinese: ; Wade–Giles: ''Kao¹-hsiung²;'' Pinyin: ''Gāoxióng'') is a special municipality located in southern Taiwan. It ranges from the coastal urban center to the rural Yushan Range with an area of . Kaohsi ...
, Kaohsiung, Taiwan.
2003 Palestrina and Hell, Johanniterkirche,
Feldkirch Feldkirch may refer to:
Places
* Feldkirch, Vorarlberg, a medieval city and capital of an administrative district in Austria
** Feldkirch (district), an administrative division of Vorarlberg, Austria
* Feldkirch (Hartheim), a village in the munici ...
, Austria.
2003 Intervention I, Manningham Mills,
Bradford, England
Bradford is a city and the administrative centre of the City of Bradford district in West Yorkshire, England. The city is in the Pennines' eastern foothills on the banks of the Bradford Beck. Bradford had a population of 349,561 at the 2011 c ...
, UK.
2002
Edinburgh International Arts Festival
Edinburgh ( ; gd, Dùn Èideann ) is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 council areas. Historically part of the county of Midlothian (interchangeably Edinburghshire before 1921), it is located in Lothian on the southern shore of t ...
, Scotland, UK.
2002 2nd Liverpool Biennale, England, UK.
2001 The Floating Land,
International Site Specific Art Laboratory
International is an adjective (also used as a noun) meaning "between nations".
International may also refer to:
Music Albums
* ''International'' (Kevin Michael album), 2011
* ''International'' (New Order album), 2002
* ''International'' (The T ...
, Noosa, Queensland, Australia.
2000
Edinburgh City Art Centre
Edinburgh ( ; gd, Dùn Èideann ) is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 council areas. Historically part of the county of Midlothian (interchangeably Edinburghshire before 1921), it is located in Lothian on the southern shore of ...
, Edinburgh, Scotland.
1999 48th Venice Biennale, Italy.
1999 Diaspora,
International Art Meeting
International is an adjective (also used as a noun) meaning "between nations".
International may also refer to:
Music Albums
* ''International'' (Kevin Michael album), 2011
* ''International'' (New Order album), 2002
* ''International'' (The T ...
,
Oviedo
Oviedo (; ast, Uviéu ) is the capital city of the Principality of Asturias in northern Spain and the administrative and commercial centre of the region. It is also the name of the municipality that contains the city. Oviedo is located ap ...
, Spain.
1999 2nd
Florence Biennale The Biennale Internazionale Dell’Arte Contemporanea, also known as the Florence Biennale is an art exhibition held in Florence, Italy. Since 1997 it has been held every two years in the exhibition spaces of the Fortezza da Basso, Florence.
The li ...
, Italy.
1998
Breath, International Art Symposium, Chonju, South Korea.
1998 Transkutan, Olympia Park,
Munich
Munich ( ; german: München ; bar, Minga ) is the capital and most populous city of the States of Germany, German state of Bavaria. With a population of 1,558,395 inhabitants as of 31 July 2020, it is the List of cities in Germany by popu ...
, Germany.
1998 XIX
Biennale of Alexandria, Egypt.
Publications
2007
Between Earth and Sky - Norbert Francis Attard
Book published by Midsea Books Limited in collaboration with Heritage Malta.
Main text edited by Ranier Fsadni. Additional editing by Lisa Gwen Baldacchino.
Critical Essay by Richard England.
Foreword by Aomi Okabe.
Photography of Prehistoric Artifacts and Temples by Daniel Cilia.
2004
Norbert Francis Attard, Four Olympics
Book published by NY ARTS BOOKS, New York, USA.
Edited by Dennis Vella.
Critical Essay by Stanley Borg.
Foreword by Tereza de Arruda.
2002
I See Red Everywhere
Book published by The Carnyx Group, Glasgow, Scotland.
Foreword by Richard Demarco.
Introduction by Peter Serracino Inglott.
Additional writings by Fiona Calder, Neil Cameron, Richard Carr, Richard Demarco, Emmanuel Fiorentino, Quentin Hughes, Paul Sant Cassia, Diane Sykes, Julian Treuherz, Raphael Vella, and Kenneth Wain.
1996
Norbert Attard, Prints and Paintings, 1977 - 1996.
Published by Roemer-und Pelizaeus Museum, Hildesheim, Germany.
Edited by Dennis Vella.
Foreword by Kenneth Wain.
Additional writings by Dennis Vella,
Meir Ronnen, Dominic Cutajar, Anne Musgrave, Richard England,
Peter Serracino Inglott, Raphael Vella, Emmanuel Fiorentino, Rose Lapira and Theresa M. Vella.
1983
Norbert Attard, Artist in Malta, 1977–1983
Published by Edizioni Galleria De Amicis, Florence, Italy.
Introduction by Dominic Cutajar.
Foreword by Richard England.
1978
While the Heart watches
Limited edition handmade box.
Twelve poems by Michael Zammit and three signed lithograph prints by Norbert Attard.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Attard, Norbert
1951 births
Living people
Maltese artists
20th-century Maltese architects
21st-century Maltese architects
University of Malta alumni