Repertoire in Intermedial Mode is a project by Francesco Bertelé curated by Sara d’Alessandro Manozzo and Caterina Riva. It has been selected for a Malta Biennale 2026 Thematic Pavilion of and it will be presented at the Birgu Old Armoury from 11 March to 29 May 2026 under the patronage of the Embassy of Italy in Malta and the Italian Cultural Institute.
The public program, comprising three roundtables hosted at the Italian Cultural Institute, is conceived as an integral part of the artistic project. The panel discussions will focus on the idea of the “spectacularization of the border”, a starting point for examining how digital technologies shape the social imaginary and the perception of reality.
The research will follow two main lines: on the one hand, it will examine the relationship between technology and the accuracy of information, with the aim of deconstructing dominant narratives on migration; on the other, the digital space will be compared with the “real” territory and its perceptual boundaries.
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Infosphere, technology and truth
Monday, March 9th at 6pm
Chaired by Caterina Riva
Guests:
- Ruggiero Lo Sardo (researcher, Sony Computer Science Laboratories, Rome)
- Gabi Scardi (art critic and curator)
- Tina Urso (president of Daphne Caruana Galizia Foundation, Valletta)
- Gabriel Zammit (curator and writer)
Limited spots available: REGISTRATION REQUIRED
IMPORTANT: If the event reaches full capacity, you may still request to be added to the waiting list by emailing iiclavalletta@esteri.it. Any places that become available will be allocated on a first-come, first-served basis, with one place assigned per email received.
The event will be held in English
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Spectacularization of the border
Monday, April 27th at 6pm
Guests:
- Daniela DeBono (Head of Department and Associate Professor, Department of Anthropological Sciences, University of Malta)
- Filippo Furri (Anthropologist, Border Forensics)
- Léa Karam (Program Manager for Social Entrepreneurship)
- Niccolò Parigini (Program Manager, Mediterranean Hope)
In conversation with Francesco Bertelé
The second event in the public program Repertoire in Intermedial Mode focuses on the “spectacularization of the border”, a process which turns the border and the control practices associated with it into a media event, transforming a real and systemic phenomenon – migration – into an emergency issue, and thus legitimizing measures of surveillance, exclusion and the management of bodies.
This roundtable brings together academics, researchers and humanitarian workers in a dialogue deepening a research on the intersection between the infosphere and the “border regime”, conducted by artist Francesco Bertelé.
Limited spots available: REGISTRATION REQUIRED
IMPORTANT: If the event reaches full capacity, you may still request to be added to the waiting list by emailing iiclavalletta@esteri.it. Any places that become available will be allocated on a first-come, first-served basis, with one place assigned per email received.
The event will be held in English
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ITALIAN ARTISTS AT THE MALTA BIENNALE 2026 (Collateral event)
Tour of Birgu with critical insights
Wednesday, 27 May at 4pm
Meeting point: Birgu, Main Square
with Sara D’Alessandro Manozzo, curator of Repertoire in Intermedial Mode, and Francesca Guerisoli, curator of So Good to Feel Real
Venues: Inquisitor’s Palace, Old Armoury, Fort St Angelo
IN ITALIAN
Only a few spots available: REGISTRATION REQUIRED
IMPORTANT: If the event reaches full capacity, you may still request to be added to the waiting list by emailing iiclavalletta@esteri.it. Any places that become available will be allocated on a first-come, first-served basis, with one place assigned per email received.
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Real and virtual body
Thursday, 28 May at 6:30pm
Guests:
- Caterina Riva (Curator, Director of MACTE, Museo di Arte Contemporanea di Termoli)
- Chiara Pirozzi (Curator, Co-artistic director Underneath the Arches, Naples; Academy of Fine Arts, Naples / Urbino)
- Agata Soccini (Researcher and professor in Virtual Reality and head of the VR Lab, Department of Computer Science, University of Turin)
- Bruno Valsecchi (Professional Piercer and Modifier, co-founder of Ghirigori Family – a.k.a. Bruno BMA)
In conversation with Sara d’Alessandro Manozzo
The third and final event in the Repertoire in Intermedial Mode public program focuses on the body, the centre of knowledge and experience, and the boundary between the individual and the collective. Starting with an analysis of Hic sunt dracones by Francesco Bertelé, a bio-hypermedia installation in virtual and mixed reality exhibited at the Malta Biennale, the roundtable discussion will explore the concepts of avatars and embodiment, creating an interplay between the artificial world and the body in its human reality.
The roundtable brings together a wide range of perspectives, from scientific approaches to those linked to the expression of body art, and will be moderated by curator Sara d’Alessandro Manozzo.
Limited spots available: REGISTRATION REQUIRED
IMPORTANT: If the event reaches full capacity, you may still request to be added to the waiting list by emailing segr.iiclavalletta@esteri.it. Any places that become available will be allocated on a first-come, first-served basis, with one place assigned per email received.
The event will be held in English