URNA: London Design Biennale 2025

“URNA” to represent Malta at the London Design Biennale 2025.

Arts Council Malta will be once again returning to the London Design Biennale, in 2025, this time with the selected project URNA.

URNA is an inovative project exploring the fascinating and distinctive subject of cremation. This project perfectly exemplifies and merges design innovation and creativity. It is bold, stimulating and far-reaching, beyond the idea of simply "art". It is a design for the community and challenges the status quo on interment, while offering a solution that is both poetic, intellectually stimulating and environmentally engaging. It should serve as the starting point for much discussion.

URNA introduces a new ritual for handling human remains, anticipating the adoption of cremation in the Maltese Islands and envisioning it as a culturally significant process. The project redefines the columbarium, ossuary, and wake to re-establish death as a significant ceremony, unburdened by unnecessary signifiers.

For this project, a multinational team—not only with strong Maltese roots, but also Mediterranean foundations—has been compiled. The team is constructed as a constellation of artists, designers, curators, architects and art directors, in dialogue with intrinsically Maltese elements that fuel the design process. Mediterranean sentiments from Malta, Cyprus and France meet with more global design processes in London and the United States in order to create universal outputs.

Andrew Borg Wirth (b.1993) is a curator and architect with an interdisciplinary practice interrogating political themes through collaborative projects with artists, collectives, architects and organisations. He curates exhibitions and site-specific projects both in Malta and overseas.

Anthony Bonnici (b.1990, Malta) studied architecture in the UK and Switzerland, then led major projects worldwide at Valerio Olgiati's office. He notably collaborated with Kanye West and founded EBEJER BONNICI upon returning to Malta in 2021, now exploring new architectural possibilities with work in Malta, Mexico and USA.

Matthew Attard Navarro, founder of ANCC Studio, is a London-based art director. His work, combining photography and design, explores digital media and postcolonial identity, bridging traditional and contemporary aesthetics for fashion and luxury brands.

Tanil Raif is a Cypriot designer currently obtaining his masters degree in architecture at Harvard University. His interest is within the intersection of primitive futurism and computational design. His contributions include Neom’s line city in Saudi Arabia and the Yeezy Masterplan in Wyoming.

Anne Immelé, PhD is a photographer working as a teacher and exhibition curator. Her photographs examine the myriad of dimensions in our relationship with the territory: geographical, human and social, as well as memorial and poetic.

Stephanie Sant (b.1992) is a Malta born, Paris based filmmaker, writer and performer. Her work has been exhibited notably at the 2019 Venice Biennale (San Marino Pavilion), Spazju Kreattiv (MT), la Friche la Belle de Mai (FR) and Het Nieuwe Instituut (NL).

Thomas Mifsud is a Maltese architect and multidisciplinary creative, exploring place-making and historigraphy through photography and poetry. In 2023, he joined EBEJER BONNICI, leading various projects, curating the firm's visual language, and guest-tutoring at the University of Malta.

EBEJER BONNICI's visual language. Additionally, he guest-tutors at the University of Malta, using photography to survey disused quarries.

Malta’s participation at the London Design Biennale
Arts Council Malta, under the auspices of the Ministry for National Heritage, the Arts and Local Government, has been entrusted to act as the Commissioner and the Contracting Authority of Malta’s participation at the London Design Biennale in 2025. Dr Romina Delia, International Executive at Arts Council Malta shall lead the project, supported by Celine Portelli (Coordination) and Dr Frank Psaila (PR & Marketing International Projects).

The fifth London Design Biennale will take place from June 5–29, 2025. Samuel Ross was announced as the artistic director of the London Design Biennale 2025 and the theme will be “Surface Reflections”, exploring how ideas are shaped equally by internal experiences and external influences.

The evaluators, on behalf of Arts Council Malta for the selection of the Malta Pavilion at the London Design Biennale 2025 where:

Angela Bourderye-Munoz, cultural diplomacy expert, currently serving as the External Relations and Events Manager at London Design Biennale since 2022. / Adrian Mamo, architect and current artistic director of Teatru Manoel, Malta's national theatre. / Andre Pizzuto, President of the Council of the Maltese Chamber of Architects & Civil Engineers.

The evaluation session was moderated by Dr Romina Delia, Internationalisation Executive at Arts Council Malta.