Malta Pavilion at London Design Biennale 2025
Representing Malta, URNA is an innovative project exploring the unique and thought-provoking subject of cremation, merging design innovation with cultural significance.
Commissioned by Arts Council Malta
The team
A collaboration of architects, designers, curators, and art directors has devised a geometrical construction using large, nondescript boulders that accumulate over time and form a language of their own. These spherical modules, universal in shape, incorporate cremated remains, embodying the individual’s connection to a broader cosmic reality and evolving through tactile interventions that invite various cultural interpretations.
Anthony
Bonnici
Architect/Designer
Anthony Bonnici (b.1990, Malta) pursued architecture at Kingston University, UK (2008-2011, RIBA Bronze Medal nominee) and the Accademia di Mendrisio, Switzerland (2013-2015). He worked at Valerio Olgiati's office (2015-2021), overseeing international projects such as the CELINE Flagship Store in Miami, Carnasciale winery in Tuscany, a residence in Alentejo, Portugal, and the Pearling Site Entrance and Museum in Bahrain. Notably, he spearheaded projects for Kanye West, including a private residence, the Yeezy campus in Wyoming, and an urban concept in Atlanta. Returning to Malta in 2021, Bonnici established EBEJER BONNICI and teaches at the University of Malta, exploring new possibilities in architecture with work in Malta, Mexico and USA.
Andrew
Borg Wirth
Curator/Architect
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 (London, Moscow, Venice). His research interests lie at the intersection between cultural and architectural discourse, dealing with nostalgia, public space, memory, monuments and trauma. Andrew is a visiting tutor at the Faculty for the Built Environment, University of Malta and has published research at the Bartlett School of Architecture, University College London (UCL) and Central Saint Martins, University of the Arts, London (UAL).
Tanil
Raif
Architect/Designer
Tanil Raif is a Cypriot designer currently obtaining his masters degree in architecture at the Harvard graduate school of design. His interest is within the intersection of primitive futurism and computational design. After his completion of bachelors in architecture at Chicago’s İllinois Institute of technology, Tanil has worked with many notable figures such as Kanye West, James Turrell and Ma Yanson. His contributions include project such as Neom’s line city in Saudi Arabia and the Yeezy Masterplan in cody Wyoming.
Thomas
Mifsud
Architect/Designer
Thomas Mifsud (b.1996, Malta) is an architect and multidisciplinary creative. He graduated with honors from the University of Malta in 2021 with an M(Arch.) in Architectural Design. Mifsud explores place-making, collective memory, and historiography through photography and poetry. In 2023, he joined EBEJER BONNICI as a design lead architect, working on a stone tower, rural dwellings, and set design for Joseph Vella's opera, Valeriana: Titan's Rock. He is also directing residential projects in Baja California Sur, Mexico, and curating EBEJER BONNICI's visual language. Additionally, he guest-tutors at the University of Malta, using photography to survey disused quarries.
Matthew
Attard Navarro
Art Director
Matthew Attard Navarro (b. 1987, Malta) is a London-based multi-disciplinary art director. Combining photography and design, his work explores digital media, postcolonial identity, and the cultural zeitgeist. Attard Navarro founded ANCC Studio in 2018, leading a team specialising in art direction, image, design, strategy, advertising for fashion and luxury brands. His work bridges the old and new, frequently subverting his Maltese heritage.
Anne
Immelé
Photographer
Anne Immelé, Ph.D. 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. In 2013 she co-founded the BPM - Mulhouse Photography Biennial for which she serves to date as the artistic director for the festival and curator for specific exhibitions. She is the author of several books featuring her own photography, including WIR with the philosopher Jean-Luc Nancy [ Filigranes Éditions, 2003 ], and Oublie Oublie, [Médiapop, 2021].
Stephanie
Sant
Filmmaker
Stephanie Sant is a Malta born, Paris based artist self-described as a 'multidisciplinary poet'. She turned to the visual arts aged 18 and produced a series of self-portraits in the Maltese landscape. During her Master's in Photography at Central Saint Martins, she lived in a monastery in Central London. Upon her return to Malta, she turned to filmmaking, sustaining herself with life modelling and theatrical performances overseas. Her alternating roles between director and performer continue to enrich her artistic vision. Her work has been notably exhibited at the 2019 Venice Biennale, Spazju Kreattiv, la Friche la Belle de Mai and Het Nieuwe Instituut.