Norbert Francis Attard

NORBERT FRANCIS ATTARD

Norbert (1951) was born in Malta and lives and works on the island of Gozo (Malta), and since 2010 in Berlin (Germany).

Norbert graduated in Architecture from the University of Malta in 1977, practicing the profession as architect for twenty years until 1996,
and lived in Germany in 1978 / 1979 working with the firm ‘Licht in Raum’, directed by Johannes Dinnebier, one of Germany’s pioneers in light design.

He is a self-taught painter and graphic designer (1965-1997) before turning to installation art in 1998. His present practice employs several disciplines including architecture, sculpture, video and photography to explore his major interests in places and their memories.

His works have been included in many major international exhibitions such as Meridian/Urban Project, Berlin, Germany (2011); Galeria Nuble, Santander, Spain (2011); Ostrale 011, Dresden, Germany (2011); Thanatopolis, I-Park, Connetticut, USA.(2010); Ruhr-Atoll, Essen, Germany (2010); 5th Biennial Vento Sul, Curitiba, Brazil (2009); CUBE OPEN, Manchester, UK (2009); 25th Alexandria Biennial, Egypt (2009);  2nd Bienal de Canarias, Canary Islands (2009); INHABIT 09, in collaboration with Brisbane City Council, Australia (2009); ARRIVALS, Turner Contemporary, Margate, UK.(2008); Irish Museum of Modern Art (2008); Intrude 366 : Art and Life, organized by Zendai Museum of Modern Art, Shanghai, China (2008); 3rd Echigo Tsumari Triennale, Japan, (2006); Kaohsiung Museum of Fine Arts, Taiwan (2005); Casoria Museum of Contemporary Art, Naples, Italy (2005); ARTIADE, Athens, Greece (2004); 8th Havana Biennale (2003); Paths to Europe, Macedonia Museum of Contemporary Art, Thessaloniki, Greece (2003); 2nd Liverpool Biennale (2002), Edinburgh International Festival, Scotland (2002); Floating Land, International Site Specific Art Laboratory, Noosa, Queensland, Australia (2001); Diaspora, Oviedo, Spain, (1998), amongst many others.

Norbert represented Malta in the 48th Venice Biennale in 1999.

He is director of GOZO CONTEMPORARY since 2001, an art space, offering self-directed residencies to local and international artists on the island of Gozo.

He has attended several residency programs:  Elsewhere Collaborative, Greensboro, North Carolina, (2011);Virginia Centre for the Creative Arts (VCCA), U.S.A., (2010); Irish Museum of Modern Art (IMMA), Dublin, Ireland., (2008); Turner Contemporary (in collaboration with Oxford Modern, UK), Margate, UK., (2007); Europos Parkus, Vilnius, Lithuania, (2006); Taipei Artists Village, Taipei, Taiwan, (2005); and (KAIR) Kamiyama, Japan, 2004.

Since 2002, three books have been published about his work: I See Red Everywhere (2002); Four Olympics  (2004); and Between Earth and Sky (2007). His first monograph publication covering the last 15 years of his work will be published in 2011.