Biennale director to get €12,000 a month

The foreign artistic director appointed for the second edition of the Malta Biennale next year will cost taxpayers more than €12,000 a month, according to contractual details released following a legal battle by The Shift.

Rosa Martínez, a 70-year-old Spanish curator and artist, was selected by Heritage Malta as artistic director on a seven-month contract that runs until July.

The agreement was signed by Heritage Malta Chair Mario Cutajar, a former senior civil servant and long-time Labour Party militant, who was appointed to the role shortly after retiring from public service.

Heritage Malta had initially refused to publish the contract despite parliamentary questions from Opposition MP Julie Zahra and freedom of information requests filed by The Shift. The agency argued that the document was confidential and that its disclosure could harm the artistic director’s professional career.

Following The Shift’s call for an investigation, a ruling upheld the right to access the information, compelling Cutajar and Chief Executive Noel Zammit to release the contract.

The agreement shows that Martínez will receive a basic payment of €67,590 over the contract period, equivalent to more than €12,000 a month.

Martínez, 70, from Barcelona, is not required to work from Malta, but the contract includes a daily subsistence allowance of €250 for every night spent in Malta, capped at €15,000, as well as the engagement of a personal assistant of her choosing from the Barcelona region.

All travel and transport costs are also covered by the Maltese State, including flights and expenses related to work undertaken in other countries in connection with the organisation of the biennale.

Heritage Malta said Martínez was chosen through an open call overseen by its selection team, which includes Albert Marshall, who was relieved from his job at the Arts Council but kept on his lucrative salary.

Martínez has previously established connections to Malta, notably with Gozitan artist Austin Camilleri, who has worked extensively with Heritage Malta.

Martínez is a known curator, writer and artist with an extensive international portfolio. She served as one of the curators of the Venice Biennale in 2005, widely regarded as the most prestigious contemporary art exhibition.

Malta staged its first biennale in 2024, at a cost of several million euro. The initiative was championed by Cutajar and presented as a flagship cultural project. Critics, however, argued that the event fell outside Heritage Malta’s statutory remit and should instead have been overseen by the Malta Arts Council.

Despite the scale of public spending, the inaugural edition failed to leave a lasting international impression and was criticised for a lack of transparency and accountability. Digby Warde-Aldam, an international critic of biennales, hosted in Malta at public expense, described the event in the UK magazine The Spectator as “weird” and “dysfunctional”.

A biennale is a major international contemporary art exhibition held every two years. Countries, cities, or even private organisations often organise these events to showcase the work of artists from around the world. Heritage Malta is expected to have drawn lessons from the shortcomings of the first edition. The appointment of an established international artistic director is intended to strengthen the credibility and impact of the second Malta Biennale, scheduled for next year.