Vince Briffa

Vince Briffa (born 1958) is an artist and academic.

He works in video, photography, painting, new media and installation. He is also a curator of contemporary art exhibitions, writes for various local and international publications and organizes discussions, exhibitions and art residencies. He was awarded a PhD by the University of Central Lancashire in the UK in 2009 and an MA in Fine Arts with distinction from the University of Leeds in 2000. He was also artist in residence at the Edinburgh College of Art, Scotland in 1996.

Briffa’s work has been exhibited in some of the world’s most prestigious museums and galleries. He has also been chosen to represent Malta in many international exhibitions, including the Venice Biennale (1999) amongst others, and his work forms part of many local and international private and public collections.

As an academic, he is an Associate of the Electronic and Digital Arts Unit (EDAU) of the University of Central Lancashire, and a visiting academic at Contemporary Art Practice, Leeds University in the UK. He is also the external examiner for the Bradford Film School.

Vince Briffa has been involved in the creative industries for the past thirty years and was instrumental in launching computer graphics for television broadcast in Malta in the late 1980s. ^[1]

Works exhibited at

48th Venice Biennale (1999);
Villa Manin Museum of Contemporary Art;
Passariano and Casoria Museum of Contemporary Art in Naples, Italy;
Pierides Museum of Contemporary Art, Nicosia, Cyprus;
MOYA and Only Atelier, Vienna; ‘Johanniterkirche’, Feldkirch, Austria;
Palais des Nations, United Nations Building, Geneva, Switzerland;
Grounds of the Museum of Modern Art, Vaduz, Liechtenstein
Galerie der Schwarze Punkt, Konstanz, Germany;
Edinburgh College of Art, Edinburgh Festival;
Matthew Gallery, Invergordon Gallery, Scotland;
Galerie d’Art Zero, Barcelona, Spain;
Queen Street Gallery, Belfast, Northern Ireland;
Espace Claudel, Bibliothèque Universitaire, Amiens, France;
MAC, Museo de Arte Contemporáneo de Santa Fe, Argentina;
Cork Vision Centre, Cork, Ireland;
Museum of Modern Art, Tel Aviv, Israel;
Cathedral Museum, Mdina;
the Museum of Fine Art, Valletta;
Museum of Archaeology, Valletta;
St. James Cavalier, Valletta.

Selected solo exhibitions, projects and public commissions

1999: 48th Venice Biennale - Malta Pavilion, Le Tese dell’Arsenale, Venice, Italy;
2000: Hermes - St. James Cavalier Centre for Creativity, Valletta, Malta;
2001: Three Pieces - The outer building, Museum of Modern Art, Vaduz, Liechtenstein;
2002: Amen - Nemmen - The “Johanniterkirche”, Feldkirch, Austria;
2002: Hermes - The Sacristy, “Johanniterkirche”, Feldkirch, Austria;
2002: Nixtieq… - Attard Historic Centre, Malta;
2003: Immigrant - Only Atelier, Vienna, Austria;
2004: Queen Street Gallery, Belfast, N. Ireland / Villa Manin Centre of Contemporary Art, Udine, Italy;
2004: Body Works - Pierides Museum of Contemporary Art, Nicosia, Cyprus;
2005: MOYA, Vienna, Austria;
2005: re:public - The Vision Centre, Cork, Ireland;
2006/7: Selfportrait - A Show for Bethlehem - Show for Peace - Casoria Contemporary Art Museum, Naples, Italy and MAC - Museo de Arte Contemporáneo de Santa Fe, Argentina;
2006: Hermes - Galerie der Schwarze Punkt, Konstanz, Germany;
2006: Body of Glass – After Caravaggio - The “Johanniterkirche”, Feldkirch, Austria;
2007: Playing God - The Preston Minster, Preston, England;
2007: Body of Glass – After Caravaggio - Auberge d’Italie, Valletta, Malta;
2007: 6collabor8 - Palais Liechtenstein, Feldkirch, Austria;
2007: Analogue and Digital - Fieldgate Gallery, London, England;
2009: Sounds and Visions - Tel Aviv Museum of Modern Art, Israel;
2009: Heterotopia - Gallery No. 68, Valletta, Malta;
2011: Terrain Vague - St. James Cavalier, Centre for Creativity, Valletta, Malta;
2012: Merry-go-round - Interactive Sculpture, Larnaca Airport, Larnaca, Cyprus;
2013: Logos - Sta. Barbara church, Valletta, Malta;
2014: Kiss the Sky - Pjazza Teatru Rjal, Valletta, Malta;
2015: Għoqda - Monument for EU-Africa Summit, Castille Square, Valletta, Malta;
2016: The Space in Between - K.B. Gallery, Kaposvár, Hungary.

Selected collective exhibitions

1982: Contemporary Art Exhibition - Cathedral Museum, Mdina, Malta;
1983: Ġgata - British Legion and Ta’ Cenc Hotel, Gozo;
1983-1990: Maltafest - Auberge de Provence, Valletta, Malta;
1984: Royal Academy Summer Exhibition, Piccadilly, London, England;
1985: Marriott Hotels Contemporary Art Exhibition, Christie’s Sales Rooms, London;
1985: Chenil Galleries Contemporary Painters - Kings Cross, London, England;
1986: Italian and Maltese Artists - Hotel Phoenicia, Floriana, Malta;
1988: Mostra Internazionale d’Arte - Museo del Risorgimento, Rome;
1988: The Art of a Rising Generation - Chamber of Commerce, Valletta, Malta;
1989: Maltese Artists in Florence - Galleria Renzo Spagnoli, Florence, Italy;
1989: Malta - 25 Sena Indipendenti - Auberge de Provence, Valletta, Malta;
1990: Inaugural Exhibition - The Gallery, Sliema, Malta;
1991: Maltese Art - Cairo and Alexandria;
1991: Malta Week - Moscow, Russia;
1992-3: Maltese Contemporary Art - Travelling Exhibition, Germany;
1992: European Paintings - Gallery 100, St. Julians, Malta;
1993: Iljieli Mediterranji - In-Nudo fl-Arti Maltija - Floriana, Malta;
1994: Contemporary Sacred Art in Malta - Mdina, Malta;
1994: Iljieli Mediterranji - Dan... Din... Jien, Floriana, Malta;
1994: Expressions ‘94 - AZAD, Casa Pereira, Valletta, Malta;
1994: Gallery Glage - Konigstein, Germany;
1995: Works - Institute of Visual Arts, Valletta, Malta;
1995: Woman in Maltese Art - Auberge de Provence, Valletta, Malta;
1995: First Biennale of Malta - Valletta, Malta;
1996: Maltafest - Valletta, Malta;
1996: Kreattiva - Museum of Fine Arts, Valletta, Malta;
1996: Contemporary Christian Art - Mdina, Malta;
1997: Maltafest- Valletta, Malta;
1997: Euromed Conference - Valletta, Malta;
1998: WTDC Conference - Valletta, Malta;
1998: Labyrinth Gallery - Valletta, Malta;
1999: Re-interpreting Preti - Museum of Fine Arts, Valletta, Malta;
2000: From Hagar Qim to the Ring of Brodgar - Maritime Museum, Cottonera, Malta;
2000: 25th Anniversary of the Republic of Malta Exhibition - Gallerija il-Foyer, National Labour C ntre, Hamrun, Malta;
2000: Edinburgh Festival - City Art Gallery, Edinburgh, Scotland;
2000: Year Zero - Galeria d’Art Zero, Barcelona, Spain;
2000: Millennium Celebrations - Floriana, Malta;
2000: MAFA Degree Show - Bretton Hall College, Wakefield, England;
2002: UBER - Portomaso, Paceville, Malta;
2002: Cityspaces - YMCA Valletta Festival, Malta;
2003: Borders - Pinto Wharf, Valletta, Malta;
2003: Invisible Cities - St. James Centre for Creativity, Valletta, Malta;
2003: La Mostra Impossibile - Birgu, Malta;
2004: Body Works - Pierides Museum of Contemporary Art, Nicosia, Cyprus;
2004-5: Instant Europe - Villa Manin Centre of Contemporary Art, Udine, Italy;
2005: Collective - MOYA, Vienna, Austria;
2006: Oasis International - Japanese and Maltese Artists - Mediterranean Conference Centre, Valletta, Malta;
2006-7: Crossings - Malta, Cyprus, France - Travelling Contemporary Collective Exhibition;
2006-7: Selfportrait - A Show for Bethlehem - Show for Peace - Casoria Contemporary Art Museum, Naples, Italy and MAC - Museo de Arte Contemporáneo de Santa Fe, Argentina;
2007: Search for a Space - Various Venues, Malta;
2007: Caravaggio - quote... unquote - Various Venues, Malta;
2007: Visions in the Nunnery - The Nunnery Gallery, Bow Arts Trust, London, England;
2007: The Philosophical Brothel - St. James Centre for Creativity, Valletta, Malta;
2007: 6collabor8 - Palais Liechtenstein, Feldkirch, Austria;
2007: 6collabor8 - The Citadel, Rabat, Gozo, Malta;
2007: Analogue and Digital - Fieldgate Gallery, London, England;
2008: Watch - Museum of Fine Art, Valletta, Malta;
2008: Sea Dreaming - St. James Centre for Creativity, Valletta, Malta;
2008: Scent - St. John’s Cavalier, Valletta, Malta;
2008: Eighteighteen - Malta Contemporary Art, Marsa, Malta;
2009: Sounds and Visions - Tel Aviv Museum of Modern Art, Israel;
2009: Ten - Gallery No. 68, Valletta, Malta;
2009: The Life Model - Between Nude and Naked - Gallery No. 68, Valletta, Malta;
2009: hello... @ ART PRAGUE 2009 - Art Prague, Prague;
2010: With Love? From Me to You - The James Taylor Gallery, London;
2011: I fought the X and the X won - National Museum of Fine Arts, Cluj, Romania and National Museum of Fine Arts, Valletta Malta;
2011: Festival Rues d’été - Graulhet, France;
2012: Wiċċ imb Wiċċ (Contemporary Self Portraiture) - St. James Centre for Creativity, Valletta, Malta;
2012-3: Stemperando - Torino, Cosenza, Roma, Italy;
2014: Identità - AZAD, Republic Street, Valletta, Malta;
2015: The Culture of Ageing - St. James Centre for Creativity, Valletta, Malta;
2015: Virtuoso – Studio 104, Valletta, Malta;
2016: Terrain Vague - MADATAC 07 - Madrid Videoart and New-Media Audiovisual Art Festival, Madrid, Spain;
2016: I am my photograph – Cologne Off 2016, India;
2017: Small Amnesias - Rhythms of Vision, Teatru Manoel, Valletta, Malta.

Selected curatorial exhibitions

1995: Collective Works - Institute of Visual Arts, Valletta, Malta;
1996: Kreattiva - Museum of Fine Arts, Valletta, Malta;
2001-2: Uncertain Objects - Paintings by J. Michael Anderson - Museum of Fine Arts, Valletta, Malta;
2004: I feel guilty - Video and Installation by Ian Attard - St. James Cavalier Centre for Creativity, Valletta, Malta;
2004: The A to Z of family planning - Graphic Art by Marco Scerri - St. James Cavalier Centre for Creativity, Valletta, Malta;
2005: [R][R][F]2005--->XP/VideoChannel - curator for Maltese Participation – Memory & Identity, Cologne, Germany;
2005: Digital Discourse - An International Media Art exhibition for the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting, Malta - St. James Cavalier Centre for Creativity, Valletta, Malta;
2007: Borges and Peccata Mundi - Prints by J. Michael Anderson - St. James Cavalier Centre for Creativity, Valletta, Malta;
2007: Artifecture - A stART initiative - Malta Today newspaper;
2007: Analogue - (co-curator) Pioneering Video from UK, Canada and Poland 1968-88 - St. James Cavalier Centre for Creativity, Valletta, Malta;
2008: Watch - A collaborative exhibition with the Unit for Contemporary Art Practice, Leeds University - The National Museum of Fine Arts, Valletta, Malta;
2008: Rencontres Arles - curator for Maltese participation, Arles, France;
2009: Austin Camilleri & Pawl Carbonaro - curator for the two artist show at the Münchner Künstlerhaus, Munich;
2011: Unshackled Transformation - (co-curator), St. James Cavalier Centre for Creativity, Valletta, Malta;
2011: Valletta Photography Festival - (co-curator), various venues in Valletta and Auberge d’Italie, Valletta, Malta Malta;
2012: H-ardcore - Contemporary Art by Caesar Attard, St. James Cavalier Centre for Creativity, Valletta, Malta;
2013: Forces - Ceramics by George Muscat, St. James Cavalier Centre for Creativity, Valletta, Malta;
2013: Re-Visit, the Contemporary Face of Faith - Seven interventions in seven churches, Valletta, Malta;
2013: Art Project Ggantija - Ars Vitae Ensemble - Ggantija Temples, Gozo, Malta;
2013: Tampered Evidence - (co-curator), Blitz gallery, Valletta, Malta;
2013: Pyrokinesis - paintings by David Xuereb, Ta’ Xbiex, Malta;
2014: Eccentricks - sculpture by Emanuel Bonnici, St. James Cavalier Centre for Creativity, Valletta, Malta;
2014: Made in MT: Maltese Art Now - Malta House, Brussels, Belgium;
2014: Art project Ggantija Final Exhibition - Victor Agius - St. James Cavalier Centre for Creativity, Valletta, Malta;
2014: Selfie - Żigużajg Festival, St. James Cavalier Centre for Creativity, Valletta, Malta;
2015: The Overlooked Performance – Photography by Alex Attard, St. James Cavalier Centre for Creativity, Valletta, Malta;
2016: Re-Collection – Ceramics by Tony Briffa, St. James Cavalier Centre for Creativity, Valletta, Malta;
2016: Layers – Ars Vitae Ensemble, St Agatha Catacombs, Rabat, Malta;
2017: In Transit - Contemporary Media Art by Artists from Malta - Geneva, Dusseldorf, Leeuwarden.

Papers, essays and talks

2000: The Art of J. Michael Anderson, curatorial essay, Museum of Fine Art, Valletta;
2000: Memory, Sight and Expectation, The Moving Image as Continuous Memory, talk, Leeds University, UK;
2003-4: Immigrant, curatorial essay, Museum of Fine Art, Valletta;
2004: Nixtieq… On Fine Art and the Advertising Billboard, curatorial essay, Attard, Malta;
2004: I Feel Guilty, curatorial essay, St. James Centre for Creativity, Malta;
2004: The A to Z of Family Planning, curatorial essay, St. James Centre for Creativity, Malta;
2004: Maltese Contemporary Art, paper presentation, Artists in Transit Conference*Rotterdam;
2004: Absence as Presence: Reflections on the body of work entitled Immigrant, talk, Queen Street Studios, Belfast;
2005: Contemporary Practice, talk, Contemporary Art Practice, University of Leeds, UK;
2005: Digital Discourse, curatorial essay, St. James Centre for Creativity, Malta;
2006: Playing God-On interactive database video narratives, paper presentation, Electronic and Digital Art Unit, UCLan, Preston;
2007: Alternative Journeys, paper presentation, Crossings Conference, University of Amiens, France;
2007: The body we own and the body we are, Quoting Caravaggio, essay, Arts Council, Malta;
2008: Amid the Mundane and the Extreme, essay, NY Arts Magazine, Vol 13 No. 11/12, Nov. 2008, pp. 98-99;
2008: No. 68 Redprints, The house that is destined for memories and the memories that are meant for a house, essay, Redprints exhibition catalogue, Blitz, Valletta;
2008: Ebba’s Sketchbook, essay, Choppy Books, 2008, p. 177;
2008: Choosing Malta’s photographers for the “Rencontres de la Photographie d’Arles”, essay, Lensculture, Summer 2008;
2008: The (inter)national (inter)face of (inter)action - a look at some of the technologically technologically interactive works at the 52nd International Venice Biennale, essay, Art In-Sight: Artists’ Film, Video and Installation, Filmwaves, Issue 35, Obraz Productions Ltd., Spring 2008, pp. 14-18;
2009: Projected Visions - Video Art in Malta, essay, Apollonia online;
2009: The Poetics of Poiesis - Austin Camilleri & Pawl Carbonaro, curatorial essay, Münchner Künstlerhaus, Munich;
2009: Between a Kiss and the Naked Truth, essay, The Live Model - between Nude and Naked, Malta Arts Festival, 2009, pp. 24-31;
2011: Introduction, Valletta Photographic Festival, Valletta;
2011: Terrain Vague, essay, Terrain Vague, St. James Centre for Creativity, Valletta;
2011: Franklin Furnace, talk, book review, National Museum of Fine Art, Valletta;
2012: Seeing is Believing, paper and talk at the National Museum of Fine Arts, Malta;
2012: Only and Where are you from? online essays Norbert Attard website;
2012: Contemp(t)orary Art, talk, Palazzo Falson, Mdina;
2012: The Invention of the Frame, ‘I yam what I yam - l-Invenzione’ film launch, essay and presentation, St. James Centre for Creativity, Valletta;
2012: The place-moment: a time-marching-on-the-spot as witnessed by the constantly displaced view of the photographic camera, essay, Soul Searching, Sergio Muscat website;
2012: The Matter of Moments and the Moments that Matter, essay, Traces of Traces, St. James Centre for Creativity, Valletta 2012, pp. 4-5;
2012: The space between clouds, essay, Shooting Society - Documenting Contemporary Life in Malta (C. Borg, R. Vella eds.), Midsea Books, 2012, pp. 40-43;
2012: H is for Human, curatorial essay, H-ardcore, St. James Centre for Creativity, Valletta, 2012, pp. 4-5;
2012: Unni Askeland, talk, National Museum of Fine Arts, Valletta;
2013: Reckoning the Forces, curatorial essay, Forces, St. James Centre for Creativity, Valletta, 2013, pp. 2-5;
2013: Art Project Ggantija 2013, introduction, Ggantija Art Project, Gozo;
2013: Re-Visit, talk, St. James Centre for Creativity, Valletta;
2013: A Journey in Three Instalments, essay and talk, Tampered Evidence, Blitz, Valletta, 2013, pp. 8-20;
2013: Fringe, talk, Sergio Muscat, Palazzo Depiro, Mdina*2013 Pyrokinesis, curatorial essay and talk, David Xuereb, Ta’ Xbiex;
2014: The creative strategies of juxtaposition and hybridisation, essay, Eccentricks, Emanuel Bonnici, St. James Centre for Creativity, Valletta;
2014: Art Project Ġgantija 2013, introduction, St. James Centre for Creativity, Malta;
2014: Made in MT: Maltese Art Now, talk, Dar Malta, Brussels;
2014: Researching Art and Design through Practice: A critical engagement with context, Visual Arts Research in Higher Education, essay, Malta Review of Educational Research, Malta;
2015: Searching for Meaning in Chaos, essay, Alex Attard website;
2015: The Digital Romantic, Pawlu Mizzi, essay, Her Majesty, Valletta;
2015: Discovering Art using Technology: The Selfie Project, Dingli, A., Seychell, D., Briffa, V., Handbook of Research on Creative Technologies for Multidisciplinary Applications, IGI Global, 2015;
2016: Re-Collecting identity through Obsolescence and Reusability, curatorial essay, Re-Collection, St. James Centre for Creativity, Valletta;
2016: Unfolding the layers of memory in time and space, curatorial essay, Layers catalogue, St Agatha Catacombs, Rabat, Malta;
2016: Co-existing dualities - the art of being inbetween, artist's talk, K.B. Gallery, Kaposvár, Hungary.

External links

Official Website

References

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↑ https://www.um.edu.mt/profile/vincebriffa

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