MALTA BIENNALE 2026 BEST PAVILION AWARD
The OmenaArt Foundation and Luginsland of Art Awarded Malta Biennale 2026 Best Pavilion Award Following the Official Launch
On the evening of 12 March 2026, the OmenaArt Foundation and LuginsLand of Art hosted the exclusive opening of their thematic pavilion, Redefining: Polish-Ghanaian Textile Narratives, at the Old Armoury of the Knights of Malta in Birgu. The event brought together the Foundation’s founder, Omenaa Mensah, the exhibiting artists, cultural representatives, and invited media, marking the official launch of the pavilion. On 13 March 2026, during the official proceedings of Malta Biennale 2026, the pavilion was awarded Best Pavilion 2026.
The Opening Night
The Old Armoury of the Knights of Malta in Birgu provided the setting for one of the most memorable evenings of this year’s Biennale. Guests arrived to a space transformed: the ancient stone walls of the Armoury now home to large-scale textile installations that stretched between continents and centuries, accompanied by the immersive premiere sound installation by composer Mariusz Szypura. The atmosphere was one of quiet intensity – a fitting welcome to an exhibition that asks its visitors to slow down, look closely, and feel the weight of the threads that connect us.
Omenaa Mensah, founder and visionary of the OmenaArt Foundation, was present for the occasion, marking the significance of the evening in person. Her presence underlined the Foundation’s deep personal investment in the project, a pavilion that brings together artists from Poland and Ghana in a spirit of collaboration, mutual respect, and shared artistic ambition. The opening was attended by cultural representatives, media, and invited guests, reflecting the breadth of interest that the Redefining. pavilion has generated both locally and internationally.
Curator Natalia Bradbury addressed the gathered guests, speaking about the journey that brought three artists from two different continents to the walls of a historic Maltese armoury. She spoke of the bonds between Poland and Ghana that underpin the exhibition – bonds that stretch back to the 1960s and find new expression through contemporary textile practice. Artists Ernestina Mansa Doku, Marta Nadolle, and Eliza Proszczuk were all present, and their presence gave the evening a sense of creative intimacy: the makers of the works standing with them, in conversation with the people who had come to see them.
“Our exhibition explores the theme of historical bonds and solidarity between Poland and Ghana. Through the artists’ works, we want to show that despite distance and differing experiences, we are united by shared emotions and values.” – Natalia Bradbury, Curator.
The exclusive opening was also an opportunity for media representatives to experience the pavilion ahead of its public opening, cementing early coverage of what has since been confirmed as the standout pavilion of this year’s Biennale.
Awarded Best Pavilion at Malta Biennale 2026
Redefining: Polish-Ghanaian Textile Narratives was awarded Best Pavilion at Malta Biennale 2026, the Biennale’s highest recognition. The award acknowledges the pavilion’s artistic vision, the depth of its intercultural dialogue, and the quality of the works presented within one of the event’s most historic venues. It recognises not only the three participating artists and their curator, but also the OmenaArt Foundation’s sustained commitment to fostering connections between the contemporary art scenes of Eastern Europe and West Africa, alongside LuginsLand of Art’s ongoing dedication to international cultural exchange.
The artists were present at the official award ceremony to receive the award.
The pavilion remains open to the public until 29 May 2026. Visitors are invited to experience the exhibition at the Old Armoury of the Knights of Malta in Birgu, alongside a public programme of debates, panel discussions, and meetings with international experts taking place throughout the Biennale.
About the Exhibition
Redefining. Polish-Ghanaian Textile Narratives is curated by Natalia Bradbury and features large-scale textile installations by Ernestina Mansa Doku (Ghana), Marta Nadolle (Poland), and Eliza Proszczuk (Poland), created during their artistic residency in Malta. The artists draw on the weaving traditions of both countries and the island’s local heritage, intertwining historical narratives through the material language of textile.
Their collaboration began during Accra Cultural Week 2025 in Ghana, where, together with local artists, they conducted art workshops for children at Kids Haven School, built by the Omenaa Foundation, exploring the textile heritage of both Poland and Ghana. That spirit of exchange and generosity is woven into every element of their pavilion.
The pavilion is framed by the Ubuntu philosophy “I am because we are” emphasising interdependence, community, and mutual respect, and links the artists’ collaboration with historical Polish-Ghanaian relations that have developed since the 1960s. It simultaneously responds to the central theme of Malta Biennale 2026 CLEAN | CLEAR | CUT engaging with ideas of repair, connection, and purification through both the material and metaphorical language of textile.
Artists
Ernestina Mansa Doku (b. 2001) lives and works in Accra, Ghana. Working primarily with acrylic paint, artistic textiles, animation, and sculpture, she completed her BA at Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST) and is currently continuing her MA there. A member of the blaxTARLINES collective and recipient of an OmenaArt Foundation scholarship in 2024, Doku draws inspiration from how nature adapts to changing conditions. Her practice challenges anthropocentric perceptions of lived experience and embraces spontaneity, chance, and the concept of horror vacui, a deliberate saturation of space with details that often go unnoticed in everyday life.
Marta Nadolle (b. 1989) is a Polish visual artist specialising in painting and winner of the Paszporty Polityki Prize 2023 in the field of Visual Arts. She graduated from the Academy of Fine Arts in Gdańsk and Warsaw with distinction in 2014. Nadolle reworks the tradition of the veduta through folk culture, crossing the line between central and peripheral, public and private. Her works combine metropolitan narratives with intimate handcraft and folklore, exploring the emotional landscapes of the city. Her work is held in the collections of the National Museum in Gdańsk, the Museum of Warsaw, and the mBank collection.
Eliza Proszczuk (b. 1980) is a Polish visual artist, PhD in Fine Arts, academic lecturer, and researcher. She graduated from the Academy of Fine Arts in Warsaw and AKV St. Joost in the Netherlands (MFA, 2009), and leads the Textile in Architecture Studio at the Academy of Fine Arts in Warsaw. She creates textiles, spatial objects, and collages as tools for social change and emancipation, exploring memory, inheritance, and women’s herstory. She has carried out projects with marginalised groups including incarcerated women and refugees, and received a four-year COST grant for a research-artistic project on sisterhood and social justice.
Sound Installation: Mariusz Szypura
Mariusz Szypura (b. 1972) is a composer, music producer, and audiovisual artist working at the intersection of music, design, and contemporary art. His premiere sound installation for Redefining. creates an immersive sonic environment that does not illustrate the textile works, it shapes the rhythm of perception and the viewer’s relationship with the space. His recent projects include in:human (Centre for Contemporary Art Ujazdowski Castle, Warsaw, 2024), êkhos (Unsound Festival at Lincoln Center, New York), and Chopin Residue, presented in New York and Osaka.
Curator: Natalia Bradbury
Natalia Bradbury is an art historian, curator, and art advisor, living and working between Poland and the United Kingdom. She is the Executive Director of OmenaArt Foundation and Phenomenaa Gallery in Warsaw, which specialises in contemporary African and non-European art. Her research focuses on the growing significance and market value of artists from West Africa and its diaspora, as well as from Central and Eastern Europe. She is the author of exhibitions including TOP CHARITY Art (2024, 2025), Other Geographies, Other Stories (Malta Biennale 2024), and Redefining. Polish- Ghanaian Textile Narratives (Malta Biennale 2026).
Organisers
OmenaArt Foundation implements unconventional artistic projects in Poland and internationally. The Foundation’s mission is to build intercultural dialogue, support artists, and promote contemporary art from Eastern Europe and Africa, with a particular focus on art in public spaces. The Foundation coordinates the TOP CHARITY Auction, one of the most significant philanthropic events in Europe, which has raised more than PLN 145 million over four years for charitable and cultural causes. LuginsLand of Art organises artist residencies, exhibitions, and public programmes in Malta. The project aims to breathe new life into one of the island’s most important architectural gems, Villa Luginsland in Rabat, transforming it into a centre for exhibitions, discussions, and artistic events that foster international artistic exchange and open dialogue about the past, present, and future.
Malta Biennale
Malta Biennale is an international contemporary art initiative inaugurated in 2024 under the patronage of UNESCO and the President of the Republic of Malta. The biennale’s concept centers on dialogue between contemporary art and cultural heritage – exhibitions are presented in historic sites, including Valletta, the Three Cities (Birgu, Cospicua, Senglea), and the Cittadella in Gozo.
The inaugural edition featured over 100 artists from 35 countries, as well as 14 national and thematic pavilions across 21 historic venues. The first participating countries included Poland, France, Germany, China, Austria, Serbia, Ukraine, Italy, Spain, and Malta.
This year’s Malta Biennale will take place from 11 March to 29 May under the theme CLEAN | CLEAR | CUT. The event’s Artistic Director is Rosa Martínez, a renowned curator and Artistic Director of the 51st Venice Biennale. She has also directed or curated biennials in Barcelona (1988–1992), Rotterdam (1996), Istanbul (1997), Santa Fe, New Mexico (1999), Busan (2000), São Paulo (2006), and Moscow (2005–2007).
Redefining. Polish-Ghanaian Textile Narratives
Thematic Pavilion of the OmenaArt Foundation, Malta Biennale 2026 (11 March – 29 May 2026)
Venue: Old Armoury of the Knights of Malta, Birgu, Malta Artists: Ernestina Mansa Doku, Marta Nadolle, Eliza Proszczuk Curator: Natalia Bradbury
Organisers: OmenaArt Foundation, LuginsLand of Art
Partners: Embassy of the Republic of Poland in Valletta, Central Museum of Textiles in Łódź, Phenomenaa Gallery, Apart, Luce&Light, LOT Polish Airlines
