2024
Imġiebaħ Bay, MaltaHal Mann Vella Factory, MaltaHal Mann Vella Factory, MaltaWild Fennel, Imġiebaħ BayURNA Filming, MaltaGraphemics Study, 2024Dar Sikada Construction by Ebejer BonniciPatinated Roof, Baħrija, Malta.Yashar Yektajo, Anthony Bonnici and Karl Ebejer in Todos Santos, MexicoDar Sikada Construction by Ebejer BonniciHal Mann Vella Factory, Malta
Dar Sikada Construction by Ebejer BonniciHal Mann Vella Factory Malta
Graphemics Study, 2024Sedimentary Deposit, 2024JudithTanil Raif trying URNA artefact, MaltaStudy in graphemics, 2024Hal Mann Vella Factory, Malta
Imġiebaħ Bay, MaltaAït Benhaddou, MoroccoAït Benhaddou, MoroccoKasbah de Télouet, MoroccoSketchImġiebaħ Bay, MellieħaDar Sikada Construction by Ebejer BonniciStudy in graphemics, 2024Hal Mann Vella Factory
New Year’s Eve, VallettaNew Year’s Eve, VallettaQuarry in MostaQuarry in MostaRdum il-Qammieħ, MellieħaFomm ir-Riħ, DingliAït Benhaddou, MoroccoDar Sikada Construction by Ebejer BonniciNew Year’s Eve, BirkirkaraStudy in graphemics, 2024Studio, MellieħaAït Benhaddou, MoroccoKasbah de Télouet, MoroccoLa Saltida, La PazStudy in graphemics, 2024Hal Mann Vella FactoryEliza, FawwaraLa Saltida, La Paz, MexicoImġiebaħ Bay, MellieħaFomm ir-Riħ, DingliStudy in graphemics, 2024East Cape, Baja California Sur, MexicoKristina, Għajn TuffieħaImġiebaħ Bay, MellieħaStudy in graphemics, 2024Eliza, Fawwara
Notes
1. Study in graphemics
This series explores orthographies, glyphs, and non-alphabetic scripts, interpreting linguistic structures as visual compositions rather than systems of meaning.
This work is language without words—an attempt to write beyond meaning, to trace thought or memory in form rather than in legibility. The gestures are rhythmic, almost musical, as if the script is meant to be felt rather than read. The marks shift between calligraphy, notation, and geological inscription, turning writing into an act of erosion, accumulation, and movement.
The varying density of strokes suggests different voices, speeds, and intensities—an interplay between time and inscription. Some works resemble the remnants of an ancient language, others fleeting traces of speech, disintegrating as they are spoken. This inquiry is informed by Jacques Derrida’s De la grammatologie (1967) and Jacques Lacan’s contributions to psychoanalysis, questioning the space between writing, the subconscious, and the dissolution of fixed meaning.
These compositions emerge intuitively—not as messages to be deciphered, but as forms to be experienced.
2. URNA
URNA is the Maltese Pavilion at the London Design Biennale 2025, the project explores new rituals surrounding the body after death in Malta. This inquiry moves beyond tradition, imagining a future where burial practices are shaped by landscape, memory, and material transformation.
Conceived and developed by Anthony Bonnici, Andrew Borg Wirth, Anne Immelé, Tanil Raif, Thomas Mifsud, Matthew Attard Navarro, and Stephanie Sant, URNA brings together an interdisciplinary approach, merging design, philosophy, and material experimentation.
Its narrative unfolds as a meditation on geology, time, and dissolution—where the body, like stone, erodes into the landscape, becoming indistinguishable from the earth that holds it.
© Thomas Mifsud 2025.
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