Lisa Attard recently completed her Master’s degree in photography and design at Elisava School of Design and Engineering and Pompeu Fabra University in Barcelona.
Ms Attard, who also holds a first degree in history of art from the University of Malta, has worked within the art and culture scene in Malta and abroad for many years, both as an exhibition coordinator and a researcher.
With Fondazzjoni Patrimonju Malti, a Maltese NGO working towards the promotion of the island’s cultural and artistic heritage, she has had the opportunity to study and handle significant collections, both public and private, and to work with curators and historians, artists and photographers, on various projects relating to the visual and decorative arts.
She has collaborated with the Notarial Archives Resources Council (NARC) Malta, primarily as a photographer and designer.
Lisa’s decision to pursue postgraduate studies in Barcelona stemmed from her desire to undertake a research and practice programme that views photography as an interdisciplinary practice, thus touching upon a broad range of historical, cultural, technical and aesthetic processes.
She was intrigued by the way in which this course was largely project-based, balancing theory and technique, and engaging with contemporary critical and experimental approaches to the medium.
Under the guidance of tutors and lecturers from diverse backgrounds within the field, Ms Attard explored new boundaries in the understanding and making of images through a series of photographic projects. Regular visits to exhibitions and participation in live projects and photography fairs gave her the opportunity to showcase her work.
A week-long workshop held in collaboration with Fundació Vila Casas culminated in an exhibition entitled Ocupar – Habitar: A Narrative Between Disciplines, that is on display at the Museo Can Framis in Barcelona until the end of the year.
During this workshop, Ms Attard and her colleagues investigated the shifting narrative and power dynamic between the disciplines of photography and painting, taking the pictorial collection and the architecture of Can Framis as their main inspiration and platform for their creative process, to propose new concepts based upon their experience of the building and the paintings contained within.
Lisa also participated in the annual photography festival Enfocats, with an exhibition entitled Gothic Delights, held at Pati Llimona last May. This exhibition explored, through photography, the somewhat peculiar gothic quarter of Barcelona, digging beneath its surface and showcasing the history of the neighbourhood, together with its evolution, its inhabitants and the social effects of tourism and gentrification.
She is currently working on a group show that will form part of the DocField Documentary Photography Festival, and which runs from Thursday to November 30 in Barcelona.
Ms Attard is a recipient of the Malta Arts Scholarships Scheme, financed by the government of Malta, which funded her tuition abroad.