Group exhibition For Want of (not) Measuring challenges the objectivity of metrics through art

The world is ruled by metrics and data that measure… everything: wealth, vitals, performance, speed, even social media credibility. But what happens in a world that resists the urge to translate every single human experience into a score?

Spazju Kreattiv in Valletta will be the site for one of the year’s most exciting group exhibitions – For Want of (not) Measuring, curated by artist Prof. Vince Briffa (University of Malta), with the works of 10 artists who will reimagine familiar tools of quantification that will contest the act of measurement, to invite us to reconsider the way humans gauge themselves.

Running from 12 March to 3 May, 2026, this eclectic exhibition investigates the way humans perceive the world through the poetics of the systems of measurement.

By challenging the traditional view of measurement as an objective tool to understand ourselves and the world, the artists explore whether this power for clarification actually erases what matters most: context, culture, memory, emotion and lived complexity.

“By exploring the gap between hard data and our lived experience, viewers can understand how metrics simplify and control, but are then limited in capturing the essence of complexity, of a richer life, or a more humane understanding of who we are,” curator Vince Briffa says.

“Utilising drawing and painting, sculpture, photography, installation, film, and sound, the 10 artists will show how love, loss, care, fear and wonder cannot be quantified – art instead allows us a more sensuous understanding of these important facets of our existence.”

Briffa, who has been selected as one of the artists at the Malta pavilion during the 2026 Malta Biennale, will be assisted by co-curator Alexander Zammit.

The featured artists are all international as well as Malta-based practitioners: Trevor Borg, Matthew (Matyou) Galea (Malta), Katie Sims (Gozo), Jim Hobbs (USA), Patrick Jones, Davd Waterworth (UK), Canecapovolto (Italy), Kristina Huxley (Ireland), Yanyun Chen (Singapore), and Andreas Treske (Türkiye).

Briffa says the artworks will invite viewers into a world that explores the ambiguity between measurement and non-measurement.

“Metrics condition the way we ascribe value to what we see or read… social media platforms appear to rank intellectual value by likes and shares, transforming credibility in numerical form. What are we losing when we surrender our own critical judgement to the ‘objectivity’ of a metric? I think this diverse group exhibition will give viewers a newfound appreciation of complexity and ambiguity.”

The exhibition will be the subject of a forthcoming catalogue with contributions from assistant curator Alexander Zammit, Emmanuel Francalanza, and Clive Zammit.

The exhibition is supported by the Department of Digital Arts (University of Malta), Arts Council Malta, Spazju Kreattiv, and VisitMalta, as well as Prevarti, Pictures & Frames, Miles Express, and Cube Relocations

For Want of (not) Measuring curated by Vince Briffa is on from 12 March to 3 May 2026 at Spazju Ċ, Spazju Kreattiv, Pjazza Kastilja, Valletta. For more information visit spazjukreattiv.org.

Openning hours are as follows: Tuesday to Friday 9am to 9pm and Saturday and Sunday 10am to 9pm. Closed on Monday.