Sharjah Biennial بينالي الشارقة | |
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Genre | contemporary art biennial |
Frequency | Biennial, every two years |
Location(s) | Sharjah, United Arab Emirates |
Inaugurated | 1993 |
Founder | Sharjah Department of Culture and Information |
Most recent | 7 February - 11 June 2023 |
Organised by | Sharjah Art Foundation |
Website | www |
The Sharjah Biennial is a large-scale contemporary art exhibition that takes place once every two years in the city of Sharjah, United Arab Emirates. The first Sharjah Biennial took place in 1993, [1] and was organized by the Sharjah Department of Culture and Information until it is reorientation in 2003 by Hoor bint Sultan Al Qasimi. [2] [3]
The 7th edition, titled Belonging, was curated by Jack Persekian, Ken Lum and Tirdad Zolghadr. [4] and took place between 6 April to 6 June 2005. [5] The exhibition centred on the issues of 'belonging, identity and cultural location'. [6]
Still Life: Art, Ecology, and the Politics of Change was curated by Mohammed Kazem, Jonathan Watkins, and Eva Scharrer. [7] [8] The exhibition was hosted between 4 April to 4 June 2007 at Sharjah Art Museum, Expo Centre Sharjah, Heritage Area, American University of Sharjah & several outdoor locations in Sharjah.
The 9th Sharjah Biennial's exhibition programme Provisions For The Future was curated by Isabel Carlos, and the performance and film programme Past Of The Coming Days was curated by Tarek Abou El Fetouh. [9] The exhibition was hosted between 19 March to 16 May 2009.
Participating artists at SB9 included Hamra Abbas, Diana Al-Hadid, Firoz Mahmud, Halil Altindere, Juan Araújo, Tarek Atoui, Lili Dujourie, Hala Elkoussy, Ayse Erkmen, Amir H. Fallah, Lara Favaretto, Lamya Gargash, Mariam Ghani, Simryn Gill, Sheela Gowda, Laurent Grasso, NS Harsha, Joana Hadjithomas & Khalil Joreige, Doug Henders, Lamia Joreige, Nadia Kaabi-Linke, Hayv Kahraman, Nadia Kaabi Linke, Maider López, Liliana Porter, Karin Sander, Liu Wei, Lawrence Weiner, Yonamine, Nika Oblak & Primõz Novak, Basma Al-Sharif, Nida Sinnokrot, David Spriggs, and Lawrence Weiner among others. [10]
Plot for a Biennial, the 10th edition of the biennial, was curated by Suzanne Cotter and Rasha Salti, alongside Haig Aivazian, and was hosted from 16 March through to 16 May 2011. [11] SB10 covered the so-called Arab Spring, the movement aspiring for political change that had been ongoing in various Arabic countries for several months around that period. The biennial was hosted across several venues in the heart of Sharjah, including landmarks of Emirati architecture and Sharjah’s historic Cricket Stadium. [12] The exhibition included 119 artists and participants from 36 countries across the globe.
The 11th edition of the biennial, Re:emerge: Towards a New Cultural Cartography, was hosted between 13 March to 13 May 2013 and was curated by Yuko Hasegawa, chief curator of the Museum of Contemporary Art in Tokyo. [13]
Participating artists included: Ravi Agarwal, Nevin Aladag, Francis Alÿs, Jananne Al-Ani, Alfredo & Isabel Aquilizan, Matthew Barney and Elizabeth Peyton, Luz Maria Bedoya, David Claerbout, Olafur Eliasson, Monir Shahroudy Farmanfarmaian, Shilpa Gupta, Yu-ichi Inoue, Lamia Joreige, Jesper Just, Amar Kanwar, Kan Xuan, Pablo Lobato, Basir Mahmood, Cinthia Marcelle, Taus Makhacheva, Angelica Mesiti, Otobong Nkanga, Gabriel Orozco, Khaled Sabsabi, Ryuichi Sakamoto, Shiro Takatani, Pascale Marthine Tayou, and Fumito Urabe.[ citation needed ]
The past, the present, the possible, curated by Eungie Joo, took place at public spaces around the Sharjah Art Museum, the Sharjah Art Foundation offices and Al Mureijah heritage area. [14] The 12th Biennial was held between 5 March — 5 June 2015. [15]
The 13th Biennial, titled Tamawuj, was curated by Christine Tohmé and opened on 10 March 2017 with exhibitions in Sharjah and Beirut, alongside projects in Dakar, Ramallah, and Istanbul from October 2017 through January 2018. [16] [17] [18]
The 14th Biennial, Leaving the Echo Chamber, was curated by Zoe Butt, Omar Kholeif and Claire Tancons. [19] The exhibition opened at Sharjah Art Foundation premises on 7 March 2019, and ran until 10 June 2019. [20]
The 15th Biennial, Thinking Historically in the Present was initially conceived by Okwui Enwezor prior to his death in 2019, and curated by Sheikha Hoor Al Qasimi, Director of Sharjah Art Foundation. [21] [22] The exhibition opened at Sharjah Art Foundation premises, including the Kalba Ice Factory, inaugurated to house Biennial 15 exhibits, on 7 February 2023.
The 15th Sharjah Biennial featured the following artists: [23]
The Emirate of Sharjah is one of the emirates of the United Arab Emirates, which covers 2,590 square kilometres (1,000 sq mi) and has a population of over 1,400,000 (2015). It comprises the capital city of Sharjah, after which it is named, and other minor towns and exclaves such as Kalba', Al Dhaid, Dibba Al-Hisn and Khor Fakkan.
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Abdul Qader Al Rais is a multi-award-winning, Emirati painter noted for his abstract art which combines geometric shapes with Arabic calligraphy. He is known for including calligraphy and abstracted objects in his paintings, and regarded as a colour master.
The Sharjah Art Museum is an art museum in the city of Sharjah, United Arab Emirates. It was housed in Bait Al Serkal in Al Shuwaihean Area. It is one of the leading art institutions in the Persian Gulf region.
Hassan Sharif was an Emirati artist and prolific writer. He lived and worked in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. He is widely regarded as a central figure in contemporary and conceptual art in the region, often known as the father of conceptual art in the Gulf. He founded Al Marijah Art Atelier, and through his extensive work and writings, he inspired the next generation of artists in the United Arab Emirates. His work is represented in major public collections, such as the Guggenheim New York, Guggenheim Abu Dhabi, Centre Pompidou, Mathaf Arab Museum of Modern Art, Tate Modern, and Sharjah Art Foundation.
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Emirates Fine Arts Society is a non-profit association of art professionals in the United Arab Emirates, established in 1980. The Head Office is located in Sharjah, and there are branches in Abu Dhabi, Ras Al Khaimah and Khor Fakkan.
The Sharjah Art Foundation is a contemporary art and cultural foundation based in Sharjah, the United Arab Emirates, founded in 2009 by Hoor Al Qasimi, daughter of Sultan bin Muhammad Al-Qasimi, a member of the Supreme Council of the United Arab Emirates and current ruler of Sharjah, to support artists and artistic practice in the Sharjah communities, the UAE, and the region via different platforms that include Sharjah Biennial, the annual March Meeting, art residencies, production grants, commissions, art exhibitions, artistic research and publications. The foundation include exhibitions featuring the work of Arab and international artists, performances, music, film screenings, artist talks, and educational for a range or audience from children to adults. The Sharjah Art foundation strives to promote public learning and participating in art practices.
Moosa Al Halyan is an Emirati surrealist painter from Dubai, United Arab Emirates and a member of the Emirates Fine Arts Society.
March Meeting is an annual gathering of international art practitioners and art institutions in Middle East and North Africa. Organized by Sharjah Art Foundation and was launched in 2008 in the city of Sharjah, United Arab Emirates, to encourage regional art professionals to connect, partner and share ideas in the sphere of contemporary art.
Rheim Alkadhi is a visual artist based in Berlin who works internationally. Alkadhi operates under contemporary conditions in alternating geographical contexts, circumscribed by objects, images, and texts, via digital media, interactions in public space, and intimate person-to-person contact. Their work is described as: "With multiple migratory belongings/trajectories in regions of imposed geopolitical conflict, the perception of authoritarian, imperial, colonial dominance is magnified in everyday life. Thus, the work registers a nonconforming emancipatory feminist existence under such planetary conditions, using mediums of language, artifacts of material reality, and living interactions."
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Barjeel Art Foundation is a non-profit arts organisation based in Sharjah, United Arab Emirates. The foundation was established in 2010 by Emirati commentator Sultan Sooud Al Qassemi to manage and exhibit his personal art collection. There are over 1,000 pieces of modern and contemporary art in the foundation's art collection. The organisation primarily focuses on artwork produced by Arab artists worldwide and includes paintings, sculptures and installations.
Kalba Ice Factory is a gallery and art space in Kalba, Sharjah, a city on the East Coast of the United Arab Emirates. The 20,000 square-metre building was constructed by renovating a derelict feed mill and ice factory. It was opened to the public on the 8 February 2023, the opening timed to house Sharjah Biennial 15.
Noor Abuarafeh is a Palestinian visual artist who works primarily with video installation, performance, and text-based art. Her work explores themes of memory, imagination, and the construction and interpretation of history.
Hoor Al Qasimi is an Emirati Sheikha, president and director of the Sharjah Art Foundation and public figure in the art world. Al Qasimi globally represents Middle Eastern art and artists through the Sharjah Biennial.