Sharjah Art Foundation Continues Substantive Year of Programming in 2023 With Major Exhibitions and International Collaborations

Overview

Following this year’s critically acclaimed Sharjah Biennial 15 (SB15), Sharjah Art Foundation continues its ongoing multidisciplinary initiatives through the second half of 2023 with an expansive schedule of seasonal exhibitions, international collaborations on exhibitions and research projects as well as annual programmes dedicated to photography, film, publishing, music and performance.

Among the artists featured in the Foundation’s upcoming exhibition schedule are Turner Prize-winner Lubaina Himid, painter and printmaker Gavin Jantjes and the artists of the renowned Casablanca Art School of Morocco. In addition to ongoing work with the Foundation’s many international partners for Sharjah Biennial 15, the organisation continues to collaborate on exhibitions and research initiatives with institutions and arts organisations, including Tate St Ives, Deichtorhallen Hamburg and KADIST.

Sharjah Art Foundation’s schedule of exhibitions and programmes at the Foundation’s venues in Sharjah and at partner venues internationally include the following for the remainder of 2023:

EXHIBITIONS ON VIEW AT SHARJAH ART FOUNDATION

In the Heart of Another Country: The Diasporic Imagination Rises
15 July–24 September 2023
Galleries 1 to 6, Al Mureijah Square

Following its presentation at Deichtorhallen Hamburg, In the Heart of Another Country is reimagined with the addition of recent acquisitions and newly restored works of art from the Sharjah Art Foundation Collection. This exhibition explores the concept of home—of longing and belonging by artists who hail from multiple diasporas.

The artists in the exhibition have traversed migratory routes from South and West Asia, through Africa and the Caribbean. Many now live in dispersed sites, far from where they first believed that they belonged. The exhibition examines how mobility across space and time has shaped and contoured the frame of global art today. More than 150 works by over 60 artists will be on view, including works by Etel Adnan, Rasheed Araeen, Huguette Caland, Tiffany Chung, Meschac Gaba, David Koloane and Kamala Ibrahim Ishag. Organised in collaboration with Deichtorhallen Hamburg, the exhibition is curated by Dr Omar Kholeif, Director of Collections and Senior Curator, Sharjah Art Foundation.



Lubaina Himid and Magda Stawarska: Plaited Time / Deep Water
29 October 2023–28 January 2024
Galleries 1, 2 and 3, Al Mureijah Square

Inhabiting the galleries and outdoor courtyards of Al Mureijah Square, Lubaina Himid’s first solo exhibition in the region responds to the context of Sharjah’s architecture, soundscapes and feelings evoked by its proximity to the sea. At the heart of the exhibition is a newly imagined presentation of Zanzibar (1998–2023), a series of paintings as well as a sonic installation created in collaboration with multidisciplinary artist Magda Stawarska. The work recounts life-long journeys of return and is presented as a sensorial encounter for visitors, who are invited to listen, linger and experience memory unfolding. The exhibition is curated by Dr Omar Kholeif, Director of Collections and Senior Curator, Sharjah Art Foundation.



Gavin Jantjes: To Be Free! A Retrospective (1970–2023)
18 November 2023–10 March 2024
Galleries 4, 5 and 6, Al Mureijah Square

The largest solo presentation of the artist to date, this retrospective of Oxfordshire-based South African painter and printmaker Gavin Jantjes brings together more than five decades of the artist’s practice from the 1970s to present day, including a new body of work produced during his 2022 residency in Sharjah. The artist is recognised as a creative activist, artist, curator and critical thinker, furthering the discourses and representation of African and African diaspora art. Through over 100 prints, drawings and paintings as well as archival material, the exhibition traces Jantjes’ quest to explore artistic and aesthetic form, unbound by the Eurocentric gaze and its prescribed roles. Organised in collaboration with The Africa Institute, Sharjah, this exhibition is curated by Salah M. Hassan, Director, The Africa Institute, and Professor, Cornell University.

EXHIBITIONS ON VIEW INTERNATIONALLY

The Casablanca Art School: Platforms and Patterns for a Postcolonial Avant-Garde 1962–1987
Tate St Ives: 27 May 2023–14 January 2024
Travelling to Sharjah Art Foundation in 2024

This is the first major museum exhibition of the Casablanca Art School whose revolutionary approach proposed a bold new visual culture following Morocco’s independence in 1956. Working across painting, sculpture, graphic design, architectural mural painting and many other media, the artists associated with the school placed art into public spaces and promoted it as a shared experience. This landmark exhibition brings together works by more than 20 artists, including vibrant, abstract paintings, urban murals, craft, typology, graphics and ceramics, alongside rarely seen print archives, vintage journals and photographs.

Organised by Tate St Ives and Sharjah Art Foundation, the exhibition is curated by Morad Montazami and Madeleine de Colnet for Zamân Books & Curating in conjunction with Anne Barlow, Director, Tate St Ives and Giles Jackson, Assistant Curator, Tate St Ives, and with associate researchers Fatima-Zahra Lakrissa and Maud Houssais. The exhibition in Sharjah, scheduled for February 2024, will be presented in collaboration with Sharjah Art Museum and curated with Hoor Al Qasimi, Director, Sharjah Art Foundation.

Casablanca Art School is also part of a key moment of international research into the Casablanca Art School, initiated in 2020 by KW Institute for Contemporary Art and Sharjah Art Foundation, in partnership with Goethe-Institut Marokko, ThinkArt and Zamân Books & Curating.



KADIST and Sharjah Art Foundation
5 October 2023–4 February 2024
KADIST, Paris
Travelling to Sharjah Art Foundation in 2024

Following a recent collaboration to support the production of Farah Al Qasimi's new work for Sharjah Biennial 15, Sharjah Art Foundation and KADIST are co-organising a group exhibition in Paris, which will see its second iteration in Sharjah in 2024. The exhibition brings together notable works from the collections of both institutions, anchored by Al Qasimi’s Biennial work, to explore notions of history, cartography and colonisation. The exhibition is curated by Hoor Al Qasimi, Director of Sharjah Art Foundation.

PUBLIC PROGRAMMES IN SHARJAH

Vantage Point Sharjah 11
14 October 2023–14 January 2024
Old Al Diwan Al Amiri, Al Hamriyah

Continuing the Foundation’s commitment to advancing emerging photographic practices and diverse forms of the medium, Vantage Point Sharjah returns in 2023 with a new and expanded vision for the programme. This year’s edition includes a new focus on photographers based in Africa and Asia who have not yet had a solo institutional presentation. Photographers can now submit full portfolios rather than single works to the annual open call, resulting in the selection of five artists whose work will be presented in a group exhibition. Selected photographers will also receive extensive mentorship through a pairing with a professional in the field as well as production support for their presented works.



Perform Sharjah
19 October 2023–11 February 2024 (various dates)
Locations across Sharjah

Sharjah Art Foundation's performing arts season returns in October 2023, engaging with Sharjah's public spaces, heritage houses and theatres. The programme interweaves the creations of contemporary artists with the city's urban fabric through a range of cross-disciplinary performances.

Playing Ouds: Oud in the Hands of Women Musicians from Around the World
4–5 November 2023
Sharjah Performing Arts Academy (SPAA)

Organised in collaboration with Kamilya Jubran’s platform Zamkana, this participatory public seminar explores the way the oud is used and played by women artists from around the world. Five renowned oud players from different geographic, historical and cultural backgrounds will present, interpret, exchange and share their personal musical worlds and languages. The seminar examines how the varied methods and techniques of playing this unique instrument interact organically with the music these artists create.



Focal Point
24–26 November 2023
Bait Obaid Al Shamsi, Arts Square

Sharjah Art Foundation’s annual art book fair showcases independent bookmaking from the region and around the world, with a particular spotlight on UAE-based publishers. The fair features a compelling selection of printed material by artists’ presses, bookmakers, self-publishers and non-commercial cultural producers that are expanding and experimenting with the medium of publishing. A critical space for knowledge sharing and community building, the fair also includes talks, book launches, artists’ signings, workshops, music and artist-made products.



Sharjah Film Platform 6
8–17 December 2023
Mirage City Cinema, Al Mureijah Square, and other cinema venues in Sharjah

This 10-day festival celebrating independent cinema and experimental filmmaking returns in December for its sixth edition. More than 30 cutting-edge films will have their national premieres and compete for the Sharjah Film Platform Awards, presented alongside a series of special screenings curated by the Foundation and invited film programmers. Complementing the festival is an enriching programme of talks, concerts and events.

Additional details on all of Sharjah Art Foundation’s upcoming programmes are available at sharjahart.org.

ABOUT SHARJAH ART FOUNDATION

Sharjah Art Foundation is an advocate, catalyst and producer of contemporary art within the Emirate of Sharjah and the surrounding region, in dialogue with the international arts community. The Foundation advances an experimental and wide-ranging programmatic model that supports the production and presentation of contemporary art, preserves and celebrates the distinct culture of the region and encourages a shared understanding of the transformational role of art. The Foundation’s core initiatives include the long-running Sharjah Biennial, featuring contemporary artists from around the world; the annual March Meeting, a convening of international arts professionals and artists; grants and residencies for artists, curators and cultural producers; ambitious and experimental commissions and a range of travelling exhibitions and scholarly publications.

Established in 2009 to expand programmes beyond the Sharjah Biennial, which launched in 1993, the Foundation is a critical resource for artists and cultural organisations in the Gulf and a conduit for local, regional and international developments in contemporary art. The Foundation’s deep commitment to developing and sustaining the cultural life and heritage of Sharjah is reflected through year-round exhibitions, performances, screenings and educational programmes in the city of Sharjah and across the Emirate, often hosted in historic buildings that have been repurposed as cultural and community centres. A growing collection reflects the Foundation’s support of contemporary artists in the realisation of new work and its recognition of the contributions made by pioneering modern artists from the region and around the world.

Sharjah Art Foundation is a legally independent public body established by Emiri Decree and supported by government funding, grants from national and international nonprofits and cultural organisations, corporate sponsors and individual patrons. Hoor Al Qasimi serves as President and Director. All exhibitions are free and open to the public.

ABOUT SHARJAH

Sharjah is the third largest of the seven United Arab Emirates and the only one bridging the Arabian Gulf and the Gulf of Oman. Reflecting the deep commitment to the arts, architectural preservation and cultural education embraced by its ruler, Sheikh Dr Sultan bin Muhammad Al Qasimi, Sharjah is home to more than 20 museums and has long been known as the cultural hub of the United Arab Emirates. In 1998, it was named UNESCO's 'Arab Capital of Culture' and has been designated the UNESCO ‘World Book Capital’ for the year 2019.

MEDIA CONTACT

Alyazeyah Al Marri
alyazeyah@sharjahart.org
+971(0)65444113