Sharjah Biennial 8 at Arco, Madrid

Jack Persekian, Artistic Director, SB8

Will speak about Sharjah as a context for the Biennial, give a brief history of the Biennial, and introduce its 8th edition: curators, artists and theme.

Lara Almarcegui, Artist, participating in SB8

Will speak about the context of Sharjah in relation to her practice and speak about her work in progress for her Sharjah Biennial 8 commission.
Max Andrews & Mariana Canepa Luna
(from Latitudes Curatorial Practice, Barcelona), co-curators of the SB8 Symposium
Will speak about the theme of art and ecology, particularly in relation to the SB8 Symposium.

Location: Room N -111
Address: ARCO, Ifema – Parque Ferial Juan Carlos I, Feria de Madrid, 28042 Madrid, Spain

Overview

The Biennials theme proposes art as a way of creating a better understanding about our relationship with nature and the environment, whilst considering its social, political and cultural dimensions in an interdisciplinary way.

The SB8 programme will include exhibitions, performances, a film programme curated by Mark Nash and a symposium organised in collaboration with the American University of Sharjah, RSA (London) and curatorial practice Latitudes (Barcelona). The entire city of Sharjah is being offered to artists for site-specific work, and other SB8 activities will take place across a wide range of venues including the Sharjah Art Museum, the Expo Centre, the Heritage Area of Sharjah, the American University of Sharjah and others. The SB8 Art Prizes will be awarded to two winning artists by a jury composed of Charles Esche and Geeta Kapur. Furthermore, UNESCO will award their Prize for the Promotion of the Arts & the Young Digital Creator Award, in collaboration with the Sharjah Biennial 8.

SB8 will present works by more than 80 international artists. Those developing new site-specific commissions include Graham Gussin, Lara Almarcegui, E-xplo, Tue Greenfort, Marjetica Potrc, Tomas Saraceno and Marya Kazoun. Artists presenting existing work of relevance to the Biennials theme include Rirkrit Tiravanija, Zineb Sedira, Gustav Metzger and Lara Baladi among many others.

Several artists such as Ranjani Shettar and Luca Vitone have chosen to develop works for the Heritage Area of Sharjah a complex of restored historic, low-rise buildings in the traditional architecture of the Emirates.

Initiated in 1993, the Sharjah Biennial is produced by the Department of Culture and Information of the Emirate of Sharjah, United Arab Emirates. It occupies a key position in the region in the production and presentation of art and is an active player in the international art arena. The Biennial strives to encourage dialogue between artists, art institutions and organisations locally, regionally and internationally. It seeks to promote cross-cultural exchange whilst fostering experimentation and the production of site-specific work for Sharjah.