The March Meeting 2021 (MM 2021): Unravelling the Present sessions are now available online. A vital annual forum for contemporary art, the 13th edition gathered more than 50 artists, curators, art historians and critics to examine the history of the Sharjah Biennial and the future of the biennial model.
To watch the recorded sessions, visit the March Meeting 2021 programme page or follow this link.
On the occasion of March Meeting 2021, the Foundation published a series of 11 essays, selected through the March Meeting open call, that expand on the theme Unravelling the Present. The March Meeting Papers are available to pre-order and view on this link.
Sharjah Art Foundation’s March Meeting 2021 (MM 2021) ran from 12 to 21 March featuring online talks, panels and presentations as well as on-site film screenings at the Foundation’s venues. Usually organised as a three-day convening of artists, curators and art practitioners to explore critical issues in contemporary art, this edition of March Meeting took place over 10 days and set the stage for the 15th edition of Sharjah Biennial (SB15): Thinking Historically in the Present.
Originally scheduled for March 2020, MM 2021 examined the past 30 years of Sharjah Biennial as an initiative and a model for disrupting the power of artistic monolingualism and horizon for developing another theoretical space for thinking historically in the present. Titled Unraveling the Present, this edition of Sharjah Art Foundation’s annual gathering brought together former Sharjah Biennial curators, artistic directors and artists as well as art historians and art critics to examine the role, place and impact of the Sharjah Biennial in the region and the global contemporary art scene at large. MM 2021 also explored the evolution of the Sharjah Biennial, focusing on its shift away from traditional modes of curating and displaying art by activating non-institutional spaces, moving to non-geographic models of representation as well as the development of a year-round programme enabled by the establishment of the Sharjah Art Foundation.
MM 2021 is an integral part of the framework for Sharjah Biennial 15: Thinking Historically in the Present laid out by Okwui Enwezor (1963–2019) in spring 2018 and that he continued to develop until his untimely passing. Reflecting on his tremendous impact on contemporary art, Enwezor’s visionary work transformed contemporary art paradigms and laid out an ambitious intellectual project that influenced the evolution of institutions and biennials around the world, including the Sharjah Biennial. Enwezor saw the Sharjah Biennial as a model for displacing older, Western-based biennials by offering a critical alternative that was committed to the future of the art exhibition as a relevant platform for engaging with history, politics and society in our global present. SB15 will be realised by Hoor Al Qasimi as curator in conjunction with the SB15 Working Group and Advisory Committee.
Coinciding with MM 2021, the exhibitions Rayyane Tabet: Exquisite Corpse, curated by SAF Senior Curator Ryan Inouye, and Unsettled Objects, curated by SAF Director of Collections and Senior Curator Omar Kholeif, also opened on 12 March 2021. Zarina Bhimji: Black Pocket and Tarek Atoui: Cycles in 11, both curated by SAF Director Hoor Al Qasimi, remained on view through 10 April 2021.
MM2021 was open to all and free to attend.
12-21 March 2021