Overview
Sharjah Art Foundation announces Genealogies in the Middle East and Latin America, an online screening programme featuring 21 video and film artists and collectives from the two regions. Taking place from 1 June to 11 July, the project explores historical and contemporary relationships between artists in the two regions in order to consider their shared histories of colonisation and the close links developed through several cycles of migration over the last 150 years from nations such as Lebanon, Syria, Palestine, Turkey, Egypt, Jordan and Iraq to countries in Central America, Peru, Chile, Mexico as well as Brazil, Argentina, Colombia and Venezuela. The impact of this shared history on their respective cultures, although the circumstances varied historically and regionally, is reflected in the transnational territorial subjectivities of many of the participating artists and their work. Jointly organised by Sharjah Art Foundation and curator Anna Goetz, the project was initiated to reflect on different spheres of influence that have shaped artists in the two regions over the years. The project's initiator, Goetz, invited the artists to ponder over what has influenced their thinking and ways of working. What were the immediate and specific societal relations, the everyday living and working conditions and the central sources of inspiration that have shaped them and their practice?
Over 21 days, the project will release one video or film work every day. Following the playful format of a chain letter, artists were invited to nominate other artists with a work of theirs. Thus, the programme's threads unfold along narratives revealed by the artists' personal accounts, which provide critical alternative perspectives and insights. Many of the artists chose to nominate works that were influential early in their careers, whether for formal considerations or for reasons that reveal the limited access to film and video outside their immediate environment.
The chain begins with Alia Farid’s Theater of Operations (The Gulf War seen from Puerto Rico) (2017), which critically reflects the artist's biographical and artistic background rooted in and between Latin America as much as the Middle East. Farid will then launch the series by proposing two works from these regions that have left a lasting impression on her practice. The video works will be presented consecutively, with each of the respective artists inviting the participation of another artist to follow.
Artists taking part in the project include Mounira Al Solh, Francis Alÿs, Claudia Aravena Abughosh, Arias & Aragón, Guillermo Cifuentes, Alia Farid, Gilda Mantilla & Raimond Chaves, Óscar Muñoz, Enrique Ramírez, Elena Tejada-Herrera, Maya Watanabe and Akram Zaatari, amongst others. Detailed biographies and information about the participating artists are available on the Foundation’s website. The remaining artists and their featured works will be announced via the Foundation’s social media and digital platforms as the project progresses.
How to watch the screenings
The films will be screened via the Foundation’s virtual screening platform. One film will be released every day for 21 days (1 June to 21 June) and will be available for streaming until 11 July. To receive daily updates about the films to be screened, register here.
Visit sharjahart.org to learn more.
About Anna Goetz
Anna Goetz is a curator and writer with a special interest in artistic strategies that challenge governing societal hierarchies, narratives and structures.
Recent projects as an independent curator include a solo exhibition with Banu Cennetoğlu at K21 Kunstsammlung NRW, Düsseldorf (2019) and the group exhibition Stage of Maneuvers with Alia Farid, Claire Fontaine, Gabriella Torres-Ferrer and Georgia Sagri as part of the international curator festival curated by in Vienna (2019). She curated the FORO section at ZONA MACO in Mexico City (2020) and has initiated major group exhibitions such as Where do we go from here? (2019) and Casa Tomada (2018), both in Mexico City, and co-curated the 13th Sculpture Triennial FOOD–Ecologies of the Everyday (2016) in Fellbach, Germany, together with Susanne Gaensheimer.
Her last institutional appointment was at MMK Museum for Modern Art in Frankfurt (2013–2017), where she curated and co-curated solo exhibitions by Ed Atkins, Laure Prouvost, Florian Hecker, Mathieu Kleyebe Abonnenc, Isa Genzken and Subodh Gupta, and led the prestigious MMK Talks programme Art & Politics with guests such as Banu Cennetoğlu, Vasif Kortun, Kader Attia, Jimmie Durham, Dirk Snauwaert and Hans Haacke. Previously, she was Assistant Curator for the German Pavilion at the 55th Venice Biennale (2013), Kunstverein Harburger Bahnhof and the Frankfurter Kunstverein.
Parallel to her curatorial practice, she has contributed essays to international art magazines such as Artforum, Frieze and Mousse, taught at various art academies and universities, and ran the project space Roberta in Frankfurt (2015-2017).
Anna Goetz studied Art History, Media Theory and Modern German Literature at the University of Basel, Art and Media Theory with focus on Film at the University of Hamburg, and Art Theory and Cultural Studies as well as Art and Cultural Mediation at the University of Bremen.
Born in 1984 in Basel (Switzerland), she currently lives and works between Basel and Mexico City.
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. Under the leadership of founder Hoor Al Qasimi, a curator and artist, 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 learning 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. 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 Mohammed Al Qasimi, Sharjah is home to more than 20 museums and has long been known as the cultural hub of the United Arab Emirates. It was named UNESCO's Arab Capital of Culture in 1998 and the UNESCO World Book Capital in 2019.
Media Contact
Alyazeyah Al Reyaysa
+971(0)65444113
alyazeyah@sharjahart.org