To Speak with Many Tongues: Selections from the Sharjah Art Foundation Collection

Overview

Sharjah Art Foundation, in collaboration with the Royal College of Art, presents To Speak with Many Tongues: Selections from the Sharjah Art Foundation Collection, an exhibition of modern and contemporary art. The 23 artists represented in this exhibition are all figures for whom home has been a constantly morphing and ever-changing site. Born in the Middle East, Africa and South Asia, they have all travelled great distances to study, live their lives and produce their art. Wrestling with the weight of tradition and history, these artists mix a variety of styles and forms to trace a history of art that exists outside the bounds of traditional art history narratives. The works on view, created over the past century, are a testament to the international language of art, which traverses borders and speaks to humanity as a whole. Some noteworthy works featured in the exhibition include Ibrahim El-Salahi’s Flamenco Dancers (2012), Huguette Caland’s Rosinette Diptych (2011) and Marwan’s Untitled (1960).

Participating artists are Etel Adnan, Rasheed Araeen, Baya, Semiha Berksoy, Huguette Caland, Ibrahim El-Salahi, Monir Shahroudy Farmanfarmaian, Simone Fattal, Marcos Grigorian, Adam Henein, Lubaina Himid, Kamala Ibrahim Ishag, Mohammed Kazem, Farideh Lashai, Marwan, Ahmed Morsi, Fateh Moudarres, Mohan Samant, Hrair Sarkissian, Hassan Sharif, Anwar Jalal Shemza and Lynette Yiadom-Boakye.

Running alongside the London Book Fair, To Speak with Many Tongues is part of the public programme that celebrates the Emirate of Sharjah as this year’s guest of honour.

This exhibition is curated by Omar Kholeif, Sharjah Art Foundation Director of Collections and Senior Curator.

This exhibition is open to the public. Free admission.

Opening hours
10 March 2020 | 10:00 am–4:00 pm
11 and 12 March 2020 | 10:00 am–6:00 pm

Senior Common Room
Royal College of Art
Kensington Gore
London SW7 2EU