Sharjah Art Foundation's Hoor Al-Qasimi on building solidarities through art

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Subscribe to enjoy similar stories. The 16th edition of the Sharjah Biennial, themed around “to carry", responds to the precarities of our times. Organised by the Sharjah Art Foundation, it is to be held between 6 February and 15 June.

The five women curators—Alia Swastika, Amal Khalaf, Megan Tamati-Quennell, Natasha Ginwala and Zeynep Öz—have elaborated on the theme as, “What do we carry when it is time to travel, flee or move on? What are the passages that we form as we migrate between territories and across time? What do we carry when we remain? What do we carry when we survive?" Their curatorial response is an attempt to create a bridge between intergenerational stories and modes of inheritance through residencies, workshops, sonic experiences and publications. For Hoor Al Qasimi, president and director of the Sharjah Art Foundation—who took over the execution of the Sharjah Biennial in 2002—it is vital that each edition brings in the local context alongside global narratives about identity, movement and change. “By centering the act of carrying, Sharjah Biennial 16 offers a space for imagining new collective futures while recognising the weight of shared histories and experiences," she says.

This year, the Biennial will have works by more than 140 artists, including 80 new commissions. The Indian artists whose work will be featured include Anga Art Collective, Pallavi Paul, Rajyashri Goody, Tishani Doshi and V. Viswanadhan.