15TH SHARJAH BIENNIAL 2023
‘Hail to you, lords of truth, free from wrongdoing, who exist forever and forever. I have reached you because I am an akh with my forms. I am powerful through my magic’
[Extract from Chapter 72: Spell for ‘Going forth by day’/ An Ancient Egyptian Book of the Dead/ The Papyrus of Sobekmose]
Series: The Myths of Eternal Life, Chapter I, Bronze Hand 23x10cm, Bronze Face 19x16cm, Screenprint on vintage linen sack - Pillow 66x69x23cm, 2020
Presenting new works and commissions across various venues in the emirate, the Biennial will take place from 7 February to 11 June 2023
Sharjah Biennial
Sharjah, United Emirates
Sharjah Biennial 15 (SB15), titled Thinking Historically in the Present, will feature works by more than 150 artists, including never-before-seen works and commissions presented at 16 venues across the emirate. Conceived by the late Okwui Enwezor and curated by the Foundation’s Director Hoor Al Qasimi, SB15 reflects on Enwezor’s visionary work, which transformed contemporary art and has influenced the evolution of institutions and biennials around the world, including the Sharjah Biennial.
To mark Sharjah Biennial’s 30-year anniversary, Enwezor proposed commissioning 30 works as a way to meaningfully activate this critical platform through the development of new work. In line with this framework, 30 artists have been invited to embark on major commissions that explore histories that continue to shape our present: John Akomfrah, Kader Attia, Sammy Baloji, María Magdalena Campos-Pons, Carolina Caycedo, Destiny Deacon, Manthia Diawara, Coco Fusco, Hassan Hajjaj, Mona Hatoum, Lubaina Himid, Isaac Julien, Amar Kanwar, Bouchra Khalili, Mohammed Ibrahim Mahama, Kerry James Marshall, Steve McQueen, Almagul Menlibayeva, Aline Motta, Wangechi Mutu, Philippe Parreno, Doris Salcedo, Berni Searle, Yinka Shonibare, Vivan Sundaram, Fatimah Tuggar, Hajra Waheed, Barbara Walker, Nari Ward and Carrie Mae Weems.
The Biennial is being realised by Al Qasimi as curator with the support of the Sharjah Biennial 15 Working Group, comprised of Tarek Abou El Fetouh (independent curator); Ute Meta Bauer (professor and Founding Director of NTU CCA Singapore); Salah M. Hassan (professor and art historian, Cornell University and Director of The Africa Institute, Sharjah); Chika Okeke-Agulu (professor and art historian, Princeton University); and Octavio Zaya (independent curator, art writer and Executive Director of the Cuban Art Foundation). Al Qasimi and the Working Group are overseeing the development and implementation of the Biennial with an Advisory Committee that includes Sir David Adjaye (architect) and Christine Tohmé (Director, Ashkal Alwan, Beirut).
Sharjah Biennial 15 will take place from 7 February to 11 June 2023, with opening week events scheduled from 7 February to 12 February. Please register here to receive updates.
Sharjah Biennial 15 Participating Artists
Basel Abbas and Ruanne Abou-Rahme
Maitha Abdalla
Fathi Afifi
Hoda Afshar
John Akomfrah
Jawad Al Malhi
Monira Al Qadiri
Farah Al Qasimi
Mounira Al Solh
Moza Almatrooshi
Marwah AlMugait
Hangama Amiri
Brook Andrew
Malala Andrialavidrazana
Rushdi Anwar
Kader Attia
Au Sow Yee
Dana Awartani
Omar Badsha
Natalie Ball
Sammy Baloji
Mirna Bamieh
Pablo Bartholomew and Richard Bartholomew
Shiraz Bayjoo
Bahar Behbahani
Asma Belhamar
Diedrick Brackens
Maria Magdalena Campos-Pons
Cao Fei
Carolina Caycedo
Ali Cherri
Wook-kyung Choi
Iftikhar Dadi and Elizabeth Dadi
Solmaz Daryani
Annalee Davis
Destiny Deacon
Manthia Diawara
Imane Djamil
Anju Dodiya
Kimathi Donkor
Heri Dono
Tania El Khoury
Nabil El Makhloufi
Rehab Eldalil
Ali Eyal
Marianne Fahmy
Brenda Fajardo
Raheleh Filsoofi
Nina Fischer and Maroan el Sani
Coco Fusco
Flavia Gandolfo
Theaster Gates
Gabriela Golder
Gabrielle Goliath
Yulia Grigoryants
Joana Hadjithomas and Khalil Joreige
Hassan Hajjaj
David Hammons
Archana Hande
Fathi Hassan
Mona Hatoum
Lubaina Himid
Laura Huertas Millán
Saodat Ismailova
Isaac Julien
Saddam Jumaily
Patricia Kaersenhout
Robyn Kahukiwa
Reena Saini Kallat
Hanni Kamaly
Amar Kanwar
Bouchra Khalili
Naiza Khan
Kiluanji Kia Henda
Ayoung Kim
Emily Kame Kngwarreye
Hiroji Kubota
Nusra Latif Qureshi
Lee Kai Chung
Ibrahim Mahama
Waheeda Malullah
Maharani Mancanagara
mandla
Lavanya Mani
Kerry James Marshall
Queenie McKenzie
Steve McQueen
Marisol Mendez
Almagul Menlibayeva
Helina Metaferia
Kimowan Metchewais
Meleanna Meyer
Joiri Minaya
Tahila Mintz
Roméo Mivekannin
Tracey Moffatt
Aline Motta
Wangechi Mutu
Eubena Nampitjin
Dala Nasser
Pipo Nguyen-Duy
Mame-Diarra Niang
Shelley Niro
Thenjiwe Niki Nkosi
Elia Nurvista
Okwui Okpokwasili
Kambui Olujimi
Zohra Opoku
Erkan Özgen
Pak Khawateen Painting Club
Pushpakanthan Pakkiyarajah
Hyesoo Park
Philippe Parreno
Angela Ponce
Prajakta Potnis
Anita Pouchard Serra
Jasbir Puar and Dima Srouji
Michael Rakowitz
Umar Rashid
Wendy Red Star
Veronica Ryan
Doris Salcedo
Abdulrahim Salem
Sangeeta Sandrasegar
Varunika Saraf
Khadija Saye
Berni Searle
Mithu Sen
Nelly Sethna
Aziza Shadenova
Smita Sharma
Nilima Sheikh
Yinka Shonibare
Felix Shumba
Semsar Siahaan
Mary Sibande
Kahurangiariki Smith
Inuuteq Storch
Vivan Sundaram
Pamela Phatsimo Sunstrum
Obaid Suroor
The Living and the Dead Ensemble
Hank Willis Thomas
Akeim Toussaint Buck
Fatimah Tuggar
Hajra Waheed
Barbara Walker
Wang Jianwei
Nari Ward
Carrie Mae Weems
Nil Yalter