Sharjah Art Foundation (SAF) announced today its 2018 spring programme featuring five career-spanning surveys of Latif Al Ani, Anna Boghiguian, Mohammed Ahmed Ibrahim, Mona Saudi and Zineb Sedira. Major spring initiatives also include March Meeting 2018, an annual convening of international and local artists and practitioners who explore timely issues in contemporary art through a programme of talks and performances open to all; as well as a new curator-in-residence programme organised in collaboration with Air Arabia that will result in a group exhibition.
March Meeting 2018
March 17–19, 2018
Presented from March 17 to 19, March Meeting 2018 explores issues of resistance through consideration of organising as a primary act of and condition for artistic and cultural production. Presentations, panels, performances and conversations will examine how practices in art, writing, film, music and architecture impact engagement with instances of resistance and encourage a reassessment of art’s relationship to notions of authorship, agency and the public.
The 2018 edition will also include an exhibition of works from the Sharjah Art Foundation Collection that expands the meeting’s key ideas. Among them are installations and other works—including co-commissions by the foundation—by John Akomfrah, Basma Alsharif, Halil Altindere, Bahar Behbahani, Hazem Harb, Gulnara Kasmalieva and Muratbek Djumaliev, Almagul Menlibayeva, Naeem Mohaiemen and Raeda Saadeh. The foundation will also present Wael Shawky’s performance The Song of Roland (2017)—co-commissioned by the foundation—which debuted internationally in 2017.
SAF’s annual call for participants to present at MM 2018 is open through January 10, 2018. To apply as a participant, visit our website. To attend, please contact register [at] sharjahart.org.
Spring 2018 exhibitions
February 21–May 21
Mona Saudi (b. 1945, Amman, Jordan) is widely recognised for her stone sculptures that are sourced from her surroundings and explore the relationship between natural material and modern form. Spanning five decades of the artist’s work, this retrospective will provide rare insight into the evolution of Saudi’s aesthetic and intellectual trajectory. Through a large selection of stone sculptures as well as paintings, drawings and works on paper inspired by the poets Mahmoud Darwish and Adonis, the exhibition will cultivate a nuanced understanding of Saudi’s approach to notions of growth, fertility and the body.
February 24–May 26
A Tripoli Agreement launches the new Air Arabia Curator-in-Residence programme, a collaboration between Sharjah Art Foundation and Air Arabia. The programme’s first curator-in-residence is Renan Laru-an (b. 1989, Sultan Kudarat, Philippines). Larau-an’s research will address notions of disagreement, (mis)understanding and demands. To explore these themes, Laru-an will travel from Sharjah to a number of other Air Arabia destinations to research the conditions surrounding the 1976 peace agreement between the Philippine government and the Moro National Liberation Front. The residency will culminate in a group exhibition featuring artists from across the region.
March 16–June 16
Latif Al Ani (b. 1932, Baghdad, Iraq) was one of the earliest to capture cosmopolitan life in Iraq from the 1950s through the 1970s. His photographs represent a unique visual record of the country’s complex culture, politics and industry during a period in which everyday life was increasingly influenced by urbanisation. Spanning these pivotal three decades of Al Ani’s photography, this solo exhibition traces the progression of his life both in Iraq and throughout his travels.
Born to an Egyptian Armenian family, Anna Boghiguian’s (b. 1946, Cairo, Egypt) work reflects the itinerant life she has led across the globe, travelling to various countries including Egypt, Canada, France, India and Italy. A consummate chronicler of modern metropolitan life, her dense compositions combine diverse materials, including wax, wood, paint, cut-outs and collage. As the artist’s first major retrospective to date, the exhibition spans over four decades of Boghiguian’s practice.
The exhibition was originally on view this Autumn at Castello di Rivoli Museo d’Arte Contemporanea, where it was curated by Carolyn Christov-Bakargiev and Marianna Vecellio. The Sharjah presentation of this travelling exhibition is co-curated by Hoor Al Qasimi and Carolyn Christov-Bakargiev, and is organised by Castello di Rivoli Museo d’Arte Contemporanea, Rivoli-Torino in conjunction with Sharjah Art Foundation.
Mohammed Ahmed Ibrahim (b. 1962, Khor Fakkan, UAE) is best known for his explorations into land art, inspired by his life-long relationship with the environment of Khorfakkan. His work often utilises organic material or form and explores an interest in the relationship between nature and urban development. The exhibition traces the development of Ibrahim’s practice and its enduring influence on contemporary art in the UAE.
Zineb Sedira (b.1963, Paris, France) is recognised internationally for her explorations of family, tradition, oral history, migration and the intergenerational transmission of knowledge. Although these concerns have recently come to wider public attention, they have long been the focus of Sedira’s work in video, photography, sculpture and installation. Alongside her best-known works, three new commissions will engage geo-political histories of the recent past.
For more information, please visit www.sharjahart.org.
Press inquiries:
Sharjah Art Foundation: Alyazeyah Al Reyaysa: T +971(0)65444113 / alyazeyah@sharjahart.org
Resnicow and Associates: Sarah Morris: T +1 212 671 5165 / smorris@resnicow.com
*Clockwise from top left: (1) Mona Saudi, Growth, 2002. Sharjah Art Foundation Collection. (2) Mohammed Ahmed Ibrahim, Primodial, 1988. Sharjah Art Foundation Collection. (3) Naeem Mohaiemen, Two Meetings and a Funeral, 2017. Commissioned by documenta 14, co-commissioned by Sharjah Art Foundation and Ford Foundation Just Films. Courtesy of the artist, Experimenter, Kolkata and Hessisches Landesmuseum. (4) Zineb Sedira, Haunted House II, 2006. Sharjah Art Foundation Collection. (5) Lunch for March Meeting attendees, 2017. Courtesy of Sharjah Art Foundation. (6) In the foreground: A Play to Play, 2013. Courtesy the artist and Sfeir-Semler Gallery, Hamburg & Beirut. Installation view, Anna Boghiguian, Castello di Rivoli Museo d’Arte Contemporanea, Rivoli-Turin, September 2017. Photo by: Renato Ghiazza. (7) Halil Altindere, Homeland, 2016. Sharjah Art Foundation Collection. (8) Air Arabia Map. (9) Photo: Latif Al Ani.
