On the occasion of the Sharjah Biennial 15 catalogue release, I’m privileged to share a conversation I recorded in 2023, with Hoor Al Qasimi, president and director of the Sharjah Art Foundation and curator of SB15. Also of note this month: Hoor Al Qasimi received the insignia of Officier de l'Ordre des Arts et des Lettres (Officer of the Order of Arts and Letters), conferred by His Excellency Nicolas Niemtchinow, Ambassador of France to the UAE, during a ceremony at The Flying Saucer, Sharjah.
In February 2023, I traveled to the Arab Emirates for the first time. I was there to witness and celebrate Sharjah Biennial 15: Thinking Historically in the Present. Four years in the making, the exhibition is ambitious and expansive. More than 100 artists from 70 countries are presenting projects in 19 venues across the emirate. Seventy of those projects are new commissions.
The memory and influence of Nigerian born art historian, author, educator, and curator Okwui Enwezor is deeply felt, despite his physical absence. The Sharjah Art Foundation had invited Enwezor to curate this iteration of the biennial. He envisioned the exhibition title before his death in 2019.
Sharjah Art Foundation Director Hoor Al Qasimi was 22 years old when she met Okwui Enwezor and experienced his non-western curatorial model at documenta 11, in Kassel, Germany. Enwezor’s impactful perspective on postnational hybridity and global modern identity inspired Al Qasimi to lead the Foundation and the Biennial in new directions.
On the 30th anniversary of the Sharjah Biennial, I sat down with Al Qasimi to talk about the inclusive ethos that I found in the art experience of Thinking Historically in the Present.
Story: Cathy Byrd | Sound Design: Anamnesis Audio
Feature Image: Helina Metafaria, The Willing performance in Arts Square, Sharjah
Special Audio: Hassan Hajjaj with Mestre Pastel, Open Capoeira Session
For more stories from Sharjah Biennial 15, visit Fresh Art International.
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