Sharjah Biennial 17 Announces Curatorial Framework and Artist Lists

Sharjah Biennial 17 curators Paula Nascimento (left) and Angela Harutyunyan. Image courtesy of Sharjah Art Foundation. Photo: Danko Stjepanovic

Sharjah Biennial 17: What remains, sits restive
January 21 to June 13, 2027
Opening Week: January 21–24, 2027
Curators: Angela Harutyunyan and Paula Nascimento

Sharjah Art Foundation has announced the curatorial framework and participants for Sharjah Biennial 17, titled What remains, sits restive, which will take place from January 21 to June 13, 2027 across multiple venues in Sharjah.

Bringing together 109 artists, the Biennial unfolds through two distinct but interrelated curatorial approaches, developed by Angela Harutyunyan and Paula Nascimento, each engaging with the persistence of historical residues and their active role in shaping the present.

The exhibition takes as its point of departure a reflection on the enduring presence of what has been left unresolved “unlived pasts” and incomplete emancipatory projects that continue to reverberate within contemporary political, social, and cultural realities. Rather than remaining dormant, these histories are understood as active forces that animate the present, producing what the Biennial frames as “restive rhythms” across time and space.

Angela Harutyunyan’s contribution focuses on the afterlives of socialist modernity, approached from the vantage point of the peripheries of modernisation and anti-colonial struggle. Bringing together 55 participants, her curatorial framework asks whether artistic practices can reactivate the emancipatory potential of these unfinished historical trajectories, confronting the conditions of late capitalist alienation while engaging with the contradictions embedded within representation.

In parallel, Paula Nascimento’s curatorial approach addresses the slow violences of cultural silencing and systemic oppression, proposing infrastructure as a method for thinking through the intersections of space, memory, and place. The 54 participants invited by Nascimento explore both tangible and intangible forms of infrastructure, developing new vocabularies to navigate the complexities of contemporary life.

Together, these two frameworks shape a Biennial that reflects on the persistence of historical forces, not as static remnants, but as dynamic processes that continue to inform and transform the present.

Sharjah Biennial 17 will take place across a wide network of sites throughout Sharjah, continuing Sharjah Art Foundation’s long-standing commitment to embedding contemporary artistic practice within the cultural and spatial fabric of the region.

Participants
Angela Harutyunyan

Alban Muja; Alexandra Sukhareva; Amanda Beech; Anri Sala; Arash Azadi; Arman Grigoryan; Armen Ter-Mkrtchyan; Armenak Grigoryan; Cristiana de Marchi; Cynthia Zaven; Daniele Genadry; David Schutter; Hamlet Hovsepyan; Hande Sever; Hassan Khan; Hiwa K; Igor Savchenko; Iman Issa; Jasmina Cibic; Jessica Ekomane; Jiří Žák; Josef Bolf; Josephine Pryde; Kapwani Kiwanga; Karen Ohanyan; Karine Matsakyan; Karlo Kacharava; Kasper Kovitz; Khaled Tanji; Kristina Benjocki; Lala Rukh; Lena Kocutar; Lousineh Navasartian; Marcos Grigoryan; Michael Martirosyan; Natasha Gasparian; Neda Saeedi; Octavian Esanu; Romana Schmalisch and Robert Schlicht; Sebastián Díaz Morales; Shady Elnoshokaty; Sherif El Azma; Stijn Verhoeff; Suat Öğüt; Tekla Aslanishvili and Solveig Qu Suess; Teni Vardanyan; Thea Djordjadze; Thea Gvetadze; Tsolak Topchyan; Vehanush Topchyan; Yaşam Şaşmazer; Yass; and Zbyněk Balandrán.

Paula Nascimento

Agnes Essonti Luque; Ana Silva; Ângela Ferreira; António Ole; Belinda Kazeem-Kamiński; Carlos Noronha Feio; César Schofield Cardoso; Christian Salablanca Diaz; Cipriano; Dana Whabira; Edson Chagas; Euridice Zaituna Kala; Francisco Vidal; Gabriel Chaile; Gabrielle Goliath; Georges Senga; Gosette Lubondo; Grada Kilomba; Helena Uambembe; Hong-Kai Wang; Ibrahim Mahama; Ilídio Candja Candja; Januario Jano; Jean Katambayi Mukendi; Josèfa Ntjam; Kamala Ibrahim Ishag; Kapela Paulo; Kiluanji Kia Henda and Sumayya Vally with Flávio Cardoso, Lilianne Kiame, Raul Jorge Gourgel and Yazan Khalili; Limbo Museum founded by Dominique Petit-Frère; Lungiswa Gqunta; Mpho Matsipa; Myles Igwe; Nolan Oswald Dennis; Ntshepe Tsekere Bopape; Nú Barreto; Oscar Murillo; Pamela Cevallos; Rebeca Carapiá; Reinata Sadimba; René Tavares; Rui Magalhães; Sandra Poulson; Senzeni Marasela; Sonia Gomes; Tuli Mekondjo; Victor Gama; Wendy Morris; Ziad Naitaddi; and Zina Saro-Wiwa.