IBA Stage: 15th Sharjah Biennial

Abdulrahim Salem, The Unknown Sailor, 2023. Performance view: Sharjah Biennial 15, Kalba Ice Factory, 2023. Produced by Sharjah Art Foundation. Photo: Shanavas Jamaluddin

IBA Stage: 15th Sharjah Biennial
March 8th, 2023 (Wednesday)
3:30pm (Sharjah/GMT+4)

We are extremely excited to announce that during the occasion of the upcoming March Meeting, organised by Sharjah Art Foundation, we will hold our first IBA Stage event with a live audience presenting the 15th Sharjah Biennial!

For a series which was developed as a reaction to the restrictions imposed on international travel for the COVID-19 pandemic to be held live during one of our member’s biennials marks a wonderful turning point and one which we can’t wait to celebrate all together.

We are even happier that this new experimental format of IBA Stage can take place during the festive occasion of the 30th anniversary of the Sharjah Biennial, an institution that through Hoor Al Qasimi, President and Director of Sharjah Art Foundation and curator of Sharjah Biennial 15, has shown continuous support and dedication to IBA since our beginnings in 2014, confirmed by her election in 2017 during our 4th General Assembly to become president of IBA.

Sharjah Biennial 15 “Thinking Historically in the Present “, which opened on February 7th and was conceived by the late Okwui Enwezor and curated by Hoor Al Qasimi, reflects on Enwezor’s visionary work, which transformed contemporary art and established an ambitious intellectual project that has influenced the evolution of institutions and biennials around the world. The over 300 art works (many of which were newly produced for the biennial) displayed in venues across the whole of Sharjah, deliver a sense of connection to the region beyond its national and cultural borders, locating it within a historical trajectory which mirrors a global transcultural space. The project brings together works which through thoughtful and empathic language are able to bring to the stage minor histories and irreplaceable traditions which together form a strong critique of the monolithic nation state brought about by the “western project”. In this sense, the exhibition is able to reflect in full Enwezor’s idea of the postcolonial constellation.

Furthermore, the 30th anniversary of the Sharjah Biennial is undoubtedly a moment of institutional reflection on its role in Sharjah and the wider region. A subject which we look forward to discussing more during IBA Stage with Hoor Al Qasimi and our other panelists.

While this event will take place in front of a live audience at the Sharjah Institute of Theatrical Arts, we encourage you to participate remotely through our Zoom event where you’ll be able to interact with us and the panelists as in all IBA Stage events so far. As always, all our IBA Stage events will be live-streamed through our social media and YouTube channels.

To register for the event follow the link below

https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZwvduGtrDgoGt07-sB_JgA8ncGm3rwPO73U

For a full schedule of March Meeting follow the link below

https://sharjahart.org/march-meeting-2023