Sharjah Art Foundation has chosen three curators for the 14th edition of the Sharjah Biennial (SB14) which will focus on producing art in a destructive world.
Zoe Butt, Omar Kholeif and Claire Tancons will explore themes of migration, time and historical interpretation under the title “Leaving the Echo Chamber”.
“Contemporary life is dominated by competing information and fluctuating histories—a reality that raises important questions about the trajectory of contemporary art, as well as the conditions in which it is made,” said Hoor Al Qasimi, Sharjah Art Foundation’s president and director. “The aim of the Biennial is to deepen the context of these questions through thought-provoking and often experiential works of art.”
SB14 will have major commissions, large-scale public installations, performances and films using information technology. The curators will present three different exhibitions, inviting a swathe of artists from around the world as well as the region to participate.
Ms Butt, the artistic director of Vietnam’s The Factory Contemporary Arts Centre, will showcase the “Journey Beyond the Arrow”. In this installation, artists will highlight the generational impact of physical and psychological tools that have different meanings as a result of colonialism, religious conflict and ideological extremism. “Journey Beyond The Arrow seeks to illuminate the necessary diversity of humanity and its exchange across the globe,” the foundation said in a statement.
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Mr Kholeif, also a curator for Abu Dhabi Art, will lead "Making New Time", a three-part exhibition that looks at the human body through the lens of artists into the world of virtual reality. The presentation finishes by exploring the obstacles throughout history offering a point of view as to how our existence can be re-imagined.
“Look for Me All Around You” by Ms Tancons will explore obscurity as a futuristic omen: what is being looked for isn’t what is being looked at. Artists will explore mechanisms of repossession of perception, reflection and deflection and escapism.
