Lubaina Himid and Magda Stawarska: Plaited Time / Deep Water

Lubaina Himid’s first exhibition in the region is something of a coup for Sharjah Art Foundation. Developed over several years, it has been conceived together with Magda Stawarska, who is internationally renowned for her practice of ‘inner listening’—a collaborative process of listening to cities. The results of their intimate encounters unfold across multiple media, such as in the four new commissions presented within the exhibition.

Plaited Time / Deep Water is imagined in dialogue with Sharjah’s architecture, its soundscapes, and the feelings evoked by its proximity to the sea. At the heart of the show is a newly imagined presentation of Zanzibar (1998–2023), a series of paintings by Himid situated within a distinct architecture and sonic installation created by Stawarska; in the series, life-long journeys of return are presented as a sensorial encounter for visitors who are invited to listen and experience memory unfolding. Across the galleries, daily ritual is explored alongside the artists’ continued engagement with language and its potential embodiment. In Plaited Time / Deep Water, the personal archive finds its rejoinder in Sharjah’s changing light through lyric, voice and song.

The exhibition is curated by Dr Omar Kholeif, Sharjah Art Foundation’s Director of Collections and Senior Curator. “In Plaited Time / Deep Water, the personal archive finds its rejoinder in Sharjah’s changing light through lyric, voice and song. The results of Lubaina’s and Magda’s encounters can be experienced across multiple media in this exhibition, as the artists use painting, poetry, language and sound to unfold their own histories and memories, as well as those held within Sharjah,” said Dr Kholeif.

Abive: Lubaina Himid, In Your Dreams (2021/2022)

To 28 January.