Sharjah Biennial 16 opening programme

Curated by Alia Swastika, Amal Khalaf, Megan Tamati-Quennell, Natasha Ginwala and Zeynep Öz, Sharjah Biennial 16 features works by more than 190 participants, including over 200 new commissions.

The SB16 Opening Programme weekend, which runs at locations in Sharjah City, Al Hamriyah, Al Dhaid, Kalba, Al Madam and other venues across Sharjah, will give us a chance to see how the curators have approached their theme – ‘to carry’. That’s described as “a multivocal and open-ended proposition … The ever-expanding list of what to carry, and how to carry it, is an invitation to encounter the different formations and positions of the five curators as well as the constellation of resonances they have gathered”.  What do we carry when it is time to travel, flee or move on? What are the passages that we form as we migrate between territories and across time? What do we carry when we remain? What do we carry when we survive?

So sB16 curatorial projects reflect on what it means to carry change and its technological, societal, animistic or ritualistic possibilities. “As carriers of different processes and offerings, the curators have cultivated their projects together and apart, allowing room for listening, mutual support and the sharing of resources.”

SB16 runs to 15 June. Here’s the opening programme:

6 February

10an-10.20am Official Opening Al Mureijah Square 

Welcome remarks by Sheikha Hoor Al Qasimi, President and Director of Sharjah Art Foundation, followed by an introduction to Sharjah Biennial 16 by the curators

10.20am-12pm

Tour: Galleries 1–6 and heritage houses Al Mureijah Square
Performance/Activation: Michael Parekōwhai Gallery 3
Performance/Activation: John Clang Bait Hussein Makrani
Activation: Jorge González Santos Bait Haider Abadi

12.30pm–1.30pm

Tour: Calligraphy Square

1 pm–1.30 pm

Performance: Reetu Sattar Calligraphy Museum

1.45 pm–2.15 pm

Tour: Bank Street Building

2.30pm-3.30pm

Lunch Bait Obaid Al Shamsi

3.30pm-5.30pm

Tour: Arts Square Bait Al Serkal, Majlis, Bait Obaid Al Shamsi, Sharjah Art Museum

3.30pm–4.00pm

Performance. Sancintya Mohini Simpson Bait Obaid Al Shamsi

4.00pm–4.30pm

Performance. Rully Shabara  Arts Square

4.45pm–5.30pm

Performance. Mila Turajlić Collections Building

7 February

9am-10am The Flying Saucer / Al Madam / Al Dhaid

Tour:  Flying Saucer

11.30am–12.30pm

Tour. Al Madam Buried Village Al Madam

1.30pm–3.00pm

Lunch Old Al Dhaid Clinic

3.00pm–5.30pm

Tour. Al Dhaid venues Old Al Dhaid Clinic, Arts Palace and Farm

3.30pm–4.00pm

Performance. Luana Vitra Old Al Dhaid Clinic

4.30pm–5.00pm

Performance. Joe Namy Arts Palace and Farm, Al Dhaid

8 February

10.00am–1.00pm

Tour: Al Hamriyah Al Hamriyah Studios, Old Al Diwan Alamiri

12.00pm–1.00pm

Lunch Old Al Diwan Alamiri

2.00pm–3.30pm

Tour. Old Al Jubail Vegetable Market

3.00pm–3.30pm

Performance. Ellen Pau Old Al Jubail Vegetable Market

4.00pm–7.00pm

Tour. Al Qasimiyah School

4.30pm–6.00pm

Performance. Bilna’es Al Qasimiyah School

8.00pm–9.00pm

Film. Roy Samaha Mirage City Cinema, Al Mureijah Square

9 February

10.00am–12.00pm

Tour. Kalba Ice Factory

10.30am–11.00am

Performance: Septina Layan Kalba Ice Factory

12.00pm–1.30pm

Lunch: Fen Café & Restaurant, Kalba Ice Factory

3.00pm–4.00pm

Tour: Buhais Geology Park

5.00pm–6.00pm

Tour. House of Wisdom, Sharjah

7.00pm–8.00pm

Performance. Tishani Doshi Sharjah Performing Arts Academy

Some performances are seated and spaces may be limited. Check the programme – you may be need to preregister separately.