The Sharjah Art Foundation has named over 150 artists hailing from more than 70 countries that will participate in its highly anticipated 2023 Sharjah Biennial, which was conceived by the late curator Okwui Enwezor and curated by the organization’s director Hoor Al Qasimi.
The exhibition, titled “Thinking Historically in the Present,” will run from February 7–June 11, 2023 at some 16 venues across Sharjah, including “a vegetable market, power station, and former kindergarten,” according to a press release.
Almost a year ago, the Sharjah Biennial announced that it would delay its 15th edition to 2023, citing “the relentless devastation of COVID-19 in many parts of the world, as well as the uneven access to vaccines and restrictions to travel still in place.” The exhibition had already been postponed a year from 2021 to 2022 when this announcement was made.
To mark its 30th anniversary, the biennial previously announced that it had commissioned 30 artists, per Enwezor’s original vision, to create new work for the exhibition, including John Akomfrah, María Magdalena Campos-Pons, Carolina Caycedo, Coco Fusco, Mona Hatoum, Lubaina Himid, Isaac Julien, Ibrahim Mahama, Kerry James Marshall, Steve McQueen, Wangechi Mutu, Philippe Parreno, Doris Salcedo, Yinka Shonibare, Nari Ward, and Carrie Mae Weems.
Outside these well-known names, the extensive artist list is largely devoid of international artists who regularly appear on the biennial circuit.
Among the closely watched artists slated to take part in the biennial are Basel Abbas and Ruanne Abou-Rahme, Farah Al Qasimi, Brook Andrew, Diedrick Brackens, Cao Fei, Theaster Gates, David Hammons, Emily Kame Kngwarreye, Joiri Minaya, Tracey Moffat, Okwui Okpokwasili, Umar Rashid, Wendy Red Star, Veronica Ryan, and Mary Sibande.
In a statement, Al Qasimi said, “Okwui saw Sharjah Biennial’s 30-year anniversary as an opportunity to reflect on the role that biennials serve in the ecosystem of contemporary art, particularly the Sharjah Biennial itself and the broader Foundation that grew from it. With gratitude to Okwui and the ambitious intellectual project he conceived, we are organising a Biennial that builds on and honours his vision to probe the past, present, and future role that biennials and institutions, including the Sharjah Biennial and the Foundation can serve.”
The current artist list, which is still in formation, follows below.
Basel Abbas and Ruanne Abou-Rahme
Maitha Abdalla
Fathi Afifi
Hoda Afshar
John Akomfrah
Jawad Al Malhi
Monira Al Qadiri
Farah Al Qasimi
Mounira Al Solh
Moza Almatrooshi
Marwah AlMugait
Hangama Amiri
Brook Andrew
Malala Andrialavidrazana
Rushdi Anwar
Kader Attia
Au Sow Yee
Dana Awartani
Omar Badsha
Natalie Ball
Sammy Baloji
Mirna Bamieh
Pablo Bartholomew and Richard Bartholomew
Shiraz Bayjoo
Bahar Behbahani
Asma Belhamar
Diedrick Brackens
Maria Magdalena Campos-Pons
Cao Fei
Carolina Caycedo
Ali Cherri
Wook-kyung Choi
Iftikhar Dadi and Elizabeth Dadi
Solmaz Daryani
Annalee Davis
Destiny Deacon
Manthia Diawara
Imane Djamil
Anju Dodiya
Kimathi Donkor
Heri Dono
Tania El Khoury
Nabil El Makhloufi
Rehab Eldalil
Ali Eyal
Brenda Fajardo
Raheleh Filsoofi
Nina Fischer and Maroan el Sani
Coco Fusco
Flavia Gandolfo
Theaster Gates
Gabriela Golder
Gabrielle Goliath
Yulia Grigoryants
Joana Hadjithomas and Khalil Joreige
Hassan Hajjaj
David Hammons
Archana Hande
Fathi Hassan
Mona Hatoum
Lubaina Himid
Laura Huertas Millán
Saodat Ismailova
Isaac Julien
Saddam Jumaily
Robyn Kahukiwa
Reena Saini Kallat
Hanni Kamaly
Amar Kanwar
Bouchra Khalili
Naiza Khan
Kiluanji Kia Henda
Ayoung Kim
Emily Kame Kngwarreye
Hiroji Kubota
Nusra Latif Qureshi
Lee Kai Chung
Ibrahim Mahama
Waheeda Malullah
Maharani Mancanagara
mandla
Lavanya Mani
Kerry James Marshall
Queenie McKenzie
Steve McQueen
Marisol Mendez
Almagul Menlibayeva
Helina Metaferia
Kimowan Metchewais
Meleanna Meyer
Joiri Minaya
Tahila Mintz
Roméo Mivekannin
Tracey Moffat
Aline Motta
Wangechi Mutu
Eubena Nampitjin
Dala Nasser
Pipo Nguyen-Duy
Mame-Diarra Niang
Shelley Niro
Thenjiwe Niki Nkosi
Elia Nurvista
Okwui Okpokwasili
Kambui Olujimi
Zohra Opoku
Erkan Özgen
Pak Khawateen Painting Club
Pushpakanthan Pakkiyarajah
Hyesoo Park
Philippe Parreno
Angela Ponce
Prajakta Potnis
Anita Pouchard Serra
Jasbir Puar and Dima Srouji
Michael Rakowitz
Umar Rashid
Wendy Red Star
Veronica Ryan
Doris Salcedo
Abdulrahim Salem
Sangeeta Sandrasegar
Varunika Saraf
Khadija Saye
Berni Searle
Mithu Sen
Nelly Sethna
Aziza Shadenova
Smita Sharma
Nilima Sheikh
Yinka Shonibare
Felix Shumba
Semsar Siahaan
Mary Sibande
Kahurangiariki Smith
Inuuteq Storch
Vivan Sundaram
Pamela Phatsimo Sunstrum
Obaid Suroor
The Living and the Dead Ensemble
Hank Willis Thomas
Akeim Toussaint Buck
Fatimah Tuggar
Hajra Waheed
Barbara Walker
Wang Jianwei
Nari Ward
Carrie Mae Weems
Nil Yalter