Sharjah Biennial 2007
04 Apr - 04 Jun 2007
8th Sharjah Biennial
Still Life
Art, Ecology and the Politics of Change
4 April - 4 June 2007
Director:
Hoor Al Qasimi
Artistic director:
Jack Persekian
Curators:
Mohammed Kazem
Eva Scharrer
Jonathan Watkins
Still Life
Art, Ecology and the Politics of Change
The 8th Sharjah Biennial is the third edition directed by Hoor Al Qasimi. In 2002 she was able to assert essential changes in the concept of the Biennial, which exists since 1993. For the second time, she works together with Jack Persekian as artistic director. The curatorial team presently supporting them includes the Dubai based artist Mohammed Kazem, who participated in several previous Sharjah Biennials, the Swiss curator and critic Eva Scharrer as well as Jonathan Watkins, who since 1999 is the art director of the Ikon Gallery, Birmingham, Great Britain.
This year’s theme is by far not a novel one, but en vogue again. The organizers propose to view "art as a way of creating a better understanding about our relationship with nature and the environment, whilst considering its social, political and cultural dimensions in an interdisciplinary way." Furthermore, the official communiqués state that this position is not a judgmental exercise on how people ought to live, but a general statement of concern in "the light of contemporary culture" in its broadest sense. The 8th Sharjah Biennial aims to be both a "celebration of the natural world and a response to the countless alarms being set off as a result of human thoughtlessness." Simultaneously, one is aware of the fact that one is part of the problem – as a participant of the consumer society and of the global art jet-setting community, as well as by conducting the Biennial in a country with an enormous energy consumption.
Artists:
Ignasi Aballi
Lida Abdul
Jennifer Allora &
Guillermo Calzadilla
Lara Almárcegui
El Anatsui
Roy Arden
Vladimir Arkhipov
Mireille Astore
Lara Baladi
Noor Al-Bastaki
Taysir Batniji
Marjolijn Dijkman
Muratbek Djumaliev &
Gulnara Kasmalieva
Bright Ugochukwu Eke
Sophie Elbaz
E-xplo
Touhami Ennadre
Mounir Fatmi
Peter Fend
Franz Gertsch
Abdulnasser Gharem
Simryn Gill
Tue Greenfort
Group Tuesday
Graham Gussin
Khaled Hafez
Henrik Håkansson
Annie Anawana Haloba
Mona Hatoum
Susan Hefuna
Uschi Huber
Mohammed Ahmed Ibrahim
Alfredo Jaar
Marya Kazoun
Amal Kenawy
Leopold Kessler
Suchan Kinoshita
Joachim Koester
Christina Kubisch
Mierle Laderman Ukeles
Deborah Ligorio
Claudia Losi
Lutz & Guggisberg
Abdul Rahman Al Ma'aini
Tea Mäkipää
Hassan Meer
Gustav Metzger
Mind Bomb
Abdul Rahman Al Ma'aini
Maha Mustafa
Jesús "Bubu" Negrón
Jacques Nimki
Cornelia Parker
Pablo Patrucco
Dan Perjovschi
Dan Peterman
Marjetica Potrc
Michael Rakowitz
Noguchi Rika
Budoor Al Riyami
Raeda Saadeh
Abdullah Al Saadi
Huda Saeed Saif
Michael Sailstorfer
Tomás Saraceno
Zineb Sedira
Anas Al-Shaikh
Ranjani Shettar
SOI Project
Samir Srouji
Simon Starling
Gerda Steiner &
Jörg Lenzlinger
Rirkrit Tiravanija
Sergio Vega
Luca Vitone
Shatha Al-Wadi
Camille Zakharia
Ahmed Mater Al-Ziad
Still Life
Art, Ecology and the Politics of Change
4 April - 4 June 2007
Director:
Hoor Al Qasimi
Artistic director:
Jack Persekian
Curators:
Mohammed Kazem
Eva Scharrer
Jonathan Watkins
Still Life
Art, Ecology and the Politics of Change
The 8th Sharjah Biennial is the third edition directed by Hoor Al Qasimi. In 2002 she was able to assert essential changes in the concept of the Biennial, which exists since 1993. For the second time, she works together with Jack Persekian as artistic director. The curatorial team presently supporting them includes the Dubai based artist Mohammed Kazem, who participated in several previous Sharjah Biennials, the Swiss curator and critic Eva Scharrer as well as Jonathan Watkins, who since 1999 is the art director of the Ikon Gallery, Birmingham, Great Britain.
This year’s theme is by far not a novel one, but en vogue again. The organizers propose to view "art as a way of creating a better understanding about our relationship with nature and the environment, whilst considering its social, political and cultural dimensions in an interdisciplinary way." Furthermore, the official communiqués state that this position is not a judgmental exercise on how people ought to live, but a general statement of concern in "the light of contemporary culture" in its broadest sense. The 8th Sharjah Biennial aims to be both a "celebration of the natural world and a response to the countless alarms being set off as a result of human thoughtlessness." Simultaneously, one is aware of the fact that one is part of the problem – as a participant of the consumer society and of the global art jet-setting community, as well as by conducting the Biennial in a country with an enormous energy consumption.
Artists:
Ignasi Aballi
Lida Abdul
Jennifer Allora &
Guillermo Calzadilla
Lara Almárcegui
El Anatsui
Roy Arden
Vladimir Arkhipov
Mireille Astore
Lara Baladi
Noor Al-Bastaki
Taysir Batniji
Marjolijn Dijkman
Muratbek Djumaliev &
Gulnara Kasmalieva
Bright Ugochukwu Eke
Sophie Elbaz
E-xplo
Touhami Ennadre
Mounir Fatmi
Peter Fend
Franz Gertsch
Abdulnasser Gharem
Simryn Gill
Tue Greenfort
Group Tuesday
Graham Gussin
Khaled Hafez
Henrik Håkansson
Annie Anawana Haloba
Mona Hatoum
Susan Hefuna
Uschi Huber
Mohammed Ahmed Ibrahim
Alfredo Jaar
Marya Kazoun
Amal Kenawy
Leopold Kessler
Suchan Kinoshita
Joachim Koester
Christina Kubisch
Mierle Laderman Ukeles
Deborah Ligorio
Claudia Losi
Lutz & Guggisberg
Abdul Rahman Al Ma'aini
Tea Mäkipää
Hassan Meer
Gustav Metzger
Mind Bomb
Abdul Rahman Al Ma'aini
Maha Mustafa
Jesús "Bubu" Negrón
Jacques Nimki
Cornelia Parker
Pablo Patrucco
Dan Perjovschi
Dan Peterman
Marjetica Potrc
Michael Rakowitz
Noguchi Rika
Budoor Al Riyami
Raeda Saadeh
Abdullah Al Saadi
Huda Saeed Saif
Michael Sailstorfer
Tomás Saraceno
Zineb Sedira
Anas Al-Shaikh
Ranjani Shettar
SOI Project
Samir Srouji
Simon Starling
Gerda Steiner &
Jörg Lenzlinger
Rirkrit Tiravanija
Sergio Vega
Luca Vitone
Shatha Al-Wadi
Camille Zakharia
Ahmed Mater Al-Ziad