The Sharjah Biennial 8 (SB8), inaugurates on April 4th, 2007.

Sharjah Biennial 8

The Sharjah Biennial 8 (SB8), inaugurates on April 4th, 2007 in Sharjah,
United Arab Emirates (UAE).The Biennial‚s theme proposes art as a way of
creating a better understanding about our relationship with nature and the
environment, whilst considering its social, political, cultural and
subjective dimensions in an interdisciplinary way. SB8 will focus on the
renewed role of art in addressing a wide range of issues that alarmingly
affect human existence on earth. The Biennial is aware of the critical
ambiguity of its subject matter, and of the fact that it is part of the
product-producing and -consuming society, and of the constantly growing
tribe of biennials, that year after year, encourage a number of artists,
curators, audiences and artworks to travel around the globe. Still, SB8
needs to be critical and will attempt to implicate all sectors of society
into questioning our social, political, and ecological praxis.

The Biennial‚s programme includes exhibitions, performances, a film
programme curated by Mark Nash and a symposium organised in collaboration
with the American University of Sharjah, RSA (London) and curatorial
practice Latitudes (Barcelona). The entire city of Sharjah is being offered
to more than 80 international artists for the creation of new site-specific
work. Exhibitions, performances and events will take place across a wide
range of venues including the Sharjah Art Museum, the Expo Centre, the
Heritage Area of Sharjah, and several outdoor urban and natural sites. The
Sharjah Biennial Art Prizes will be awarded to two winning artists by a jury
composed of Negar Azimi, Charles Esche and Geeta Kapur. Furthermore, UNESCO
will award their Prize for the Promotion of the Arts the Young Digital
Creator Award, in collaboration with the Sharjah Biennial 8.

Participating Artists
Ignasi Aballi; Lida Abdul; Jennifer Allora Guillermo Calzadilla; Lara
Almarcegui; El Anatsui; Roy Arden; Vladimir Arkhipov; Mireille Astore; Lara
Baladi; Noor Al-Bastaki; Taysir Batniji; Marjolijn Dijkman; Bright Ugochukwu
Eke; Sophie Elbaz; e-Xplo (Rene Gabri, Heimo Lattner, Erin McGonigle ) with
Ayreen Anastas; Touhami Ennadre; Mounir Fatmi; Peter Fend; Franz Gertsch;
Abdulnasser Gharem; Simryn Gill; Tue Greenfort; Group Tuesday (Fadi
Abdallah, Bilal Khbeiz, Walid Sadek); Graham Gussin; Khaled Hafez; Henrik
Hakansson; Anawana Haloba; Ilana Halperin; Mona Hatoum; Susan Hefuna; Uschi
Huber; Mohamed Ahmed Ibrahim; Alfredo Jaar; Gulnara Kasmalieva and Muratbek
Djumaliev; Marya Kazoun; Amal Kenawy; Leopold Kessler; Suchan Kinoshita;
Joachim Koester; Christina Kubisch; Deborah Ligorio; Claudia Losi; Lutz
Guggisberg; Tea Makipaa; Hassan Meer; Gustav Metzger; MindBomb; Abdul Rahman
Al Ma'aini; Maha Mustafa; Jesus Bubu Negron; Jacques Nimki; OMA/ Rem
Koolhaas Reinier de Graaf; Cornelia Parker; Pablo Patrucco; Dan Perjovschi;
Dan Peterman; Marjetica Potrc; Michael Rakowitz; Ibrahim Rashid; Noguchi
Rika; Budoor Al Riyami; Raeda Saadeh; Abdallah Alsaadi; Huda Saeed Saif;
Michael Sailstorfer; Tomas Saraceno; Joe Scanlan; Zineb Sedira; Anas
Al-Shaikh; Ranjani Shettar; SOI Project; Samir Srouji; Simon Starling; Gerda
Steiner Jorg Lenzlinger; Rirkrit Tiravanija; Mierle Laderman Ukeles; Sergio
Vega; Luca Vitone; Shatha Al-Wadi; Camille Zakharia; Ahmed Mater Al-Ziad.

The Biennial‚s commissions include works by artists like Lara Almarcegui,
Michael Rakowitz and Joachim Koester, who assess the need for archiving and
annotating information and facts by recalling landscapes, structures and
national treasures. Others, such as Marjetica Potrc and Steiner/Lenzlinger
address the vital need for fresh drinking water, and Kessler examines the
gross manifestation of greed and the perversion of need, in his film work of
the Hydropolis underwater restaurant. New commissions will also include the
first realisation of the monumental, 1972 installation proposal by Gustav
Metzger, where 120 cars are arranged around a cubic glass case and their
exhaust fumes made to fill the transparent cube. Artists such as Ranjani
Shettar and Luca Vitone have chosen to develop works for the Heritage Area,
which is a complex of restored historic, low-rise buildings in the
traditional architecture of the Emirates.

The Biennial‚s Symposium forms itself around five key panel discussions,
including presentations and workshops. Discussions will tackle the following
topics: The sense of OEeco‚ in the practice of the everyday. Can design and
architecture be a political act? How far are recycled and sustainable
materials a consideration for artists? What is more important, the issues or
the art? And finally, what is the future of the city as a habitat for
humanity? The Symposium will include a new video interview with Noam Chomsky
by Cornelia Parker, and speakers include Rula Sadik (General Manager, The
Design Group, Nakheel, Dubai), Samer Kamal (founder of Bee‚ah, the Sharjah
Environmental Company), and Stephanie Smith (Director of Collections and
Exhibitions, Curator of Contemporary Art, Smart Museum of Art, University of
Chicago), alongside other international experts, and members of the artistic
and directorial teams of the Biennial.

Curated by Mark Nash, the Film Programme includes Andre Zdravic‚s
OERiverglass ˆ A River Ballet in Four Seasons‚ ˆ an underwater narrative
tracing the path and seasons of a river in Slovenia which has come to
represent nationalism and purity; Hubert Sauper‚s OEDarwins Nightmare‚ - a
starkly juxtaposed foray into the potential ecological disaster zone of Lake
Victoria, and the surrounding inhabitants‚ ebbs and flow to the area, and
Oki Hiroyoki‚s OEThe Form of the Palace of Matsumae-kun‚s Brothers 1‚ - a
nostalgic look into communities, through Hiroyoko‚s video diaries since
1989, alluding to the changes we must all make with regards to our
ecological imprints.

SB8 Programme

3 April, 2007: Press Preview
4 April, 2007: VIP Opening
5 6 April, 2007: Symposium at Expo Centre, Sharjah

From 5 April ˆ 4 June 2007:
Exhibitions Opening Hours:
Saturday to Thursday: 9am to 9pm
Friday: 3pm ˆ 9pm

Schedule to be confirmed: Film Programme
Artists‚ Performances

About the Sharjah Biennial

Initiated in 1993, under the patronage of H. H. Dr. Sheikh Sultan Bin
Mohammad Al Qasimi, Member of the Supreme Council and Ruler of Sharjah, the
Sharjah Biennial is organised by the Department of Culture and Information
of the Emirate of Sharjah, United Arab Emirates. It occupies a key position
in the region for the production and presentation of art and is an active
player in the international art arena. The Biennial strives to encourage
dialogue between artists, art institutions and organisations locally,
regionally and internationally, and seeks to promote cross-cultural exchange
whilst fostering experimentation and the production of site-specific work
for Sharjah.

Director: Hoor Al Qasimi
Artistic Director: Jack Persekian
Curators: Mohammed Kazem, Eva Scharrer, Jonathan Watkins

For additional information contact:
Mahita El Bacha Urieta, Biennial Coordinator:
[email protected] - M. + 971 504 8255

DIRECTOR: Hoor Al Qasimi - ARTISTIC DIRECTOR: Jack Persekian
CURATORS: Mohammed Kazem, Eva Scharrer, Jonathan Watkins

<http://www.sharjahbiennial.org>