Sharjah Biennial 2025 dates, artists and theme revealed

Art festival will explore relationship with time, culture and migration and feature works by more than 140 participants

Sharjah Biennial is set to return in February and will run until June. Photo: Sharjah Art Foundation

"What do we carry when it is time to travel, flee or move on?" It is a question Sharjah Biennial will put front and centre when it returns next year.

The art festival will delve into the theme of "To Carry", which aims to look at what people treasure most, how they approach new environments and what cultural traditions anchor them when adapting.

“The theme also signifies a bridge between multiple temporalities, encompassing intergenerational stories and various modes of inheritance," says Sharjah Art Foundation, which organises the festival. "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?"

Set to run from February 6 to June 15, more than 80 new commissions will have their premiere, including works by more than 140 participants. The full programme will be revealed closer to the date.

Regional artists from various fields will also showcase their works, with some producing new commissions specifically for the biennial.

This includes Emirati multi-disciplinary artist Hashel Al Lamki, who will present new work. He often unpacks the relationship between people and their immediate environment, whether it's the landscape or urban surroundings. Influenced by the nature of Al Ain, particularly Jebel Hafeet, Al Lamki looks at the contrasts and connections between rugged terrains in comparison to industrial and architectural growth in the UAE.

Renowned Lebanese filmmaker, photographer and archival artist Akram Zaatari will also be showing his work. Zaatari’s practice is largely based on collecting, studying and archiving the photographic history of the Arab world and has a particular interest in post-war Lebanon.

Also set to showcase works is Kuwaiti visual artist Monira Al Qadiri, whose explorations of the narrative of oil in the Gulf have made her work timeless and approachable from an aesthetic perspective. Her larger-than-life sculptures are bold, colourful and contemporary. From delicate flower-like sculptures to floating shapes based on molecules, her work makes powerful statements.

The works will be displayed around the emirate including Sharjah City, Al Hamriyah, Al Dhaid, Kalba and Al Madam. It will be curated by an all-female panel comprising Indonesia's Ali Swastika, Bahraini-Singaporean Bahraini-Egyptian artist Amal Khalaf, New Zealand artist Megan Tamati-Quennell, Sri Lankan art curator Natasha Ginwala and Turkish curator Zeynep Oz.

Sharjah Art Foundation president Sheikha Hoor Al Qasimi said the eclectic nature of the curators should ensure a dynamic programme at the biennial.

“The constellation of diverse methodologies that the five curators have gathered offers audiences the opportunity to engage in thought-provoking dialogues bridging the local context with global narratives about identity, movement, change and collectivity," she said.

“Sharjah Biennial 16 offers a space for imagining new collective futures while recognising the weight of shared histories and experiences."