SHARJAH, 25th April, 2017 (WAM) -- The Sharjah Art Foundation has announced the details of the second Sharjah Biennial 13: Tamawuj, SB13. Taking place in various locations across Istanbul, 'Bahar', or Spring, is the second of four SB13 off-site projects centred around the keywords water, crops, earth and culinary.
SB13 curator Christine Tohme has invited Zeynep Oz to be the interlocutor who researches and dialogues with the keyword crops. Oz has conceived and organised a programme of commissioned exhibitions and performances to be presented from 13th May to 10th June 2017, which coincide with Turkeys Hidirellez festival, a celebration of the arrival of spring and revival of nature. Ozs intervention follows the life cycle of seeds, exploring questions of dormancy and latency as well as states of pauses in our lives and sleep, and connects this cycle to a wider examination of the psychological, institutional and cultural. Seed dormancy, when seeds remain inert due to unsuitable germination conditions, is defined as arrested growth, a temporary halt, a state of rest and a period of waiting. A vital mechanism for enhancing the probability of survival, dormancy ensures the temporal and spatial dispersal of seeds as they wait for their turn to awake. Inspired by the crucial significance of timing in the processes of seed dormancy, Bahar explores the suspension of activity and the different stages and implications of sleep. The question of whether seeds will remain dormant or people inactive, or whether a source of energy will spur growth or awaken the development process is critical. Taking place from January 2016 to January 2018, Sharjah Biennial 13: Tamawuj encompasses exhibitions, projects and educational programmes in five locations, expanding the biennial structure across space and time. Curated by Christine Tohme, tamawuj is an Arabic word that suggests the rising and falling of waves, a flowing, swelling, surging or fluctuation, or a wavy, undulating appearance, outline or form. Tamawuj also seeks to mobilise ongoing conversations. Four interlocutors in as many cities organise projects around keywords that are integral to SB13s conceptual framework. Kader Attia investigated water in Dakar in January 2017, Zeynep Oz considers crops in Istanbul on 13th May, Lara Khaldi will study earth in Ramallah on 10th August, and Ashkal Alwan is to reflect on the culinary in Beirut on 15th October 2017.Copyright Emirates News Agency (WAM) 2017.
