Renowned Art festival in the Arab world

UAE, March 20, 2007: The Sharjah Biennial 8 (SB8), one of the most prominent art events in the Arab world, inaugurates on April 4th, 2007 in Sharjah, United Arab Emirates (UAE), with the theme of Still Life: Art, Ecology and the Politics of Change.

The Biennial's programme includes exhibitions, performances, a film programme, 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 Biennial's Director, Jack Persekian, stated: "There are a number of exciting new works at SB8, all of which are accessible to the public. The ecological theme is a timely one for us in the Emirates, where our lives and surroundings change yearly, daily and even hourly. The sheer diversity and the amazing calibre of the artists we have selected means that there is something for everyone who attends, which is what the Biennial, and indeed art itself, is for: a community event that is meant to inspire fruitful dialogue on important themes."

The Biennial's new commissions include works by artists like Marjetica Potrc and Steiner/Lenzlinger, who address the vital need for fresh drinking water. 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, which will be filled with their exhaust fumes. 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.

-Ends-

Notes to Editors
Initiated in 1993, the Sharjah Biennial is produced by the Department of Culture and Information of the Emirate of Sharjah, United Arab Emirates. It occupies a key position in the region in 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. It seeks to promote cross-cultural exchange whilst fostering experimentation.

SB8 Programme

3 April, 2007: Press Preview

4 April, 2007: VIP Opening

5 - 7 April, 2007: Symposium at Expo Centre, Sharjah

3 - 7 April 2007: Artists' Performances

From 5 April - 4 June: Film Programme at Qanat Al Qasba

From 5 April - 4 June 2007:Exhibitions Opening Hours:

Saturday to Thursday: 9am to 9pm

Friday: 3pm - 9pm                                                           

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 H?kansson; 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 M?kip??; Hassan Meer; Gustav Metzger; MindBomb; Abdul Rahman Al Ma'aini; Maha Mustafa; Jesus Bubu Negron; Jacques Nimki; Cornelia Parker; Pablo Patrucco; Dan Perjovschi; Dan Peterman; Marjetica Potrc; Michael Rakowitz; 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 & J?rg Lenzlinger ; Rirkrit Tiravanija; Mierle Laderman Ukeles; Sergio Vega; Luca Vitone; Shatha Al-Wadi; Camille Zakharia; Ahmed Mater Al-Ziad

Sharjah Biennial 8 Catalogue
Edited by Serene Huleileh, contributors include: Munir Fasheh, Manish Jain, Francesco Manacorda, Akiko Miki, Trevor Smith and Raimar Stange. The Catalogue will consist of two books; the first will be published for the time of the opening and the second will document the Biennial and be published after the Biennial closes in June 2007. 

Biographies
Director: Hoor Al Qasimi - Co-curator of 'NEAR' - 1998, with Derek Ogbourne and Peter Lewis and Co-curator of 'Andy Warhol' - 2002, with Brigitte Schenk from Brigitte Schenk Gallery, Cologne, both at Sharjah Art Museum. Director and Co-curator of 'Sharjah Biennial 6' with Peter Lewis - 2003. Director of 'Sharjah Biennial 7' - 2005. Tutor of Painting and Drawing at Sharjah Fine Art Centre - 1997. Studied Fine Art at Slade School of Fine Art, London and is currently completing an MA in Curating Contemporary Art at the Royal College of Art, London.

Artistic Director: Jack Persekian - Curator and Producer, Founding Director of Anadiel Gallery and, the Al-Ma'mal Foundation for Contemporary Art in Jerusalem. Head curator of Sharjah Biennial 7 (2005). Recent curated exhibitions include: Reconsidering Palestinian Art, Fundacion Antonio Perez, Cuenca, Spain (2006); Disorientation - Contemporary Arab Artists from the Middle East, Haus der Kulturen der Welt, Berlin (2003); in weiter ferne, so nah, neue palastinensische kunst, Ifa Galleries in Bonn, Stuttgart and Berlin (2002); Official Palestinian Representation to the XXIV Biennale de Sao Paulo. Additional productions and directing include: The Palestinian Cultural Evening at the World Economic Forum in the Dead Sea, Jordan (2004), The Geneva Initiative, Public Commitment Event (2003), the Millennium Celebrations in Bethlehem - Bethlehem 2000. Short films and video works: ' A Ball and a Coloring Box', ' my son', 'the last 5 short films of the millennium' and ' the first 4 short films of the millennium' in collaboration with Palestinian filmmakers. 

Curators

Mohammed Kazem
A native of Dubai, UAE Mohammed Kazem has been a member of the Emirates Fine Arts Society in Sharjah since 1985, and has participated in the 7th Sharjah Biennial, the 1st Singapore Biennal, the 7th Havana Biennial, and the 1st Bangladesh Biennial and has exhibited internationally. Kazem curated the Emirates Fine Art Society Exhibition, concurrent with the Sharjah International Biennial, Sharjah Art Museum (2005). He also curated WINDOW Exhibition (16 UAE Artist), Total Arts Gallery, Dubai (2006). Kazem has taught painting at Art Atelier in the Youth Theatre and Arts in Dubai since 1999.

Eva Scharrer
Independent art historian, curator and critic, currently based in Basel, Switzerland. Scharrer has curated at P.S.1 Contemporary Art Center, New York; Kunstverein Freiburg; and Kunsthaus Baselland, Muttenz/Basel. Exhibition projects include international group shows such as "Submerge. New art from New York" at Kunstbunker Nurenberg (curator); and "Insideout. 5th Festival of Young Art: Berlin - Prague - New York" at Bunker Reinhardtstrasse , Berlin (co-curator). She is a regular contributor to Artforum International and Artforum.com, New York; Kunst-Bulletin, Zurich; C Magazine, Toronto; Neue Review, Berlin; Regioartline.org, Freiburg/Basel; and BAZ, the Basel daily newspaper.

Jonathan Watkins
Jonathan Watkins has been Director of Ikon Gallery Birmingham since 1999. Previously he worked for a number of years in London, as Curator of the Serpentine Gallery (1995-1997) and Director of Chisenhale Gallery (1990-1995). Jonathan Watkins was Artistic Director of the Biennale of Sydney 1998. He was guest curator for Quotidiana, Castello di Rivoli, Turin (1999-2000), Europarte La Biennale di Venezia (June 1997), Milano Europa 2000, Palazzo di Triennale, Milan (November 2000), Facts of Life, an exhibition of contemporary Japanese art at the Hayward Gallery, (London Autumn 2001), and Days Like These, the Tate Triennial exhibition of contemporary British art (London 2003). He was part of the curatorial team of the Shanghai Biennale (September 2006). Jonathan Watkins has written extensively on contemporary art, and is the author of a Phaidon monograph on the Japanese artist On Kawara.

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© Press Release 2007