Now in its 11th year, The Sharjah Art Foundation (SAF) presents Re:emerge, this years curatorial concept of the Sharjah Art Biennale (SB11). Re:emerge explores the notion of the courtyard in Islamic Architecture- and particularly the historical courtyards of Sharjah- as grounds where public and private life overlap, where knowledge and ideals are discussed and debated, where the political world and subjective space intersect.

Ahmed Mater, Golden Hour, Desert of Pharan series. Image courtesy of the artist

Greatly inspired by the concept of the courtyard, this year’s SB11 curator, Yuko Hasegawa, Chief Curator of the Museum of Contemporary Art, Tokyo (MOT), proposed a new ‘cultural cartography’, one that reconsiders the relationship between the Arab world, Asia, the Far East, North Africa and Latin America. Hasegawa introduces artists and practices that reflect the essence of the SB11, selecting 37 artists for site-specific commissions as well as 100 participating artists, including Burak Arikan, Tony Chakar, Thomas Demand, Mohamed Ali Fadlabi, Valia Fetisov, Simon Fujiwara, Carsten Höller, Gabriel Lester, Pedro Reyes, Shahzia Sikander and Liu Wei.

Francis Alÿs, Don’t Cross the Bridge before you get to the River, Strait of Gibraltar, 2008, Video andphotographic documentation of an action, Photo: Roberto Rubalcava

The resulting Biennale is a discourse on the complexity and diversity of culture and society; spatial and political relations; notions of new forms of contact, dialogue and exchange and finally, new ways of presenting knowledge, thought and feeling through art and architectural practices.

The opening of SB11 on March 13th 2013, also marked the inauguration of the Sharjah Art Foundation’s (SAF) five new multi-functional art spaces in the Sharjah Heritage Area which have been in development since 2009. With approximately 20,000 square feet of interior space connected by open-air courtyards and rooftop terraces, these new spaces will provide venues for SAF’s growing activities and will aim to fulfill the increasing needs of Sharjah’s community.

Angelica Mesiti, Citizens Band, 2012, Four-channel Video Installation, 16:9, colour, sound, 21 minutes 25seconds, Production Stills. photography: Bonnie Elliott, courtesy of the artist and Anna Schwartz Gallery

The week of 13th-17th March 2013 also includes performances, films, lectures, the annual March Meeting, a symposium featuring thematic sessions and moderated panel discussions that contextualize the concept of SB11.

Curated by Thai filmmaker Apichatpong Weerasethakul, the film programme features programming by leading figures in the film industry, including Steve Anker, Dean of the School of Film/Video at California Institute of the Arts (CalArts), Los Angeles; Khavn De La Cruz, Poet, Pianist, Filmmaker, Mondomanila, the Philippines; Ali Jaafar, Executive Director, Independent Film Division, Quinta Communications, London; Mehelli Modi, Founder of Second Run DVD, London; Alcino Leite Neto, Editor, Sao Paulo; Jean-Pierre Rehm, Theorist, Festival director, FIDMarseille, Paris; Tilda Swinton, Scotland; and Apichatpong Weerasethakul, Film Director/ Producer, Chiang Mai, Thailand.

The programme includes evening screenings in an outdoor cinema in SAF’s new art spaces for commissioned films, existing productions, and curated film programmes.

International and regional artists will be featured in a series of music and performance events that will take place throughout SB11. As part of this programme, Lebanese sound artist Tarek Atoui will orchestrate a series of new commissions by more than ten international musicians, including percussionists who will perform on the rooftops of SAF’s art spaces, and an SB11 commissioned solo performance by Egyptian artist Hassan Khan during the opening week. Later events include a Skype-based dance performance by Tunisian dancer and choreographer duo Selma and Sofiane Ouissi and an audiovisual concert by Japanese sound artist Ryoji Ikeda in April.

-Yasmin Sharabi