An Evening of Performances by Lebanese Artist Tarek Atoui

Sharjah, United Arab Emirates (UAE) March 18, 2012 — Sharjah Art Foundation announces the premiere of Revisiting Tarab, an evening of music conceived by Lebanese artist Tarek Atoui. More than 20 musicians will perform, along with Atoui throughout the evening in this event that will take place in an open-air courtyard of Calligraphy Square in the atmospheric Heritage Area of Sharjah. Revisiting Tarab is free and open to the public between 8:15 pm and 2:00 am on the evening of March 19, 2012.

Produced by Sharjah Art Foundation, this performance follows last autumn’s New York premiere of Atouiʼs Visiting Tarab as a Performa Commission with Sharjah Art Foundation. The performance was held on November 5, 2012 at SIR Stage 37 in New York City and was followed by more than 100 performances by acclaimed contemporary artists included in the three-week biennial.

In this new iteration commissioned by Sharjah Art Foundation, Revisiting Tarab will incorporate elements of the world’s largest collection of Classical Arab music as interpreted by 22 musicians and sound artists ranging in expertise from hip-hop to electronic and contemporary music.

This collection, part of AMAR Foundation archive, has been assembled by Lebanese collector Kamal Kassar, is comprised of old 78 rpm shellac discs and studio tapes dating between 1903 and 1950, largely covering the Arab renaissance period that began in the early 19th century. Used in Arab culture to describe the emotional effect of music, “Tarab” is also commonly associated with a traditional form of art music.

The word “Tarab” refers to an older repertoire rooted in the pre-World War I musical practice of Egypt and the East-Mediterranean Arab world, and is directly associated with emotional evocation. For his Sharjah Commission, Atoui invited the Revisiting Tarab musicians and sound artists from different origins and practices to Beirut to explore the world’s largest and most extensive collection of Classical Arab music.

Sharjah Art Foundation President Hoor Al-Qasimi explains, “It is such a pleasure to be working again with Tarek Atoui as he continues to explore this extensive library of classical Arab music in his new commission Revisiting Tarab. The open-air performances on the 19th of March will offer audiences in Sharjah and the UAE an opportunity to experience the traditions of Tarab and Arab music as interpreted by a wide range of international musicians and sound artists.”

Sound artist Tarek Atoui comments, “To me this project is about reviving a universal heritage and a golden era that the world – and especially the Arab world – seems to have forgotten about after the change and turmoil of the second half of the 20th century. Revisiting Tarab is about rediscovering a renaissance age with all its innovations and openness through the languages of sound, music and performance. As an artist, I feel lucky and privileged to have started a project that is going beyond my expectations and what I had imagined.”

Revisiting Tarab marks the start of the Sharjah Art Foundation’s new music education programme conceived with the help of Tarek Atoui. The programme aims to promote the understanding and practice of classical Arab music as well as innovative and abstract music forms such as hip hop, electronic, experimental and contemporary music. The programme will include lectures, seminars, workshops and performances involving local musicians, students, teenagers and children – with the aim of building a bridge between tradition and modernity.

Revisiting Tarab musicians include Tarek Atoui as well as Anti-Pop Consortium (Kyle Austin, Earl Blaize, M Sayyid), John Butcher, Zeena Parkins, Ikue Mori, Robert Lowe, Uriel Barthelemi, Elliott Sharp, Lukas Ligeti, Raz Mesinai, Sara Parkins, Kazuyuki Kishino, Takuro Mizuta Lippit, Susie Ibarra, Roberto Rodriguez, Mustafa Said, Mohammad Antar, Joss Turnball, Ghassan Sabbab, Raed Yassi.

Conceived as a series of performances, the audience is welcome any time between 8:15pm and 2:00am for this outdoor event in Calligraphy Square, Heritage Area, Heart of Sharjah.

The Abu Dhabi Tourism and Culture Authority, in collaboration with the Italian Embassy in the UAE, are organizing ‘Donne’, an art exhibition which depicts the Italian female perspective on art. The event will be held in the Exhibition Hall of the National Theatre in Abu Dhabi, from the 26th of March until the 1st of April, 2012.

A number of Italian women artists are taking part in the collective exhibition; namely Ivana Olympia Belloni, Brana, Lorella Cecchini, Laura Colantonio, Emanuela Furia, and Giovanna Magugliana.

“Donne” (Women in Italian) is an art exhibition that brings together these six Italian female artists, who are presenting their works for the first time in Abu Dhabi. Through the works of these artists, the Exhibition will takes us on an artistic journey shaped by their vision. Women paint women. Women emerge of a narrow scope to discover a wide array of artistic techniques.

Each artist, in this collective exhibition, leaves her mark that depicts her own journey in the kingdom of artistic expression. Through the works of these artists, women float on the surface of sharpness, strength, abstraction and cultural pluralism.

The organization of this art exhibition comes within the framework of the strategy of Abu Dhabi Tourism and Culture Authority, which aims at attracting various international art expressions, and providing an opportunity to art-lovers in Abu Dhabi to discover them. Such a strategy contributes to the exchange of experiences and the promotion of dialogue between the different cultures and civilizations.

Sharjah, United Arab Emirates (UAE), March 16, 2012 - Sharjah Art Foundation will present 1395 Days without Red, a cinematic project by Šejla Kamerić and Anri Sala, in collaboration with Ari Benjamin Meyers. Commissioned by the internationally-lauded UK based organization Artangel, 1395 Days without Red comprises two separate works made from material developed and filmed together in Sarajevo. This is the Middle East premiere of this film and Artangelʼs first project to be hosted in the region.

1395 Days without Red draws on the experience of the siege of Sarajevo between 1992 and 1996, and the trauma of the besieged citizens as they made their way through the city. The title refers to the fact that, during the siege, the Sarajevans were advised not to wear bright colors that might alert the snipers in the hills above to their movements.

The films will be screened on three separate occasions. On the evening of March 17, the screening will be held at 6:30 pm at the Sharjah Institute of Theatrical Arts, immediately following the close of the first day of Sharjah Art Foundation’s March Meeting. This evening will feature Anri Salaʼs version of the project and will be followed by a reception co-hosted by the British Council and attended by the artists and Artangel Co-Director James Lingwood.

On March 18, Šejla Kamerićʼs version of the film will be screened outdoors in the courtyard at Sharjahʼs Bait Al Shamsi House in the Arts Area, Sharjah. On March 25, both films will be screened together at the American University of Sharjah and will be followed by a panel discussion between artist Šejla Kamerić, AUS Professor Jack Swanstrom and University of Sharjah Professor Isak Berbic.

Sharjah Art Foundation has partnered with the UK-based non-profit, Artangel on the presentation of this project. For 20 years Artangel has been internationally recognized for its groundbreaking art commissions. This will be their first project to be presented in the Middle East. On March 17, Artangel Co-Director James Lingwood will give a presentation on the organization’s history of commissions, at 5:15pm as the closing presentation for the first day of the March Meeting.

The Sharjah screenings of this project are supported by British Council.

An Exhibition of a new Sharjah Art Foundation Residency Project by Basma Alsharif

Sharjah, United Arab Emirates (UAE), March 17, 2012 - Sharjah Art Foundation will present Farther Than The Eye Can See, a new work by Kuwait-born artist Basma Alsharif from March18 – May 18, 2012, in Bait Al Shamsi, Arts Area, Sharjah. The installation is commissioned by Sharjah Art Foundation and co-produced with the Arab Fund for Arts and Culture as part of Alsharifʼs 2011 artist residency at the Sharjah Art Foundation.

Over the course of 19 minutes, Farther Than The Eye Can See moves through various compositions that take place across a four channel video installation in a darkened room. While distancing us from events, characters and information, this video reflects on the impossibility of looking back while moving forward, and provides us with a physical experience of the information it presents.

Basma Alsharifʼs work explores how we relate to and internalize the geo-political shifts that occur within our lifetimes and those we carry with us from past generations. Experimenting with multiple media, in single channel works as well as video installations, she uses the anonymous individual as a vehicle for navigating through political history and collective memory

Alsharif is interested in how near and far away geo-political issues affect us physically or emotionally; how they can simultaneously affect us just as easily as we can disregard them.

Using visual codes that weave us through forests of a carefully selected range of materials, her aim is to decentralize place, content and medium. There is never one point of focus in her work but instead an attempt to create spaces where facts, numbers, photographs, songs and language become interchangeable and ultimately manifest as information to be experienced rather than understood.

Sharjah Art Foundation President Hoor Al-Qasmi stated: “It has been a great pleasure to work again with Basma Alsharif and to help her realize this new installation through our Artist Residency Programme. This is the second project Sharjah Art Foundation has commissioned from Basma the first, We Began by Measuring Distance, was shown in the 2009 Sharjah Biennial and was awarded the Jury Prize.”

Since 2007 Alsharif has worked between Chicago, Cairo, Amman, Beirut and Sharjah, developing works that attempt to reflect a multiplicity in vantage point and content. She has relied on the environments she lives in and experiences she has had to influence and drive these pieces. She looks at the unwritten language of how a landscape or urban environment functions: what defines and constitutes a place and how individuals relate to one another within and in relation to different places.

Dubai, UAE; March 16, 2012: His Highness Sheikh Majid Bin Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Chairman of the Dubai Culture & Arts Authority (Dubai Culture), inaugurated the second edition of SIKKA, the Authority’s dedicated contemporary artist-led fair of commissioned work, on March 15, 2012, at the historic Al Bastakiya.

To be held until March 25, SIKKA 2012 will run concurrently with Art Week, Dubai’s premier umbrella arts initiative. The fair has expanded its horizons this year to feature an entirely commissioned programme of new work by Emirati and local-based artists across the UAE, in addition to an open-studio exhibition from the Artists-in-Residence (A.i.R) Dubai.

Over the course of ten days, SIKKA 2012 will feature exclusive events including live music performances, screening of the best of Emirati films from the Gulf Film Festival, research areas, interactive food gatherings, and educational activities.

SIKKA in its second edition has a richer and more extensive programme, highlighting several art perspectives that reflect the shifts in perception on the arts industry in the city and the region.

Under SIKKA’s Educational Programme, the fair will host ‘Family Days,’ which take place on weekends, and offer a wide range of art and music classes that cater to children ranging from preschool to adolescents; while during weekdays, student visits are scheduled and specially tailored for secondary, high school, and university students, inviting them to engage critically and creatively with a selection of artworks showcased at SIKKA.

All visits and activities at SIKKA 2012 are open to the public. With limited seating, registration is free of charge. For more information, please contact education@sikkaartfair.ae or call 043417303.

For more information and the latest updates, please visit the SIKKA website, become a fan of SIKKA on Facebook and follow us on Twitter.

Sheikh Khalid bin Saqr Al Qassimi, Chairman of the Sharjah Department of Public Works, in presence of Sheikha Hoor bint Sultan Al Qasimi, President of the Sharjah Art Foundation, inaugurated Migrasophia, a curatorial exhibition being hosted at Maraya Art Centre in Sharjah in association with Emirates Integrated Telecommunications Co “du”, the main supporter of Maraya Art Centre. The exhibition will run until 19th of May.

The opening ceremony was attended by Mr. Ahmed Obaid Al Qaseer, Chief Operating Officer at Sharjah Investment and Development Authority “Shurooq”, Mr. Hisham Al Madhloum, Head of Art Directorate at the Department of Culture and Information in Sharjah, Mrs. Luma Jasim Brously, VP Corporate Communication at Du, Mrs. Humaida Al Khalsan, Corporate Social Responsibility Executive Commercial, Mr. Ibrahim Al Mayahi, Marketing Communication Manager at du, Mr. Hazem Sawaf, Shurooq’s Marketing and Communications Manager, Mr. Giuseppe Moscatello, Curator of Maraya Art Centre, Sara Raza, Curator of the exhibition and a number of directors, officials and special guests.

Migrasophia is an important curatorial art exhibition, which explores contemporary art practices from the post-Soviet terrain of Central Asia and the lesser known regions in and around the Caucasus and the Caspian.

The exhibition is an intentional reworked synthesis and appraisal works of 18 artists including collaborations and collectives, who are exploring migratory post-Soviet visual aesthetics and reflecting on the impact of globalisation on contemporary art, society and current thinking.

The first curatorial art exhibition to be staged in the UAE had a huge public attendance. Sheikh Khalid bin Saqr Al Qassimi, Chairman of the Department of Public Works expressed his admiration for the professionalism shown by the participating artists and stressed the importance of attracting such high quality exhibitions to the emirate of Sharjah.

Al Qaseer expressed Shurooq’s delight and pride to have such prestigious international event organized at Maraya Art Centre, an initiative of Sharjah Investment and Development Authority (Shurooq), saying that Maraya Art Centre always plays centre stage for creative experimentation and is a testament to the region’s extraordinary artistic genius, hosting a panorama of the region’s finest compositions

Mr. Giuseppe Moscatello, Curator of Maraya Art Centre, stressed the importance of Migrasophia on the regional and international levels, and said it has a unique theme and style which is new to the region. He added that the exhibition highlights art practices from the post-Soviet terrain of Central Asia and the lesser known regions.

Moscatello added: “It is a unique exhibition which looks at a region we don’t know much about, against a background and impact of globalisation on contemporary art, society and our current thinking.”

Sara Raza, Curator of the exhibition, said that Migrasophia is not a regional survey show of the post-Soviet sphere of Central Asia and its neighbouring regions of the Caspian and the Caucasus. She explained that it is instead a critical curatorial inquiry into the relationship between migration and philosophy, which has emerged from a series of engagements with art and post-Soviet philosophical writing of Azerbaijan born London based artist Zeigam Azizov.”

“In 2000 Azizov coined the term Migrasophia (migration + philosophy) as a conceptual and physical set of schemas, which consists of an artist’s manuscript, film narrative, posters and the ultimate migratory readymade a passport with a border control marked “denied” stamp emblazoned upon it like a scarlet letter. This important body of work created in pure quotidian reality reflected upon the policing and containment of borders and the notion of an always already omnipresent iron curtain that prohibits the migration or rather movement of people and ideas,” she added.

Featured artists include: Lida Abdul, Farhad Ahrarnia, Reza Aramesh, Said Atabekov, Zeigam Azizov, Babi Badalov, Sonia Balassanian, Ergin Cavusoglu, Gulnara Kasmalieva & Muratbek Djumaliev, Galim Madanov & Zauresh Terekbay, Taus Makhacheva, Erbossyn Meldibekov, Koka Ramishvilli, Diyor Razikov, Karen Sargasyn, Slavs and Tatars, Sophia Tabatadze and Yelena Vorobyeva & Viktor Vorobyev.

An Exhibition & Publication by Ziad Antar Featuring Photographs of the UAE Coastline

Sharjah, United Arab Emirates (UAE) March 14, 2012— Sharjah Art Foundation will presentPortrait of a Territory, a solo exhibition of new work by Lebanese photograper Ziad Antarfrom March 16 – May 16, 2012, in the Collections Building, Arts Area, Sharjah. Curated byChristine Macel, Chief Curator at Musée National DʼArt Moderne Centre Pompidou Paris, theexhibition features photographs of the UAE coastline that were taken between 2004 and 2011.

While Antar began by randomly photographing the coast, he later worked to systematicallydocument the coastline, Emirate by Emirate, completing the series as part of a Sharjah ArtFoundation Residency in 2011.

The resulting photographs portray the borders between each Emirate and the sea as a place of contact and engagement with the outside world. The work reveals traces of history drawn on the landscape as well as the recent past of these young countries that have been built upon trade and commerce.

Viewed in succession, these photographs tell the story of an economic boom and its hazards through views of monumental architectural structures and the abandoned worksites of unfinished construction projects. These images also offer a glimpse into the daily lives and activities of the middle class.

This exhibition consists of approximately 211 black and white and coloured. Installed along walls that wrap around the centre of the exhibition space, the photographs will be hung in a single line that is fractured and segmented, reflecting the physical geography of the United Arab Emirates.

Publication
Antarʼs publication Portrait of a Territory will be launched during the exhibition opening reception. Created as part of his Sharjah Art Foundation Artist Residency, this book includes 267 photographs, some from the exhibition in addition to others from the same series. Copublished by the prestigious French publishing house Actes Sud and Sharjah Art Foundation in French, English and Arabic, this 304 page book was designed by Marc Touitou with a text written by Christine Macel.

About the Artist: Ziad Antar
Lebanese photographer Ziad Antar uses photography and video in work where the artistʼs quiet and reflective stance reveals the social and political structures that influence daily life. Antar has been working with photography and video since 2002 when he directed his first documentary on the French photographer Jean-Luc Moulène. He has made several documentaries for the Arabic news channel Al-Arabiya. Antarʼs work has been shown in numerous exhibitions including; The Mediterranean Approach and The Future of a Promise, Venice, Italy (2011), Sharjah Biennial 10 (2011), the New Museum, New York (2009), the Cittadellarte, Pistoletto Foundation, Biella, Italy (2009), Sharjah Biennial 9 (2009), Tate Modern, London (2008), the Centre Pompidou, Paris (2006) La Cabane, Palais de Tokyo, Paris (2005) and the Taipei Biennial, Taiwan (2008). He was nominated for the Ukrainian Pinchuk Foundation’s Future Generation Prize in 2010. Ziad Antar was born in 1978 in Saida, Lebanon and now lives and works between Paris and Beirut.
About the Curator: Christine Macel
Christine Macel is the Chief Curator at Musée National DʼArt Moderne Centre Pompidou Paris since 2000. As director of the Department of Création Contemporaine and Prospective, she has curated many exhibitions including Dionysiac (2005), Airs De Paris with Daniel Birnbaum (2007), Philippe Parreno, Gabriel Orozco, The Promises of the Past with Joanna Mytkowska (2009) and Danser Sa Vie/ Art and dance in the 20th and 21st centuries with Emma Lavigne (2011-2012). She is currently working on a solo exhibition of Anri Sala scheduled to open on May 2, 2012 and a group exhibition with Navid Nuur, The image in the Sculpture opening in 2013.

She has also curated exhibitions outside the Pompidou such as John Bock (Frac PACA
Marseille, 2006), Erick Duyckaerts (Pavillon belge Biennale de Venise, 2007) and was an advisor for Based in Berlin (2011). As an art critic she has written extensively for publications including Artforum, Flash Art, ArtPress and has been the editor of many catalogues. In 2008 she published an essay on contemporary art called Time Taken (The time at work in the work of art) (Monografik/Centre Pompidou).

Sharjah Art Foundation March Programme
The opening of Ziad Antarʼs exhibition will be the inaugural event of Sharjah Art Foundationʼs annual March Meeting: Working with Artists and Audiences on Commissions and Residencies. Taking place from March 17 - 19, 2012, March Meeting is an annual gathering of artists, art professionals and institutions concerned with the production and dissemination of art in the region and internationally.

SCHEDULE OF MARCH EVENTS:
March 8 – What should I do to live in your life? An exhibition that introduces work by seven artists, all strangers to
Sharjah, into a space that was originally a family home
March 16 – Ziad Antarʼs exhibition and book launch Portrait of a Territory
March 17 – Screening of 1395 Days Without Red an Artangel commission by Šejla Kamerić
and Anri Sala in collaboration with Ari Benjamin Meyers
March 18 – Basma Alsharifʼs exhibition Farther Than the Eye Can See
March 19 – Revisiting Tarab an Evening of Music by Tarek Atoui
For further information on Sharjah Art Foundation and the March programme please visit www.sharjahart.org

Sharjah, United Arab Emirates (UAE) March 7, 2012 – Sharjah Art Foundation presents What should I
do to live in your life?, a group exhibition introducing work by seven artists, all strangers to Sharjah and
exhibiting in the UAE for the first time. The exhibition takes place in the historic building Bait Al Serkal, a
space that was originally a family home. As the title of the exhibition, this question, to be posed
reciprocally, opens the doors of this home and invites visitors to reflect on mutual understanding as a
creative activity produced when thereʼs an engagement with unfamiliarity and transformation in
exchanges with others and within our own mechanisms of adaptation. This exhibition features video
documentations, projections and installations by Seoul and Hong Kong-based artists: Lee Kit, Minouk

Lim, João Vasco Paiva, Part-time Suite (Miyeon Lee, Byungjae Lee and Jaeyoung Park) and Yuk
King Tan.
The title, What should I do to live in your life?, is taken from a statement by Minouk Lim about the
thoughts that occurred to her while making S.O.S. Adoptive Dissensus. This video, included in the
exhibition, shows footage of a large-scale performance that Lim created and reflects upon the idea of
mutual understanding and unfamiliarity. Focusing on how we can construct understanding from
unfamiliarity this show proposes that exhibitions and the work they present can be experienced as
environments. The works are presented throughout Bait Al Serkal as a way to encourage the audience to
engage and respond to the space and the exhibited works as territories in their own right. This exhibition
is curated by Claudia Pestana, Research and Experimentation Projects Curator at Sharjah Art
Foundation.

In this exhibition over 32 works will be presented. Collaborative group Part-time Suite will be showcasing
Drop by then: Raw Cast, a work that has been adapted for the local context in Sharjah. Hong Kong-based
artist Yuk King Tan will be presenting The Limit of Visibility, a new work that completes a series of three
films including Scavenger and Drummer. Lee Kit will be presenting two installations by combining
existing works within two separate spaces at Bait Al Serkal. By being presented here in Sharjah, João
Vasco Paivaʼs Palimpseptic, a 2011 series of works referencing the Hong Kong Metro, enters into a new dialogue between object and space: taken from spaces designed for mass transportation they now inhabit the private realm of a family home.

Claudia Pestana stated, “The premise for the exhibition is, when confronted with unfamiliarity, to ask: on
what basis do we ground our ability to understand and engage with new circumstances? In this way, Bait
Al Serkal functions as a home that invites exhibition visitors to engage with the multiple contexts offered
by the works of these artists.

About the Artists & Works
Lee Kit (b. 1978, Hong Kong SAR) lives and works in Hong Kong. Solo exhibitions of his work include
Lee Kit: Henry (Have you ever been this low?), Western Front, Vancouver (2011). His work has also been
included in many group shows, including The Ungovernables, the New Museum Triennial, New York
(2012), Popping Up, Hong Kong Art Centre (2010), Exhibition Experiment, Experimental Exhibition,
JCCACʼs Wrong Place, Hong Kong (2010), No Soul For Sale, Tate Modern, London (2010), 2009
Platform in Kimusa, Seoul, and Portrait of Self Exile,The Shop/Vitamin Creative Space, Beijing (2009).

Minouk Lim (b. 1968, Daejeon, Republic of Korea) lives and works in Seoul. Her most recent solo
exhibitions include Perspectives: Minouk Lim, at the Smithsonian Institutionʼs Arthur M. Sackler Gallery inWashington DC (2012), and Minouk Lim: Liquide Commune at PKM Gallery in Seoul (2011). Group
shows include Melanchotopia and Morality, Act IV: Remembering Humanity, Witte de With Center for
Contemporary Art, Rotterdam (2011 and 2010), City Within the City, Artsonje Center, Seoul (2011),
Touched at FACT, Liverpool Biennial (2010), and Trust, Media City Seoul (2010). Lim was also the
recipient of the 1st Media Art Korea Award (2010) and the Hermés Korea Foundation Art Prize (2007).

João Vasco Paiva (b. 1979, Coimbra, Portugal) lives and works in Hong Kong. His recent solo
exhibitions in Hong Kong include Forced Empathy: Anchored Monument I at Experimenta and
Palimpseptic at Saamlung (both 2011), Experiments on the Notation of Shapes at Input/Output Gallery
and Chirps at Fuse Residency Program, Videotage (both 2010). In 2011 Paiva participated in various
group shows and conferences, including The Creators Project, Ullens Center for Contemporary Art,
Beijing, New Media Archaeology (I and II) Videotage, Hong Kong, Nuits Sonores, Museum of
Contemporary Art, Lyon, and Imaginary Belongings, Museu do Oriente, Lisbon.

Part-time Suite (est. 2009, Seoul, Republic of Korea) is a collaborative group formed by Miyeon Lee,
Byungjae Lee and Jaeyoung Park. In 2009 they installed their projects Under Interior and off-off-stage in
a basement and an unoccupied lot in the centre of Seoul, while their project Loop the Loop was
developed on rooftops in Seoul as part of the exhibition Perspective Strikes Back at Doosan Gallery,
which later travelled to Lʼappartment 22 in Rabat, Morocco. In 2010 the group formed Part-time Suite
Sound, a four-piece rock band, and Part-time Suite Press, an independent publisher. In 2011 they were
nominated for the Hermés Korea Foundation Art Prize.

Yuk King Tan (b. 1971, Townsville, Australia) lives and works in Hong Kong. In the past decade, she has
held solo exhibitions at Overflow City Gallery in Wellington, Sue Crockford Gallery in Auckland,
Kunstlerhaus Schloss Wiepersdorf and Camden Arts Centre in London, among other places. Tan has
participated in group exhibitions such as the Barcelona Video Festival (2006), the Guangzhou Triennial
(2005), the São Paulo Biennial (2004), and the Baltic Triennial of International Art, Lithuania (2002).

Sharjah Art Foundationʼs March Programme
March 8 – What should I do to live in your life?
March 16 – Ziad Antarʼs exhibition and book launch Portrait of a Territory
March 17 – 19 March Meeting 2012: Working with Artists and Audiences on Residencies and
Commissions.
March 17 - Screening of 1395 Days Without Red an Artangel commission by Šejla Kameric and Anri Sala
in collaboration with Ari Benjamin Meyers. This evening will feature Anri Salaʼs version of the project.
March 18 – Basma Alsharifʼs exhibition Farther Than The Eye Can See
1395 Days without Red, screening of version by Šejla Kameric
March 19 – Revisiting Tarab an Evening of Music by Tarek Atoui
March 25 – Screening of 1395 Days without Red at Main Building Auditorium, American University of
Sharjah featuring films by Šejla Kamerić and Anri Sala
Screenings of 1395 Days without Red are presented in partnership with the British Council.
For further information on Sharjah Art Foundation and the March programme please
visit www.sharjahart.org

Conversation, Screenings and Reception introduces the UAE audiences to the past achievements and the exciting programme of the 5th March Meeting

Sharjah, United Arab Emirates (UAE) — Sharjah Art Foundation in collaboration with Dubai non-profit Traffic presented March Meeting: Past and Present. The event at Traffic received an overwhelming response from the audience of artists, students and UAE art world.

The evening began with presentations on the history of the March Meeting and how it has become, both locally and internationally, the region’s leading gathering for artistic and cultural exchange. Presenters from Sharjah Art Foundation included Reem Shadid, Deputy Director; Nawar Al Qassimi, Public Programming & Outreach Officer and Uns Kattan, Researcher and Project Coordinator. Following the presentation Sharjah Art Foundation hosted a reception and a screening of two short films commissioned by Sharjah Biennial 10: Short Scenes from a Long Marriage (Rania Attieh and Daniel Garcia), which was nominated for the Rio de Janerio International Short Film Festival Curta Cinema prize, and Traitors (Sean Gullette), which was screened at the 49th New York Film Festival as well as various film festivals around the world. The March programme was also announced including a series of exhibitions and events showcasing work created through commissions and residencies.

Topics covered during the evening’s presentation included an introduction to the twenty-year history of the Sharjah Biennial and the reasons for the establishment of the Sharjah Art Foundation in 2009 by Sheikha Hoor Al-Qasimi who continues to act as the organisation’s President.  Also discussed was the growing international significance of the March Meeting and why it remains one of the core initiatives of Sharjah Art Foundation’s work as a non-profit and non-commercial public institution.
Sharjah Art Foundation Deputy Director Reem Shadid stated, “We were very pleased to see the reaction of the audience, which included many new faces.  The Sharjah Art Foundation is a young team and we are eager to engage more actively with the arts communities throughout the Emirates.”

The speakers encouraged the audience and other members of the public to attend the three-day event and the programme of exhibitions openings, film premieres and events that all take place between March 16 – 19, 2012.  Members of the audience were able to register for March Meeting at the Traffic event.
In collaboration with ArtBus, Sharjah Art Foundation will also be providing a shuttle bus that will be available all day from March 17 – 19, 2012 to take people from various locations in Dubai to the March Meeting and event venues.

Sharjah Art Foundation March Programme
The opening of Ziad Antar’s exhibition will be the inaugural event of Sharjah Art Foundation’s annual March Meeting. Taking place from March 17 - 19, 2012, March Meeting is an annual gathering of artists, art professionals and institutions concerned with the production and dissemination of art in the region and internationally.

March Events
March 16 – Ziad Antar’s exhibition and book launch Portrait of a Territory
March 17 – Screening of 1395 Days Without Red an Artangel commission by Šejla Kamerić and Anri Sala in collaboration with Ari Benjamin Meyers
March 18 – Basma Alsharif’s exhibition Farther Than the Eye Can See
March 19 – Revisiting Tarab an Evening of Music by Tarek Atoui
For further information on Sharjah Art Foundation and the March events please visit www.sharjahart.org

About March Meeting

The fifth annual March Meeting is a three-day symposium featuring presentations by artists, art professionals and institutions on the production and dissemination of art in the MENASA (Middle East, North Africa, South Asia) region and internationally. March Meeting 2012: Working With Artists and Audiences on Commissions and Residencies will take place March 17–19, in Sharjah’s scenic Heritage Area. The three-day forum will be held daily from 10 am–6 pm and will coincide with a programme of exhibitions and events.

Select speakers of this year’s March Meeting include:
H.E. Abdul Rahman Al Owais, UAE Minister of Culture; H.E. Dr. Zaki Anwar Nusseibeh, Advisor to the Ministry of Presidential Affairs; Omar Ghobash, Ambassador at UAE Embassy in Moscow; Dr. Yousef Aidabi, Cultural consultant to His Highness Sheikh Dr. Sultan Bin Mohammed Al Qasimi; Salwa Mikdadi, Head of Arts & Cultural Program, Emirates Foundation; Khalil Abdul Wahed, Dubai Culture and Arts Authority, Noura Al-Sayeh, Architect & Curator Ministry of Culture, Kingdom of Bahrain; Palmina D’Ascoli, Manager of Department of Residencies, Institut Français (France); Peter Eleey, Curator, MoMA/PS1 (USA); Yuko Hasegawa, Chief Curator, Museum of Contemporary Art, Tokyo (MOT) (Japan); Danda J, Director, Kuona Trust Centre for Visual Arts (Kenya);  Eungie Joo, Curator, New Museum (USA); Jude Kelly, OBE, Artistic Director, Southbank Centre (UK); Riyas Komu, Director of Programmes, Kochi-Muziris Biennale (India); James Lingwood, Co-Director, Artangel (UK); Salwa Mikdadi, Head of Arts & Cultural Program, Emirates Foundation (UAE); Ayeh Naraghi, Cultural Programmes Specialist, UNESCO Doha Office (Qatar); Hans Ulrich Obrist, Co-Director, Serpentine Gallery (UK) Susan Pfeffer, Curator, KW Institute for Contemporary Art (Berlin); Beatrix Ruf, Director/Curator, Kunsthalle Zürich (Switzerland); Ramin Salsali, Founder, Salsali Private Museum (UAE).

The March Meeting and related events are free and open to the public. Registration is recommended at marchmeeting@sharjahart.org

For more information about Sharjah Art Foundation and its programmes, visit www.sharjahart.org

Art Dubai, in partnership with the Delfina Foundation, Dubai Culture & Arts Authority and Tashkeel, has launched Artists-in-Residence (A.i.R) Dubai 2012, an annual programme for artists and curators based in the historic quarter of Bastakiya, Dubai.

Artists Hadeyah Badri, Fayçal Baghriche, Zeinab Al Hashimi, Magdi Mostafa, Nasir Nasrallah, and Deniz Uster have been selected for the three-month residency in the lead-up to Art Week, the Gulf-wide programme of fairs, museum shows, exhibitions, performances and projects that coincides with Art Dubai each March. The 2012 curator-in-residence is Alexandra MacGilp.

As part of their residency, Fayçal Baghriche, Magdi Mostafa, and Deniz Uster are commissioned to make site-specific works for Art Dubai Projects, a programme of new works and performances that explore the fabric and economy of an art fair, embracing the theatrical nature of such an event.

All six artists will be exhibiting as part of an Open Studios programme included in Sikka Art Fair during Art Week 2012.

The artists — three from Asia and the Middle East, three from the UAE– were selected by representatives of the partner organisations plus guest curator November Paynter, Associate Director of Research and Programs at SALT, Istanbul and Director of the Artist Pension Trust, Dubai. The curator-in-residence was selected by A.i.R. Dubai selection panel, with critic HG Master of ArtAsiaPacific, following an open call. The curator’s residency is in collaboration with ArtAsiaPacific.

Artists-in-residence

Hadeyeh Badri studied Visual Communications and Design at the American University of Sharjah. She is the co-founder of Möbius Design Studio, a collective engaged in experimental processes, and conceptual and formal investigations. Her work is an exploration of typography, photography and other media.

Fayçal Baghriche lives and works in Paris. A collector of narratives and traces and an assembler of objects and films, he proposes images that thwart the identification reflex. Recent international exhibitions include ‘Architecture of survival’, Outpost for Contemporary Art, Los Angeles (2008); ‘Second Hand’, the Museum of Modern Art, Paris (2010); and ‘The Future of a Promise’ at the 54th Venice Biennial (2011).

Zeinab Al Hashemi is a young visual artist based in Dubai, who specializes in multi-media design and sources her ideas from elements of popular culture. She is also the creator of Dibs & Dips, the first Emirati pop art modern bakery concept.

Magdi Mostafa is a Cairo-based artist who works primarily with site-specific, research-driven sound projects, multimedia installations and experimental music. Exhibitions include ‘Invisible Presence’, Malawian museum, Cairo (2009); ‘The One & the Multiple’, La Capella de Barcelona (2010); ‘Sound Cells (Fridays’) ‘, Cairo Opera House (2010).

Nasir Nasrallah is a Sharjah-based visual artist. His practice is driven by the need to experiment with new concepts and methodologies and to transform raw materials into art.

Nasrallah’s first solo exhibition was held at the Sharjah Art Museum (2009). Other international exhibitions include The Fine Arts Creative Gulf Artists, Kuwait (2009) and Sana’a International Forum for Plastic Arts (2009). Nasrallah is vice chairman of the Emirates Fine Arts Society.

Deniz Uster is based in Glasgow and Istanbul. Her work often implies processes of transmutation, and draws upon the language of alchemy. Uster’s work has been featured in ‘Light Courses’, Elgiz Contemporary Art Museum, Istanbul (2010); ‘Encrypting Signs on the Fabric of a Rhizome’, La Giarina Gallery, Verona (2011); ‘Confessions of Dangerous Minds, Contemporary Art from Turkey’, Saatchi Gallery, London (2011).

Curator-in-Residence

Based in London, Alexandra MacGilp is interested in film, video, performance and installation practices and working with archive materials. MacGlip has curated multi-media exhibitions with accompanying talks and performance programmes in London, Hamburg and Kabul, often working as part of a curatorial collective with Cassandra Needham. She contributes regularly to EXIT Express and artvehicle.com, which she co-founded in 2006.