Sharjah Biennial 16

Anju Dodiya’s visual language encompasses references spanning the cross-cultural history of painting, from Indian miniatures to French medieval tapestries, alongside elements of autobiography, allegory and mythology.

Driven by the collisions and interactions arising from colonialism, artist and scholar Brook Andrew combats historical amnesia and questions the limitations of power structures in institutional spaces.

Nil Yalter’s works offer a compelling feminist viewpoint on the socioeconomic conditions that affect migratory populations and female labourers.

Mona Hatoum strips themes of conflict, exile, barriers and state control from the purely conceptual realm, presenting them instead in their manifestations as lived experiences.

Hajra Waheed’s multidisciplinary practice explores issues including the relationship between surveillance and the networks of power that structure human lives, while also addressing the alienation of displaced subjects affected by legacies of colonial and state violence.

Maria Magdalena Campos-
Pons’ practice interweaves autobiographical elements of her Afro-Cuban heritage with historical narratives of the African diaspora.

Annalee Davis is a Barbadian visual artist whose practice combines history and biography in her discussions of ‘post-plantation economies’.

Dala Nasser’s multimedia practice examines human and non-human entanglements within a perpetually deteriorating environment

Vivan Sundaram works with contextual responsibility and radical contradiction, exploring shifts of medium, different ‘languages’, historical acuity and memory archives.

Reflecting on the concept of civic belonging, Bouchra Khalili examines the struggle of communities excluded from citizen memberships immigrants for equal rights and the
ways in which it continues to resonate in present times.

At the centre of Diedrick Brackens’ intricate tapestries lie the loaded associations of cotton with the legacy of the transatlantic slave trade. Brackens’ series of allegorical tapestries are inspired by ancient West African Adinkra symbology.

Gabrielle Goliath’s practice lies at the intersection of art and activism, challenging the paradigms of racialised and sexualised violence that underpin postcolonial and post- apartheid societies.

Basel Abbas and Ruanne Abou- Rahme’s multidisciplinary practice maps out a contemporary landscape shaped by a sense of perpetual crisis as well as a politics of desire and disaster.

Maitha Abdalla utilises cultural narratives rooted in notions of nostalgia, memory and folklore to question the dynamics of power often represented in parables.