Overview
Sharjah Art Foundation (SAF) announces the appointment of Eungie Joo as Curator of Sharjah Biennial 12 (SB12), opening in March 2015. Joo was Director of Art and Cultural Programs at Instituto Inhotim in Brumadinho, Brasil, and previously served as Director and Curator of Education and Public Programs at the New Museum of Contemporary Art in New York.
Jooʼs proposal for SB12 builds upon SAFʼs commitment to artistic production and the unique contribution of the annual March Meeting to organisational and artistic development in the region. For Joo, SB12 offers an opportunity to contemplate how artistsʼ positions help us consider new possibilities for social organisation and ways to transcend cultural and political confinement. Sustained engagement and new commissions will be central to SB12—discussion of which will begin during the March Meeting.
Sharjah Art Foundation President HE Sheikha Hoor Al Qasimi comments, “We look forward to working with Eungie Joo on the realisation of her vision for the next Biennial. Reflecting a career focused on working closely with artists and communities, Jooʼs collaborative perspective will find resonance in Sharjah and enrich the experience of SB12.”
According to Joo, “Sharjah is a very special place that calls you back again and again. I am truly excited to work with Sheikha Hoor and Sharjah Art Foundation to develop a meaningful conversation with artists, cultural practitioners, and Sharjah through both the March Meeting and the Biennial.”
March Meeting 2014: Come Together
13 — 17 March, 2014
MM14 will address issues in contemporary culture, institutional formation and cultural production, such as how to develop education and research initiatives. In addition to presentations, MM14 will feature informal discussions to promote active participation among attendees. Speakers will include artists commissioned for SB12 who are in the earliest stages of research for their projects.
March Meeting 2014 Open Call – Correspondent Travel Grants
Deadline: 20 December, 2013
This yearʼs March Meeting Open Call offers travel grants to between five and eight artists, writers and curators with a focus on the region, who will attend the event and contribute essays, blog posts, or other responses.
About Eungie Joo
Eungie Joo is curator of Sharjah Biennial 12. Previously, she was Director of Art and Cultural Programmes at Instituto Inhotim in Brumadinho, Brasil (2012-2014). Joo was Director and Curator of Education and Public Programmes at the New Museum, New York (2007-2012), where she commissioned the yearlong seminar Night School by Anton Vidokle, edited Rethinking Contemporary Art and Multicultural Education (Routledge and New Museum, 2009), published the Art Spaces Directory (ArtAsiaPacific and New Museum, 2012) and curated the 2012 New Museum Triennial: The Ungovernables (2012). Joo was commissioner of the Korean Pavilion at the 53rd Venice Biennale, where she presented Condensation: Haegue Yang (2009). As founding Director and Curator of the Gallery at REDCAT, Los Angeles (2003 - 2007), she commissioned projects by Mark Bradford, Damián Ortega, Sora Kim, Taro Shinoda, SUPERFLEX, Kara Walker, Apichatpong Weerasethakul, and others.