Overview
Overview
March Project 2017 Opening Tour and Reception
30 September, 6 pm
Al Mureijah Square
Screening of Only Men Go to the Grave
30 September, 8 pm
Mirage City Cinema, Al Mureijah Square
SHARJAH ART FOUNDATION LAUNCHES AUTUMN SEASON WITH THE MARCH PROJECT 2017
The fourth edition of the March Project residency exhibition will open on Saturday 30 September 2017 at 6 pm. The opening tour and reception will be followed by a screening of the film Only Men Go to the Grave by Emirati director Abdulla Al Kaabi at 8 pm.
The March Project 2017
Running from 30 September to 30 December, the exhibition will feature commissioned works on view at Sharjah Art Foundation’s heritage houses and public squares, including Al Mureijah Square, Calligraphy Square and Arts Square. These works have been developed by four resident artists under the mentorship of Clelia Coussonnet, Lara Khaldi and Sophie Arni. This year’s participants are Al Anood Al Obaidly and Nasir Nasrallah from the United Arab Emirates, Mahmoud Safadi from Lebanon and Sofiane Zouggar from Algeria. The works reflect the artists’ exploration of Sharjah’s contemporary histories as well as questions of production and consumption.
Al Anood Al Obaidly draws inspiration for her installations from everyday materials, such as paper, metal, sponges, plastic and fabric. Through processes of deconstructing, reassembling and reproducing, she transforms objects into artworks. In Slightly Related Elements, Al Obaidly explores the personal symbolic meanings invested in consumer materials as she renews and recreates their practical purposes.
An engineer by training, Nasir Nasrallah focuses on the philosophy of communication and correspondence. His work is a personal response to his environment and often features objects that he collects. In The Communication Room, Nasrallah is driven to test new concepts and methodologies as he addresses the different systems used in communicating information and their profound impact on their surroundings. His works revive some of the communication methods used in the past, including letters, the typewriter and landline telephones.
Sofiane Zouggar’s mixed media works encompass photography, videography and interactive installations. During the course of his residency, Zouggar worked on Temporary flesh walls’ stories, permanent posters and one portrait, revolving around the caretaker of the abandoned and derelict Khorfakkan Cinema in Sharjah. The commissioned installation is a moving tribute to this man and his journey.
Multidisciplinary Beirut-based artist Mahmoud Safadi examines urbanism and its intersection with the natural world. He uses video, photography and installation as mediums to question society’s materialism. In An Ecology, natural elements such as earth, water and light are presented as by-products of human development, used to sustain urban life but blurring the nature-culture divide. Using LED screens and air conditioners, he evokes nature and reminds us of our relationship with it.
About March Project
March Project is an annual educational residency programme that provides opportunities for artists to research, realise and present site-specific works through a series of professional development courses, seminars, exhibitions and site visits over a five-month period. Participants in this programme are chosen from the Gulf and abroad. Artists are assigned mentors who work closely with them as they develop their exhibition projects.
Autumn 2017 Film Programme
SAF’s autumn film programme will also open on 30 September 2017 with a screening of Emirati director Abdulla Al Kaabi’s Only Men Go to the Grave (2016). The plot centers around a blind mother as she attempts to reveal an important secret to her daughters. Accidentally dying in the process of sharing it, events unfold at her three-day funeral which bring buried family tensions to the surface.
The film programme will continue throughout the autumn season with fortnightly screenings at Sharjah's only dedicated outdoor cinema space, Mirage City Cinema (originally commissioned as part of Sharjah Biennial 11). Further details will be announced soon. All screenings are free and open to the public.
About Sharjah Art Foundation
Sharjah Art Foundation brings a broad range of contemporary art and cultural programmes to the communities of Sharjah, the UAE and the region. Since 2009, SAF has built on the history of cultural collaboration and exchange that began with the first Sharjah Biennial in 1993. Working with local and international partners, we create opportunities for artists and artistic production through our core initiatives, which include the Sharjah Biennial, the annual March Meeting, residencies, production grants, commissions, exhibitions, research, publications and a growing collection. Our education and public programmes focus on building recognition of the central role art can play in the life of a community by promoting public learning and a participatory approach to art. All our events are free and open to the public. For more information, visit www.sharjahart.org.
Media Contacts
Alyazeyah Al Reyaysa: +971 6 544 4113 / alyazeyah@sharjahart.org