Overview
Sharjah Art Foundation Director Jack Persekian and Sharjah Biennial 10 Curator Suzanne Cotter, Curator, Guggenheim Abu Dhabi Project, will speak on a panel moderated by writer Shumon Basar during the Frieze Art Fair. The Panel will explore both the past and the future of contemporary art production in the Gulf as the Sharjah Biennial celebrates its 10th Anniversary next March.
Since the first International Biennial in 1993 the Emirate of Sharjah has developed a programme of cultural support and patronage that has played a fundamental role in artistic and cultural developments within the Gulf and the greater Middle East. With over 15 museums, two art colleges, the now 10th Biennial and the recently formed Sharjah Art Foundation, Sharjah continues its role as a leading force in the support and presentation of art in the region.
This panel will begin with a presentation by Sharjah Art Foundation Director Jack Persekian on the history of cultural developments in Sharjah and the Gulf, and a perspective on the future. Sharjah Biennial 10 curator Suzanne Cotter, Curator, Guggenheim Abu Dhabi Project, will discuss the upcoming Biennial and her experience working in the region. The panel will be led by writer Shumon Basar.
Over the past few years, expansive cultural projects that focus on architectural developments have dominated discussions of art and culture in the Middle East. This panel will look instead at art production, artists and the grass-roots initiatives that have underpinned the growing vibrancy of the region.
The panel takes place at London’s Whitechapel Gallery, where the first major UK exhibition of US-based Lebanese artist Walid Raad is on show. Titled Walid Raad: Miraculous Beginnings, the exhibition presents his most important works from the past 20 years for the first time. Saturday evening, October 16, is the Frieze Art Fair’s East End Night where a wide range of east London museums and galleries open late for Frieze VIP visitors.
Walid Raad will also be represented by a new commission in the 10th Sharjah Biennial.
About the Speakers
Jack Persekian, Director of the Sharjah Art Foundation, has been involved with Sharjah since 2004 as Artistic Director of the Biennial. Founder and Director of Anadiel Gallery, the Al-Ma’mal Foundation for Contemporary Art in Jerusalem and XEIN Productions, Persekian’s recently curated exhibitions include: Disorientation II, Manarat Al Saadiyat, Saadiyat Island, Abu Dhabi (2009), Never-Part, Bozar, Brussels (2008), Dubai Next, cocurated with Rem Koolhaas at Vitra Design Museum, Weil am Rhein, Germany (2008), The Jerusalem Show, Al-Ma’mal Foundation, Jerusalem (2007-10). A writer and lecturer on Middle Eastern art and culture, he has also directed and produced a series of short films and videos including: ‘Sharjah Biennial 9’ (2009), ‘Forgive and Forget’ (2008), and ‘My Son’ (2005). Persekian was born in Jerusalem and lives between Jerusalem and Sharjah.
Suzanne Cotter was recently appointed by the Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation as Curator of Exhibitions, Guggenheim Abu Dhabi Project, taking up her position in March 2010. Cotter has held curatorial positions at the Whitechapel Gallery and Hayward Gallery, London and was Senior Curator and Deputy Director of Modern Art Oxford (2002-2009). An editor of numerous catalogues and artist monographs and a contributor to art publications including Frieze, Parkett, and Artforum, she was Jury member for the Turner Prize 2008, and a recipient of the Chevalier de l’Ordre dans les Arts et des Lettres from the French Ministry of Culture and Communication in 2005.
Shumon Basar is a writer, contributing editor at the magazines Bidoun and Tank, coeditor of the books 'Did Someone Say Participate?’, ‘With/Without’, ’Cities From Zero’, ’The World of Madelon Vriesendorp' and 'Hans Ulrich Obrist: Interviews 2'. He sits on the curatorial committee for Art Dubai's Global Art Forum and is the Director of the Cultural Programme at the Architectural Association, London. Basar is currently working on a Dubai based novel entitled 'World! World! World!'
About the Sharjah Art Foundation
The Sharjah Art Foundation was formed in 2009 to carry forward the programmes developed by the Sharjah Biennial since its first edition in 1993. The Foundation builds on the pioneering role the Emirate of Sharjah has played in the artistic and cultural development of the Gulf by nurturing artistic opportunities and actively pursuing both a regional and international programme of cultural collaboration and exchange. The Sharjah Art Foundation is funded by the Department of Culture and Information, Government of Sharjah. Its President is HH Sheikha Hoor Al Qasimi and its Director is Jack Persekian.
About the 10th Sharjah Biennial
Plot for a Biennial is the title for the 10th Sharjah Biennial curated by Suzanne Cotter, Curator, Guggenheim Abu Dhabi Project, and Rasha Salti, Creative Director, ArteEast, with Associate Director Haig Aivazian. Opening on March 16, 2011, the Biennial will present new and specially commissioned works by contemporary artists, filmmakers, writers and performers from across the region and internationally. Developing on the geographic reach and the focus on new production of previous Biennials, Plot for a Biennial merges what have traditionally been parallel formats of exhibition, film and performance into a multivalent sequence of encounters in sites across the Sharjah Cultural Quarter. In its visual, spatial and temporal dimensions, Plot for a Biennial attempts to reflect the hybrid nature of contemporary artistic practice, and the singularity of artistic positions as part of a set of shared concerns and consequences.
About the Whitechapel Gallery
For over a century the Whitechapel Gallery has premiered world-class artists from modern masters such as Pablo Picasso, Jackson Pollock, Mark Rothko and Frida Kahlo to contemporaries such as Sophie Calle, Lucien Freud, Gilbert & George and Mark Wallinger. With beautiful galleries, exhibitions, artist commissions, collection displays, historic archives, education resources, inspiring art courses, dining room and bookshop, the newly expanded Gallery is open all year round, so there is always something free to see. The Gallery is a touchstone for contemporary art internationally, plays a central role in London’s cultural landscape and is pivotal to the continued growth of the world’s most vibrant contemporary art quarter. Walid Raad: Miraculous Beginnings will be on view from October 14, 2010 to January 2, 2011.
Whitechapel Gallery Address:
77-82 Whitechapel High Street, London E1 7Q
Tel: 020 7522 7888
www.whitechapelgallery.org
Whitechapel Gallery Press Information: Rachel Mapplebeck on 020 7522 7880, 07811 456 806 or email RachelMapplebeck@whitechapelgallery.org
MEDIA CONTACT:
Alyazeyah Al-Reyaysa
Tel: +971 6 568 5050
E: alyazeyah@sharjahart.org