Overview
Overview
Sharjah Biennial director and Sharjah Art Foundation president and director Sheikha Hoor Al Qasimi has been announced as the new president of the International Biennial Association (IBA) in an appointment that will transfer IBA headquarters to Sharjah.
Since its establishment in 2013, Sheikha Hoor Al Qasimi has served as an active member of the board of the IBA, which brings together prominent international art professionals that organise periodic festivals and events and collectively explore Biennial models.
Speaking about her election, which took place during the IBA’s fourth General Assembly at the Yokohama Triennale in Japan, Sheikha Hoor stated ‘I am honoured to have been elected as the second President of this important international organisation after serving on the Board alongside my esteemed colleagues representing a wide range of biennials around the world. During my term in office I will work towards the development of the International Biennial Association and its mission to support and collaborate with a growing network of members. We are looking forward to the relocation of the IBA office to Sharjah in the near future’.
About Sheikha Hoor Al Qasimi
President and Director of the Sharjah Art Foundation, Hoor Al Qasimi serves on the Board of Directors for MoMA PS1, New York; KW Institute for Contemporary Art, Berlin; International Biennial Association, Gwangju; Ashkal Alwan, Beirut and Darat Al Funun, Amman. She is Chair of the Advisory Board for the College of Art and Design, University of Sharjah and member of the Advisory Board for Khoj International Artists’ Association, New Delhi.
In 2003, she was appointed curator of Sharjah Biennial 6 and has since continued as the Biennial Director. Recent curatorial projects include major retrospectives Yayoi Kusama: Dot Obsessions (2016–2017) as well as 1980–Today: Exhibitions in the United Arab Emirates, UAE Pavilion, 56th Venice Biennale (2015). Al Qasimi was co-curator for Joana Hadjithomas and Khalil Joreige: Two Suns in a Sunset (2016), exhibited not only in Sharjah but also at Jeu de Paume, Paris; Haus der Kunst, Munich and IVAM, Valencia. She co-curated the major survey shows When Art Becomes Liberty: The Egyptian Surrealists (1938–1965) (2016) and The Khartoum School: The Making of the Modern Art Movement in Sudan (1945–Present) (2016–2017).
About the International Biennial Association
The International Biennial Association (IBA) is a platform for establishing, researching and exchanging the knowledge and information necessary for institutions and professionals, who plan and curate periodic art events such as biennials and triennials, artists, researchers and others concerned with contemporary art. It is a centre for producing multidisciplinary discourse that embodies the productive and discursive voices of the global biennial community. It develops a range of diverse programs to support rights and promote mutual understanding between institutions and their individual members, who play pivotal roles in both its practice and discourse. For more information, visit www.biennialassociation.org.
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